Representative Charles Murray Turpin

Charles Murray Turpin (March 4, 1878 – June 4, 1946) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania who served four terms in Congress between 1929 and 1937. Over the course of his public career, he held a series of local and county offices before representing his district at the national level during a period of profound economic and political change in the United States.

Turpin was born in Kingston, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, on March 4, 1878. He was educated in local schools and attended Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, an institution that provided him with a foundation for both professional and public life. Before embarking on his professional career, he became active in military service at a young age, reflecting the strong civic traditions of his community and era.

From 1896 to 1901, Turpin served in the Pennsylvania National Guard, rising to the rank of captain. During the Spanish–American War he served in the United States Army as a corporal in Company F of the Ninth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Following his military service, he worked in a variety of occupations, including as a carpenter, a grocery clerk, and a steamboat captain, experiences that acquainted him with the working lives and concerns of many of his future constituents.

Turpin pursued higher education in the field of dentistry and enrolled in the dental department of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He graduated in 1904 and, the following year, in 1905, commenced the practice of dentistry in his hometown of Kingston. His professional standing and local roots helped establish him as a respected figure in the community and provided a platform for his entry into public service.

Turpin’s political and civic career began at the local level. He served as a member of the Kingston board of education from 1916 to 1922, participating in the oversight of local schools and educational policy. He then served as burgess (mayor) of Kingston from 1922 to 1926, where he was responsible for municipal administration and local governance. Building on this experience, he was elected prothonotary of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, serving from 1926 to 1929 and managing important judicial and administrative records for the county.

In 1929, Turpin entered national politics. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected as a Republican to the Seventy-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative John J. Casey. He subsequently won reelection to the Seventy-second, Seventy-third, and Seventy-fourth Congresses, serving continuously from 1929 to 1937. During these four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Pennsylvania constituents through the onset of the Great Depression and the early years of the New Deal era. As a member of the House, Turpin contributed to the democratic process at a time when Congress was grappling with major economic, social, and political challenges.

After an unsuccessful campaign for reelection in 1936, Turpin concluded his congressional service in January 1937. He returned to public employment at the county level and was appointed assistant chief clerk of the Luzerne County Assessor’s Office in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. In this capacity, he continued to serve the public in an administrative role, applying his experience in local and county government.

Charles Murray Turpin died in Kingston, Pennsylvania, on June 4, 1946. He was interred in Forty Fort Cemetery in Forty Fort, Pennsylvania, not far from his birthplace and the community in which he had spent much of his professional, political, and personal life.