"James Milton Turner" {1840-1915}

Was a prominent politician,education,advocate,and diplomat in the years after the Civil War.James was born a slave in St.Louis,Missouri.His daddy,John Turner (also known as John Colburn),was
a well-known "horse doctor" in St.Louis who had
earlier purchased his freedom.In 1843 John was able to buy freedom for his wife,Hannah,and his son James.When he was fourteen James attended Oberlin
College in Ohio for term unril his daddy's death in 1855 forced him to return to St.Louis to help support his mama and family.During the Civil War enlisted in the Union and served as the body servant for Col.Madison Miller.After the
war,Governor Thomas Fletcher (Madison's brother-in-law),appointed James Assistant Superintendent of Schools responsible for establishing freedmen schools
in Missouri.President Ulysses Grant appointed Ambassador to Liberia in 1871,
Making him the first African American to serve in the U.S. diplomatic corps.He held the post in Monrovia,
the capital of Liberia until 1878.Following his return to the U.S.he worked  for relief and aid Exoduster immigrants to Kansas.In 1881 he & Hannibal Carter organized the
Freedmen's Olahoma immigration Association to promote African American homesteading in Oklahoma.In the last two decades of his life James strenuously for the rights of Cherokee,Chotaw, Chickasaw,freedmen in the Native American Territory.James died in Andmore,Oklahoma.