William Alexander Cunningham, Private, Company E, 1st Regiment, North Carolina Cavalry

Author's Note:  William Alexander Cunningham was the brother-in-law of my great-great-great uncle, Cicero Fidello Turner.

William Alexander Cunningham, son of George and Susan Rieves Cunningham and brother-in-law of Cicero Fidello Turner, was born in Franklin County, North Carolina on January 29, 1843.  On June 8, 1861, at the age of 18, he enlisted as a private in Company E of the 9th Regiment, North Carolina State Troops (1st Regiment, North Carolina Cavalry), in Granville County, North Carolina, for the duration of the war. Wounded in the right leg and captured on June 9, 1863, at Brandy Station, he was admitted to the Prince Street U.S.A. General Hospital at Alexandria, Virginia on June 10, 1863 and the Lincoln U.S.A. General Hospital at Washington, D.C. on August 4, 1863. On August 22, 1863, he was transferred to Baltimore, Maryland, where he was paroled on August 23, 1863 and delivered at City Point, Virginia on August 24, 1863. Following his exchange, he was reported first at Petersburg Hospital and then later at home, wounded in the leg. William is listed on the Roll of Honor for his service during the battle at Brandy Station, Virginia.  

Joshua Overton, Private, Company G, 47th North Carolina Infantry (N.C.T.)

Author's Note: Joshua Overton was my great-great-great uncle by marriage.

The husband of Elizabeth Ann Turner (born July 22, 1841; died March 7, 1911; daughter of James Patrick Henry Turner and Margaret Elizabeth Hunt Turner, sister of Lysander Turner), Joshua Overton served as a private in Company C, Mallet’s Battalion (Camp Guard) before being transferred to Company G of the 47th North Carolina Infantry (Lysander Turner's company and regiment), on or about June 15, 1864. Joshua was wounded at Reams Station, Virginia, on or about August 25, 1864. Captured at or near Burgess Mill, Virginia, on October 27, 1864, he was imprisoned at Point Lookout, Maryland on October 31, 1864 and was released on June 3, 1865, after taking the Oath of Allegiance.

Cicero Fidello Turner, Private, Company D, 66th North Carolina Infantry

Author's Note: Cicero Fidello Turner, brother of my great-great grandfather, Lysander Turner, was my great-great-great uncle.

 A son of James Patrick Henry Turner and Margaret Elizabeth Hunt Turner and brother of Lysander Turner, Cicero Fidello Turner, known as “Roe” to family members, was born in 1845.  Enlisting on September 20, 1863, at the age of 17, in Granville County, North Carolina, for the duration of the War, Cicero served as a private in Company D of the 66th North Carolina Infantry.  Cicero was listed absent without leave on the company muster roll for September and October 1863. On September 30, 1864 he received a sick furlough at the General Hospital at Camp Winder, Richmond Virginia; his destination was listed as "Kittrells," North Carolina.

Captured by the Union near Kinston, North Carolina on March 10, 1865, following the Battle of South West Creek (March 8-10, 1865), Cicero arrived at New Berne, on March 16, 1865, and was transferred to Point Lookout, Maryland. He was released at Point Lookout on June 21, 1865 after taking the Oath of Allegiance.

Henry Gray Turner, Captain, Company H, 23rd North Carolina Regiment (N.C.T.)

 Author's Note: Henry Gray Turner was a first cousin of my great-great grandfather, Lysander Turner.

Henry Gray Turner, a brother of Vines Edmunds Turner and a first cousin of Lysander Turner, was born March 20, 1839.  Enrolled as a freshman at the University of North Carolina in June, 1857, he was prevented from joining his class due to illness.  As a result, he entered the University of Virginia at Charlottesville but was unable to complete his education due to financial distress brought upon his family by the death of his father in December, 1857. Thus, Henry went to Alabama and accepted temporary employment as a schoolteacher, prior to becoming Principal of the Piscola Academy in Brooks County, Georgia in 1859.

Vines Edmunds Turner, Assistant Quartermaster (Captain), 23rd North Carolina Regiment (N.C.T.)

Author's Note:  Vines Edmunds Turner was a first cousin of my great-great grandfather, Lysander Turner.

Vines Edmunds Turner, a son of Archibald Adams Turner (born May 23, 1810; died December 27, 1857) and Mary Anne Howze (dates of birth, death, and their marriage unknown) and a first cousin of Lysander Turner, was born on January 21, 1837. Graduating from the Baltimore Dental College in 1858, he practiced dentistry in Henderson, North Carolina until the outbreak of the War Between the States, when he enlisted in Company G of the 23^rd North Carolina Regiment, the “Granville Rifles,” at the age of twenty-four.  

Elected 3^rd Lieutenant on June 11, 1861, Vines was present with the Company until appointed Adjutant on or about May 10, 1862 and transferred to the Field and Staff of the Regiment.  On June 26, 1862, at the Battle of Mechanicsville, Virginia, his horse was killed, falling upon him and inflicting minor injury. Wounded in the leg at Gaines’ Mill (also called First Cold Harbor), Virginia on June 27, 1862, he returned to duty on or about August 1, 1862. On or about April 25, 1863, he was appointed Assistant Quartermaster (Captain) of the Regiment. On September 30, 1864, he was appointed Assistant Quartermaster of General Jubal A. Early’s Division and transferred.  By the end of the War, he was serving on the staff of General James A. Walker.

Following the War, in 1865, Vines resumed his practice of dentistry at Henderson, North Carolina. In 1866, he was present at a meeting intended to reorganize the State dental association, which was originally created in 1856.  In 1871, he moved to Raleigh. In 1875, when the dental association was ultimately reorganized, becoming the North Carolina Dental Society, he was elected First Vice President. In 1876 and again in 1888, he was elected president of this organization. In 1878, Vines was present at a meeting of the Society that appointed a committee which, he stated, was to “…secure such legislative enactment as might be beneficial to the profession and to the public;” he was appointed Chairman of this committee. When legislation was passed creating the North Carolina State Dental Examining Board in 1879, he was appointed to this board and elected Chairman, an office which he held for thirty-one years. Vines also became president of the Southern Dental Association in 1881, Vice President of the American Dental Congress in 1887, President of the National Dental Association from 1904 to 1906, President of the Jamestown Dental Convention in 1907, and President of the National Dental Association in 1908. In 1913, he was appointed as one of three members of the United States Navy Reserve Board.

Vines married Zena H. Lassiter (dates of birth, death, and their marriage unknown); no children were produced by this marriage. Later, he married Love Gales Root (dates of birth, death, and their marriage unknown) and they had three children: Charles Root Turner (born 1875, died June 11, 1947), Mary Archer Turner (born June 4, 1878; died October 16, 1967), and Henry Gray Turner (born 1883, date of death unknown).

Two written works are credited to Vines Turner. The first, “Twenty-third Regiment” (co-authored with Sergeant H.C. Wall), appeared in Histories of the Several Regiments and battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-’65, which was edited by Walter Clark (Lieutenant Colonel, Seventieth Regiment, N.C.T.) and published in 1901. The second, “North Carolina State Dental Society and Dental Surgery in North Carolina,” appeared in Koch’s History of Dental Surgery, which was published in 1908 and reprinted, upon his death, by the North Carolina Dental Society. Vines Turner died on May 11, 1914 at 2:00 a.m.  He is buried at Raleigh, North Carolina.

Lysander Turner, 2nd Sergeant, Company G, 47th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry (N.C.T.)

Author's Note: Lysander Turner was my great-great grandfather.  I descend from him through Mary  Turner and Samuel Fletcher White, Wilmer Burton and Agnes Finison White, and Nancy White and Edgar Ray Green. 

Born in Granville County, North Carolina, in 1835, Lysander Turner was one of the seven children of James Patrick Henry Turner (born around 1806, date of death unknown) and Margaret Elizabeth Hunt (date of birth unknown, died around 1860), who were married August 6, 1832.  Lysander’s brothers were Lemon Thales Turner (born October 28, 1833; died August 7, 1903), Cicero Fidello Turner (born 1845, died 1914), Patrick Henry Turner (born February 8, 1849; died March 14, 1915), and Lewis Baws Turner (born 1855, died 1914).  His sisters were Louisa Anna Turner (born around 1839, date of death unknown), Elizabeth Ann (or Anna) Turner (born July 22, 1841, died March 7, 1911), and Margaret Henrietta Turner (dates of birth and death unknown).

Top-O-Matic T2 Update

Back in January, I started using a Top-O-Matic T2 tabletop cigarette injector.  After fourteen weeks of daily service, this machine has injected around 10,000 cigarettes (mostly with Cherokee, Riverside and 4 Aces pipe cut tobaccos and Windsail, Ramback, and Premier tubes) and has proven reliable and robust.  Most of these cigarettes have been King Sized but a carton of 100s was made without any difficulty.  Thus far, only a few  torn and improperly filled tubes (perhaps one quarter of one percent) have been experienced.  These have been due to operator error rather than any fault with the injector and most were salvaged. 

Cigarette Cases from Improvised to Extravagant are Practical Necessities for MYO and RYO Smokers

The use of cigarette cases is not very common amongst those who smoke ready made cigarettes, perhaps in part because it is time consuming to remove smokes from a perfectly serviceable package in order to put them into a case.  When they are used, it is often due to utility (to keep cigarettes from being crushed in certain environments), convenience (many cases are thinner and more convenient to carry than cigarette pack), vanity (cases range from simple to flamboyant), and perhaps even discretion in an intolerant society that is ever hostile towards the use of tobacco.

Are Revolvers Really More Dependable than Semi-automatic Pistols for Defense?

While semi-automatic pistols continually proved themselves suitable for military service in ordnance tests and combat during much of the Twentieth Century, revolvers remained weapons of choice for the majority of American police who seemed reluctant to depend on "jam-a-matics" that could fail at a critical moment.  Even now, though the transition to semi-automatics, which began in the 1980s, is largely complete, a few law enforcement agencies still permit revolvers to be carried on duty while a smattering still issue them.  Are double action