Jefferson County Online A part of the IAGenWeb and USGenWeb Projects Who's Who in 1921 & 1922 Albert C. Turner

"The Fairfield Tribune"
Friday, February 18, 1921
Page SIX

NO. 3

ALBERT CLARENCE TURNER

Those of you who have not had the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with the genial-faced gentleman who furnished the topic of our history lesson for this week, will at least feel that you are on voting terms with him, anyway. In fact, if you are of voting age you will greet the name of Albert Clarence Turner as that of an old acquaintance, not to say friend. For, be it known that the Albert Clarence Turner here depicted is no less a personage than the Clarence Turner you've heard of as having some slight connection with the office of county auditor. He is the same Clarence that you probably read something of in the Tribune along about election time in the last few years.

Albert Clarence is here pictured at his favorite pastime--that of accepting the oath of office. Do you note the grace and seeming ease with which he is doing it? That, dear reader, is not the result of pose or study--only long experience can give that nonchalant grace to an office holder accepting the obligations of his office. Albert Clarence is mighty quick to learn, and all that, but he didn't do this job so gracefully the first time, long ago in the "Remember 'way back when" days.

However, be that as it may, Albert Clarence Turner never aspired to office on his grace or his good looks; if he had depended on these factors the democrats would have had a cinch on the county auditor's office. No, Albert Clarence believed that the office should be won by the best man on his merits, and he had a sneaking idea that he was the man--and the blamed-fool voters of this county have been thinking the same way in spite of the democrats trying to convince them otherwise--even the Tribune hasn't been believed in the matter.

From these few words it may be gathered that the sovereign voters of this county rather insist that Clarence act as county auditor and may have formed the opinion that he makes a reasonably good one. So, seeing that the fool voters feel that way about it, the democrats can do nothing more than bring in a minority report each election--and the trouble is that the minority report appears to be growing smaller every two years.

But, in spite of democratic lies to the contrary, Clarence has not always been county auditor. Fact is his father was the village smithy down at Glasgow and Clarence lived there with him quite a while. He came mighty near learning the blacksmith trade, too. Folks wanted him to so he could later attain the high honors of county sheriff. But he read one day of how a poor boy had begun work for a great railroad system as a telegraph operator and had rose, step by step, to the presidency of the road. That settled with Clarence. "I'll run a railroad!" he said. "Jim Hill and I will form a partnership, and the first thing I'll do is to build a double track road into Glasgow and come riding through in my private car with half a dozen niggers* waiting on me."

As the necessary first step Clarence learned the business of telegraph operator. Some way it seemed a long walk to the president's office. He tried working on the job in a good many towns but all of them seemed alike and he strained his organs of hearing listening for a call to the presidency of the road. So he gave it up finally and walked out with the other operators in 1904 who were striking because they couldn't own the roads also.

Then Clarence came to Fairfield and went to work for the Louden company for a time. He was getting along very nicely there and was perfectly satisfied. But one day a bunch of leading (also driving) republicans came along, bound and gagged Clarence, pointed a gun at his head and demanded that he sign an agreement to save the party in this county by accepting the nomination for auditor. Clarence, for the good of the party, did as he was told. Every two years since then some one of the gang strolls into the office with his hand on his hip pocket and looks threateningly at Clarence. Albert Clarence is no coward but, rather than have anyone get mad, he takes the hint and accedes to the party wish.

You will see from this that Albert Clarence Turner is a pretty obliging sort of a chap. Even the democrats will admit that. And you will see also that he dislikes to have people unfriendly toward him. In fact, it is his great desire to create friends. He has succeeded so well in this that the democratic vote for county auditor is being gradually wiped out altogether--last year a dozen or two foolish democrats who had never met Clarence were the only ones who had an idea that it was all right to vote against him. Clarence has forgiven them, and expects to get their vote, so as to make it unanimous, next election.

A stands for Albert in Clarence's name; it should stand for "Accommodation," for he is it. There are a lot of things a good county auditor can do for the public's accommodation. Clarence not only does these things, but he does them cheerfully. Fact is Albert Clarence Turner is about as obliging a county official as ever graced the office of county auditors; he'll even treat a democrat as an equal--and that's saying a good deal for a republican who doesn't need the democrats. And even the democrats have got to admit that Albert Clarence is always on the job. Some day, he being a republican, we suppose he'll run away with all of the county's money. But, until that day comes, you'll find Albert Clarence attending strictly to the business of the office in a very satisfactory manner and passing out accommodations to republicans and democrats alike.

So, if the blame fool republicans insist on it that they want Clarence for auditor they may just have their way about it and go hang for all we care.

* Admin note: The use of the word 'niggers' is not intended to be derogatory here; it is the word used in the original article, reflecting the sentiments of a person born in 1869, and will remain so as to preserve the historical integrity of this document.