John Wesley Turney
Corporal, Co. H, 6th Pa. Heavy Artillery

John Wesley Turney was born June 15, 1839, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents, John and Eleanor Bailey Turney, were both born in Ireland. He enlisted in the Army as a Private on September 1, 1864 in Company Battery H, 6th Heavy Artillery Regiment Pennsylvania. He was promoted to Full Corporal on December 18, 1864.

After the war, he married Margaret McNeeley in Pittsburgh. He worked for a time as a fireman in Pittsburgh, and later moved to Chicago, Illinois with his family. He worked for his remaining years with the Pullman Company as a Roll Turner. In Chicago, he lived with one of his two daughters and her husband, and six of his seven granddaughters. His son-in-law also worked for Pullman. He was a devoted family man, and loved to escort his granddaughters to the stage shows in downtown Chicago. He died on April 5th, 1906, and is buried in a family burial plot in Chicago.

Photos and biography provided by Victor Murray.