07/05/2026
Gotta love history ❤️
July 4, 1829, local educator Julia Turner was born. She was one of thirteen children born to Amherstburg residents Henry and Rosena Turner who had escaped enslavement in West Virginia and Kentucky in 1828.
By the age of 14, Julia was already teaching. She completed her education at Oberlin College and earned her teaching certificate. She taught at schools throughout Essex County including those in Mount Pleasant, Colchester, Amherstburg, Sandwich and the Marble Village Coloured School (pictured here) in Anderdon.
Julia Turner is described in her obituary as a frugal woman who possessed great thrift, accumulating considerable property during her lifetime. Impressively, she owned at least nineteen properties in Windsor-Essex! She had farms in Malden, Anderdon, Colchester North, and town property in Sandwich and Amherstburg. She also invested. Upon her death, the estimated value of her real estate holdings was $4,200.
Image: Children in front of the Marble Village Coloured School, [ca. 1900] from Alvin D. McCurdy fond Reference Code: F 2076-16-5-2, Archives of Ontario, I0024783
