In January 1714, Turner left England with his parents for
Philadelphia in
British America. Philadelphia records identify him as a sea captain in 1724 and a businessman in 1726. Decades prior to the
American Revolution, he was a business partner of
William Allen, the chief justice, and his firm, Allen and Turner, which was one of the most important in the
Thirteen Colonies.
Commerce Turner entered into trade agreements and
iron mining and manufacture ventures, including the Union Iron Works in present-day
High Bridge, New Jersey. With Allen and others, Turner participated in the importation and trade of slaves, which was then legal. On March 18, 1732, Turner acquired the land that comprises present-day
Allentown from
Thomas Penn, a son of
William Penn. The land was sold two years later, on September 10, 1735, to
William Allen.
Politics Turner was also engaged in politics. He was elected as a member of the
Philadelphia City Council in 1729, an alderman in 1741, and as a member of
Province of Pennsylvania's provincial council in 1747. In 1745, Abram Taylor was elected
mayor of Philadelphia, then a non-paying office, but declined to serve, for which he was fined thirty pounds. The Philadelphia city council then elected Turner to the office but he likewise refused it, for which he was similarly fined. During the
American Revolution, which lasted from 1775 to 1783, Turner was a staunch
loyalist.
Other endeavors Turner was a member of
Benjamin Franklin's
Junto and of the Dancing Assembly of 1748. He was a founder in 1749 of the
Academy and Charitable School of Philadelphia, and then of the College of Philadelphia, which is now the
University of Pennsylvania, and served as a trustee at both these institutions until his death in 1783. ==Death==