Biography

08/09/1886 - 03/01/1948

TURNER, Ellwood Jackson, a Representative from Delaware County; born, August 9, 1886 in the City of Allegheny (Pittsburgh), Allegheny County, Pa.; graduated, Chester High School, 1904; attended, Swarthmore College, 1904-1905; LL.B., University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1908; sergeant, United States Army (World War I); Four-Minute Man (World War I); Civilian Defense Board (World War II); attorney-at-law; solicitor, Central Delaware County Sewer Authority; solicitor, City of Chester Municipal Water Authority; elected as a Republican to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 1925 term and reelected to serve 8 consecutive terms thereafter; elected, Majority Leader (1933-1934); elected, Minority Leader (1935-1938, 1941-1942); elected, Speaker (1939-1940); appointed, Special Committee on Interstate Cooperation (1935-1936); appointed, Commission on Interstate Cooperation (1937-1942, 1945-1948); appointed, Joint State Government Commission (1937-1940; chair, 1939-1940); appointed, chair, Inter-State Commission on Delaware River Basin (1939-1942, 1945-1948); appointed, General State Authority Commission (1939-1940); not a candidate for reelection to the House (1942); unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor (1942); reelected to the House in a Special Election on November 2, 1943; Sworn-In, November 17, 1943 to serve the remaining 1943 term; reelected to the House to serve 2 more consecutive terms; member, Board of Council of State Governments; died while in office, March 1, 1948 in the city of Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania; interred, West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.