ONLY FOR THE
BISHOPS' EYE
BY
BISHOP H. M. TURNER,
1907.
>
Only Tor the 'Bishops' Eye.
Rt. Rev. Brethren:—
I was dumbfounded and avalanehed with surprise when we were
in Council at "Wilberforee University, in June, and Bishop Gaines
arose and ecmmeneed a tirade against Miss Laura P. Lemon and my¬
self getting married and she a divorced woman. And stated that he
was informed by unquestionable authority that I had given her a
ring of engagement, on which the following letters had been en¬
graved: "H. M. T. to L. P. L"; when, in fact, I had never presented
Miss Lemon with a ring in my life; had never thought about it, and
she had never asked me for such a thing since I was born. And
he called upcn the House of Bishops to prevent any such contemplat¬
ed marriage to a divorced woman. After he concluded, I sprang to
my feet in consternation, and said it was a lie, and repeated the same
three or four times, for I thought it outrageous for two bishops
to be living in the same city, and, as I thought, just as friendly as
two brothers, and he had never hinted anything of the kind to me
except on one occasion when leaving his house, he casually remarked:
"If you ever should marry again I hope you will not marry a di¬
vorced Avoman." I replied, "No, I will not do that." And I never
thought of the remark again.
Miss Lemon is such a high-toned Christian lady, and has done
so much for my family, and she replies to at least eighty out of
every hundred letters that come into my house, that I regarded the
misrepresentation on myself, and the attack upon that innocent
servant of God as a slander, and should not proceed from the mouth
of a bishop But when I said, "It is a lie," not saying that Bishop
Gaines told a lie, he rose up and made toward me, as I thought,
to strike me down, and knowing my arm had been recently frac¬
tured, I stepped back and lifted a chair above my head in self-de¬
fense, and but for the fact that some of you bishops caught the chair
and ran between Bishop Gaines and myself, I would have used it
had he struck me. Nor do I believe he would have made at me as
he did, had my arm not been fractured, for I did not call him a liar,
but I said it was a lie.
Miss Lemon has been my assistant secretary and secretary-in
chief near tight years, lacking only a couple of months, and she is
in charge of my house, and has been for some years, and she has
trained my granddaughters from little girls to womanhood, and has
married one off, and the other is engaged, and will likely soon be
at the head of her own house. And everything moved on smoothly
3
till Mrs. Turner died, and ever since a howl has been kept up about
Miss Lemon and myself getting married, and neither one of us
thought about it until we began to talk about the constant babble,
and, I confess, I came to the conclusion I did not care if she would
consent to marry me, and we finally concluded that when my grand¬
daughter got married and left the house that if neither had any
objections we might marry, so she could run the place with authority,
as every particle of kin would be gone. And somebody must provide
meals and take care of the place for visitors and myself. But this
last spring we solemnly agreed that if a marriage did take place
it should be when every relative had left the place. But as so much
excitement has been created, we have determined to have the mat¬
ter over at an earlier date.
Something over ten years ago a rumor was put out that Miss
Lemon was married to a man by Rev. Thos. Jefferson, and there was
a legal adjrstmcnt of the matter, as Miss Lemon emphatically de¬
nied it. And Rev. Jefferson visited my house on some question then
pending, and at the close of the conversation, I said to Brother Jef¬
ferson : '' Here, now, tell me the truth and the whole truth; there is
some talk afloat about you marrying some young lady by the name of
Miss Lemon to a gentleman, and she says it is a misrepresentation.
Did you marry them or not?" And he said to me, in person, "No, I
did no such thing; it is false, it is false!''
I replied by saying, "I am glad you have told me the truth;
I have never seen the young lady, but if you married them you owe
it to your honor to tell the truth.'" And, again, he replied: "I
never did it." And from that time to the present I dismissed any
thought of the question. I afterward made the acquaintance of
Miss Lemon, and on the solicitation of my second wife I employed
her as an assistant secretary, but later on she became secretary-in-
chief, and her learning and great intellectual powers have made
her indispensible to my office.
Miss Lemon is not so anxious to get married, for she has re¬
fused several good men to my knowledge, feeling that she could better
serve the church in her present position, for she, like her mother,
is a great church-worker, as is manifested by the unanimous election
to the Presidency of the W. H. and F. M. Society by the Atlanta
Annual Conference for five consecutive years, generally on motion
of President J. S. Flipper, and also Principal of the Missionary De¬
partment of Moiris Brown College by Trustees of the same.
But we must not be too elaborate, as she needs no encomium^
from me. Her spotless life, scholarship and great intellectuality
speaks for her. But so far as her being a divorced woman, or hav¬
ing ever been married, will be settled when you read the following
letters, and what the judge of the Court of Ordinary has decided
in her case. It may be that Bishop Graines thought he was right in
what he said. Possibly he did not know the circumstances and con-
4
dition of existing affairs. But when lie told you bishops that I
had failed to pay my grocery bills, and my creditors had been to
him about it, as every one of you heard, I am compelled to doubt
his veracity, unless he brings the men to my face.
Strange thai I should be in such bad repute about paying my
debts when every bank is ready to loan me money, and every store
is ready to credit me in Atlanta. My reputation for payment of
debts is noted as first-class, on the financial books, which are pub¬
lished monthly in Atlanta.
Hcwever, I did not intend to write a review of all the cir¬
cumstances leading up to what might ultimately culminate in a mar¬
riage. Suffice it to say, that, notwithstanding my two sons, Dr. John
P; Turner and David M. Turner, have commended it, and some
ministers have suggested the same, we had agreed, as I
have already said, this last spring that there should be no mar¬
riage while I had a relative under my roof. While stopping at the
residence of Bishop Grant last January, to allow the doctors to work
on my arm, he casually said to me that he had been informed that
Miss Lemon had been married. On my return home I told her that
the bishop had been informed that she had been married, and she
exhibited more than ordinary concern at the false information Bishop
Grant had received, as she was a great admirer of the bishop and
chafed somewhat under the idea that he might have cheerished the
wrong conclusion. So when I got ready to leave for Wilb^rforce
to meet the House of Bishops, she handed me a large envelope and
begged me to read its contents to Bishop Grant, or to have him read
it, and to show it to no one else. But she wanted Bishop Grant to
understand the facts. And when I looked at the contents of the
envelope I discovered she had secured a few affidavits of a recent
date, the contents of which had been given over ten years ago, before
the court, but had not been put in the form of an affidavit to be
read.
These affidavits and other papers were placed in my hands,
and I solemnly promised that no eye should see them but Bishop
Grant's, as she entertained a very exalted opinion of him, and as
he was the only bishop who had spoken to me about the matter,
as I told her. She simply desired to be set straight in his mind.
But making what might be a long story short, I borrowed from
her the official verdict of the court, the oath of Rev. Thos. Jeffor-
son, who was said to have performed the marriage, the affidavit of
the mother of Miss Lemon, Elder Render and the recent communi¬
cation of Rev. Jefferson, and I print the same, word for word, that
the bishops may see that she was never married, and is as free
from being divorced as an unborn child. I will not print the clinch¬
ing letter which Judge Hulsey has given, as I regard it unnecessary,
as the judge has officially set forth, as you will see that she never was
married and is not divorced. Nor is there any record of it, in the of-
5
fice of the ordinary of Fulton county, which the law would require of
all legal marriages. Any man can get a divorce in G-eorgia from any
woman living or dead, if he hires a lawyer,^and nobody appears to
contradict or forbid as in the case of Miss Lemon. But there can be
no divorce in fact, where no marriage has taken place and a blind
man can see that Miss Lemon has never been married, and, therefore,
the so-called divorce does not amount to a farce, as the letter of Mr.
Rountree, one of the ablest lawyers of Georgia will show. And the
paid for publications in one or two papers, under the head of "NO¬
TICE," was downright slander and persecution. All because Miss
Lemon has learning and brain and has bounded into popularity by
using them to promote the cause of Christianity and to honor her
sex; for she can draw as many, or more, to hear her lectures than any
one in Georgia.
I have written this short introductory to the papers submitted
because of the unpleasant episode which took place in our Council,
and could say five times as much, but as I wish to be the gentleman
and a Christian (which I know I am), I deem it in keeping with the
Episcopal Fraternity to say no more. All you will need to do is to
read her papers, and you will see the folly of charging her with
being divorced. Fraternally
H. M. TURNER.
Atlanta, Ga., July 25th, 1907.
P. S.—Since reaching home and writing the above, several of
my ministers have approached me excitedly and informed me of re¬
marks by Bishop Gaines and what he said had occurred in the
Bishops' Council, and that he had been appointed to investigate
things. I have been very, very private, but it appears that the
Bishop has been very glib. He must be demented enough to regard
himself the sole custodian of the A. M. E. Church. I was taking in
members and building up the Church before he knew the Church
existed, and have done as much for it as it would take him a hundred
years to do. But as he has used his tongue so freely as to make it
appear that I am under him, I will put an end to the matter in
short, and next time you see me I will be a married man. I love
peace, harmony and unity. Indeed I love to love, but if our Church
has to be wrecked by an Episcopal war, about absolutely nothing,
which he is trying to inaugurate, I will be found in the saddle.
Fraternally,
Atlanta, Ga., July 29th, 1907.
6
What the Judge Decided Ober Ten Years Ago
GEORGIA-FULTON COUNTY.
To the Ordinary of said County:
The petition of Miss Laura Pearl Lemon shows:—
(1)
That she is an unmarried woman, nineteen (19) years old. That
she was not married to Benjamin J. Powell on the 12th day of
March 1897, or at any other time.
(2)
That a marriage license was issued by the Honorable Ordinary
of said County on the 12th day of March, 1897, authorizing the
marriage of yo*r petitioner to the said Powell, and that said mar¬
riage license has been returned to the Ordinary with a certificate of
Thomas Jefferson attached thereto, to the effect that he performed
the marriage ceremony, uniting said people on said 12th day of
March, 1897.
(3)
That said certificate is absolutely untrue. Petitioner attaches
hereto an affida\it of said Thomas Jefferson to that effect.
(4)
\our petitioner submits that the records of the Ordinary's office
are in the control of the Ordinary, and said records should only
speak the truth, and that if the said certificate of the said Thomas
Jefferson is recorded, it will result in serious complications to her,
in the event she should desire to get married hereafter.
WHEREFORE, your petitioner prays that the said license
and certificate be not recorded by the Ordinary, and that the cer¬
tificate and the said license shall be cancelled, and that your peti¬
tioner shall have such other and further relief in the premises as
the justice of her cause demand.
GLENN & ROUNTREE,
Petitioner's Attorney.
GEORGIA, FULTON COUNTY.
You,. Laura Pearl Lemon, do swear that the allegations con¬
tained in vhe foregoing petition are true, so help vou God.
LAURA P. LEMON.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this, the 23rd day of March,
1897.
W. H. HULSEY, Ordinary Fulton County, Georgia.
GEORGIA, FULTON COUNTY.
Before me personally came Thomas Jefferson, who on oath says
that he did not join in marriage Benjamin J. Powell and Laura
Pearl Lemon on the 12th day of March, 1897, or at any other time,
and that the certificate made by him that he performed said mar-
7
riage ceremony fled by him in the Ordinary's office is not true.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this the 22nd day of
March, 1897. DAVID M. MATTHEWS,
N. P. Fulton County, Georgia.
GEORGIA, FULTON COUNTY.
IN THE COURT OF ORDINARY OF SAID COUNTY."
Ex Parte
Laura Pearl Lemon.
It having come to the knowledge of the Court by the testimony
of Thomas Jefferson and Laura Pearl Lemon, in open Court, chat
the certificate of Thomas Jefferson, a colored member of the Gospel,
certifying "that Benjamin Powell, Col., and Laura Pearl Lemon,
were joined together in the holy bans of matrimony on the 12th day
of March, 18^7," by him, is not true, and that said marriage has
never been consummated, and that the authority conveyed by the
license issued by me on said March 12th, 1897, authorizing the mar¬
riage of the said Benjamin Powell, Col., and Laura Pearl Lemon,
has never been exercised.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE COURT, that said
license and certificate be not admitted to the records of the Court
of Ordinary of said County.
This March 23rd, 1897. W. H. HULSEY,
Ordinary of Fulton County, Georgia.
GEORGIA—FULTON COUNTY)
Ordinary's Office of Said County. )
I, W. H. Hulsey, Ordinary of said County,
do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true,
correct and complete copy of the petition of
Laura Pearl Lemon, and of the affidavit of
Thomas Jefferson, and of the order of the
Court in said cause.
Witness, my official signature and seal, this
March 23, 1897.
W. H. HULSEY,
/ ) Ordinary Fulton County, Ga.
SEAL
8
ANDERSON, FELDER, ROUNTREE & WILSON,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
Clifford L. Anderson.
James L. Anderson.
Thomas B. Felder, Jr.
Daniel W. Rountree.
Charles G. Wilson.
E. D. Thomas.
Offices 237-244 Equitable Building.
Atlanta, Ga., June 6, 1907.
TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:—
We represented Miss Laura Pearl Lemon, in connection with
the claims made by Benj. J. Powell.
On Ma\ch 12, 1897, a marriage license was issued, authorizing
the marriage of said Powell and Miss Lemon, and on the same day
it was returned to the Ordinary with a certificate thereto, signed
by Thos. Jefferson, to the effect that he performed the marriage cere¬
mony, uniting said people on said day. A few days thereafter, Miss
Lemon had notice of this license, and the attached certificate, and on
March 23, 1897, we filed a petition for her with the Ordinary al¬
leging that the certificate was absolutely untrue; that said parties
had not been married, and prayed that the said license and certifi¬
cate be withheld from the rceords in the office of the Ordinary.
There was attached to said petition an affidavit made by the said
Thos. Jefferson denying, that he had joined said parties in marriage,
and stating that the certificate was not true.
There was hearing a hearing before the Ordinary. Evidence
was introduced and an order passed reciting that said parties were
never married, and that the certificate was untrue, and directing
that said license and certificate be not admitted to the records of
the court of Ordinary of said county, as it was null and void. And
the license thus cancelled and declared void by the Ordinary who is¬
sued it, has never in fact been recorded.
Some years afterward, Powell filed a suit for divorce against
Mrs. Laura P. Powell, alleging a marriage on March 12, 1897. The
petition was served upon Miss Lemon, and she consulted us. We
advised her that the proceedings and Order of the Ordinary herein¬
before set forth, were conclusive evidence that no marriage had taken
place and that the was not Laura P. Powell, the defendant. But in
as much as Povell had said that there was a marriage, and prayed
the court to dissolve it, we advised her to let him proceed with his
suit as she was not a party thereto and was not involved in any man¬
ner, and this would put an end to his annoyance.
We advised her that as she was not Mrs. Laura P. Powell, nor
9
the defendant, it was unnecessary, and a waste of time and money
for her to take any part in the case.
Under the existing facts, no one can contend that Miss Lemon
was ever a married woman or that she is now a divorced woman.
ANDERSON, FELDER, ROUNTREE & WILSON,
By Daniel W. Rountree.
The CZffidabit of the Mother of Miss Lemon
State of Georgia, County of Fulton.
The undersigned, being duly sworn, deposes and says: That the
report put in circulation that my daughter, Laura Pearl Lemon,
married B. J. Powell o n March 12, 1897, as claimed by him, is a wil¬
ful, malicious and wicked misrepresentation. Deponent was present
on said day when said Powell and Thomas Jefferson came to our
house. They were invited in by deponent, and remained not over
two or three minutes, and my daughter, Laura, was not present in
the parlor where they were with deponent. She was in another part
of the residence preparing a meal. Sthe did not come in while they
were in the house. Powell and Jefferson approached deponent's
gate together. Deponent was at the gate at the time, and upon the
suggestion of Rev. Render, who suggested that deponent had better
go in, for Powell had made threats against deponent's daughter
as to what he would do if she would not marry him, they were in¬
vited in by deponent. Deponent was present with said Jefferson
and Powell all the time that they were at the house on that day,
and neither of them saw my daughter.
Said Powell has never been in deponent's house again from
that day (March 12, 1897), until the present time.
After said Powell left the house, he circulated the rumor that
he had married my daughter. This is a malicious falsehood and im¬
possibility, for he did not see her. Deponent is unable to see what
pleasure he can get out of trying to slander my daughter. Deponent
knows that no marriage took place, and as a minister of the Gospel,
as he pretends to be, said Powell ought to be ashamed of himself,
and deserves expulsion from the Church.
(Witness)
J. M. Summerlin. LOUISA JACKSON".
Sworn to at'd subscribed before me this 10th day of June, 1907.
HORACE S. LACY,
Notary Public, Fulton County, Georgia.
TseUT
10
The Affidabit of Keb. J. D . Render, Who
Was Tresent and Sato What Transpired.
State of Georgia, County of Fulton.
The undersigned, being duly sworn, deposes and says: That he
has read the affidavit of Mrs. Louisa Jackson hereto attached, and
knows the averments therein contained to be true.
Deponent was at Mrs. Jackson's gate when Powell and Jefferson
approached the house, and at his suggestion she went into the house
with them. They remained only a short time. Deponent suggested
to Mrs. Jackson to go in the house, that Powell had made threats
about giving her daughter trouble if she did not marry him, and that
deponent did not know what he intended doing. Mrs. Jackson hur¬
ried in the house and invited the two gentlemen in the sitting-room.
Miss Lemon, at this time, was back in the kitchen preparing dinner
for the family. Powell and Jefferson were in the house only for a
few minutes, and as he left Powell said to deponent that Miss
Lemon would marry him and accompany him to Summertown, Ga.,
where he was then pastoring, or she would regret it as long as she
lived. Powell then went on to town and began telling people he
had married Miss Lemon. Deponent is sure that no marriage took
place at the time he says, for deponent was standing in front of
the house. Deponent knows that Miss Lemon did not come in the
front of the house to speak to him, and he knows it was her mother
who invited Powell into the sitting-room, with the front door still
standing open; und deponent knows that he did not remain in longer
than about two minutes.
Deponent is satisfied that subsequently the said Powell left
South Atlanta and was never in the Lemon house again, but in order
to give her trouble he put out the rumor that he had married with
the expectation of forcing her to accompany him and to crush her
in the public estimation.
J. D. RENDER.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 11th day of June, 1907.
HORACE S. LACY,
Notary Public, Fulton County. Georgia.
TsealT
11
The Turther Denial, Accompanied by An
'Explanation, of %eb. Thos. Jefferson,
Whose Affidabit Has Already
heen Made.
Atlanta, Ga., July 4, 1907.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:—
This is to certify that I, Rev. Thos. Jefferson, of whom it has
been said, united in marriage Miss Laura P. Lemon and Rev. B. J.
Powell, do solemnly declare it to be untrue and false in every sense.
I did sign up a marriage license for said Powell, but I was misled
by him to do what I did as he and Miss Lemon had been going to¬
gether, and, as I understood, had been engaged, so he misled me,
and had me believe Miss Lemon desired that I go ahead and sign up
said license to enable her to get away and accompany him. But T
did iiot perform any ceremony and Miss Lemon has been wronged
by said Powell. I see that Rev. Powell has had it published, or
caused it to be published, that he has gotten a divorce from Miss
Lemon, but this is not true, for they have never been married; at
least no marriage ceremony was ever performed by me, and he could
get no divorce from a woman to whom he has never been married.
Miss Lemon asked me for a statement, saying whether or not I had
performed said ceremony, and I gladly and freely give this true
statement to a woman that I know has been misrepresented and
wronged. I am very sorry of the part I took in this matter, but I was
misled, and beg Miss Lemon's pardon for taking any hand in wrong¬
ing her, and beg the pardon of her friends and all concerned for
having my name falsely connected with the rumor they have heard
of this affair. I did accompany Rev. Powell to the home of Miss
Lemon on ihe day it was reported the marriage took place, but we
had no conversation with any one at the house except the mother
of Miss Lemon This is a true statement, and I hope Miss Lemon
will have no mere annoyance with the false rumor.
Witness: F. E. Jones. REV. THOS. JEFFERSON.
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