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William Greene Turner

American artist

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ8010163 ↗
Source-derived summary

William Greene Turner (October 21, 1833 – 1917) was an American sculptor.

Early life

Turner was born at Newport, Rhode Island, the son of James Varnum Turner and Catherine (Greene) Turner.

Civil War service

During his adult life, Turner was a dentist before the outbreak of the American Civil War. He enlisted as a sergeant in Company K of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry on June 5, 1861. Coincidentally, Company K was commanded by his brother, Captain Charles W. Turner, who had previously been commander of the Newport Artillery Company. On July 22 he was then commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant to fill a vacancy resulting from a casualty during the Battle of Bull Run which was fought the day before. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on November 28, 1861 to fill a vacancy created by his brother's resignation from the Army.

Turner was promoted to captain in command of Company G of the 2nd Rhode Island on April 4, 1863. Shortly after assuming command of G Company, he was wounded on May 3 at the Battle of Salem Church, Virginia during the Chancellorsville Campaign. On May 11, he sent to his brother Dr.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “William Greene Turner” as american artist. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around William, Greene and Turner.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1833, 1917, 1861, 1863—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1833-10-21. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with William, Greene and Turner providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “William Greene Turner”, the useful work is to connect “american artist” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8010163. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1833, 1917, 1861 and 1863.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

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  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “William Greene Turner”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow William Greene Turner primary sources, William Greene Turner archive and William research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “William Greene Turner” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.