Jacksonville, IL
Jonathan Baldwin Turner was a leading voice in the social movement of the 1850s that produced land grant universities in the United States, including the University of Illinois.
J.B. Turner became a professor of Illinois College at Jacksonville, Illinois in 1833, shortly after its founding. Illinois College was unable to pay salaries for nearly two years and instead gave Turner 17.5 acres of property on College Hill. This became the site of his home and an experimental plot where he conducted agricultural and horticultural experiments.
From 1837 until his death on January 10, 1899, Turner was active in many agricultural and horticultural movements and association. One of his great contributions was the introduction of the Osage orange as a practical solution for fencing the prairies. Most of the hedge fences which existed in Illinois in 1961 were grown from plants introduced by Turner. The Turners’ full research on the residence is accessible in their Christmas 1961 note, which was enclosed inside the card.
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