Robert James Turnbull (1807 - 1854)

Born 3 Oct 1807 in Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Cornelia Patterson (Van Rensselaer) Turnbull — married 16 Feb 1832 in New York, United States

Descendants

Died 4 Jun 1854 at age 46 in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States

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Biography

Robert James Turnbull, M.D., born Charleston, South Carolina, October 3, 1807, died, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 4, 1854, son of Robert James Turnbull of Charleston, and Claudia Butler (Gervais) Turnbull, of a Huguenot family of South Carolina.

Dr. Turnbull's father was one of the most prominent publicists and respected statesmen of his state, and was the intimate friend and coadjutor of Calhoun. Although Dr. Turnbull studied medicine and graduated as a physician, he was not a general practitioner, as he early inherited from his father the latter's extensive estates in Issaquena county, Mississippi comprising six thousand acres of productive cotton plantations. It was on these he passed his winters, personally superintending the details of business management and caring for the welfare of his dependents, among whom his knowledge of medicine was most useful and highly appreciated.

His summer residence and the family home was Throgg's Neck, now incorporated in Greater New York. On his way north in June, 1854, he stopped at Cincinnati, where cholera was then prevalent; was seized with sudden illness, and expired after a few hours. He was buried in old St. Philip's historic churchyard, Charleston, South Carolina

Married Ann Wilkens (1804-1845 m. 1829)

• Children:
  • Gracia b. 1833
  • Robert James Jr b. 1834
  • Lewis G. b. 1835
  • Ann Wilkens b. 1838
  • Martina Wilkens b. 1840 died young
  • Sinclair Gearvey b. 1842 died young

Married Cornelia Van Rensselaer (1812-1890 m. 1847)

• Children:
  • Cornelia Patterson b. 1848 died in infancy
  • Catherine Euphemia b. 1851

Sources

• "United States Census, 1850", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCTS-WSZ : Tue Jul 18 02:16:58 UTC 2023), Entry for Robert G Turnbull and Cornelia P Turnbull, 1850.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92412494/robert-james-turnbull: accessed 12 August 2023), memorial page for Dr Robert James Turnbull Jr. (3 Oct 1807–4 Jun 1854), Find a Grave Memorial ID 92412494, citing Saint Philip's Episcopal Church Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA; Maintained by Saratoga (contributor 46965279).