Henry McNeal Turner, born in 1834 on Hannah Circuit near Newberry, S.C., worked in the cotton fields and in the blacksmithing trade until he was 12 years old. He slowly became active in politics during his youth, fighting for better treatment of black Americans in the South.
Turner tried learning to read several times throughout his childhood, but a law forbidding anyone to teach a black person the alphabet hampered his attempts, and he learned only pieces at a time. At age 15, he was given a job in a law office at the local courthouse, where men in the office defied the law and helped him learn to read.
Turner had a strong desire to become a theologian, which evolved into the establishment of a church exclusively for blacks. He said he believed that the purpose of a black church would be to develop racial pride and consciousness among black Americans everywhere.
Although Turner is most commonly remembered as one of the first bishops in the African American Episcopal Church, he was also a magazine editor, a political activist, a preacher and a college chancellor. He was also active in the military, appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as the first black chaplain ever to serve in the U.S. Army.

— Jessica Richelderfer