The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1907-12-13
ROW OVER WEDDING.
Bishop Turner Marries His Private Secrs-
tary and Incites Wrath of Other
Bishops Of the c. n. e. Church.

Bishops of the c. n. E. Church.
The Atlanta Journal publishes the
following: Bishop Henry M. Turner,
senior bishop Of the African Method
list Episcopal church, Will be arraigned
before the next council of bishops on
charge Of having married divorced
woman. On the committee which was
appointed by the last council to in
vestigate the bishops probable mar
rage, is Bishop Wesley j. Gaines, bish-
op of North and South Carolina ana
Maryland
The marriage which has caused such
stir IN the church occurred Tuesday
evening at the bishops residence, &c
Yonge street. The bride is Laura Pearl
Lemon, the bishops secretary, and.
according to the charges of the 5hurch
and the court records, the divorced
wife of Benjamin j. Powell. This is
the bishops fourth marriage.
Both the bishop and his wife assert
that she was never married to Powell
/ His wife asserts that she is the vic
tim Of as peculiar a conspiracy as
ever appeared outside of a detective
story, and that, she believes, Bishop
Gaines is backing. up Powell in the con.
spiracy. She alleges that the marriage
certificate was faxed" and though
she admits that Powell was granted
divorce in the superior court, she
says that she never contested it for
the simple reason that she had never
been married to Powell, and SO could
not be divorced from him.
Anticipating the storm that would fol-
low his marriage Bishop Turner col
lected all kinds Of documents, and
compiled and printed them under the
caption "Only for the Bishops Eye"
the eye in question being that of Bish-
op Ward.
1t appears that it had been rumored
for some time that the bishop was go
ing to wed his secretary, whom he
characterizes as "a heightened Chris
tian lady, and she replies to at least
80 out Of every 100 letters that come
to my house Still, the bishop de-
clares he was "dumbfounded and ava
launched with surprise when at tho
last council of bishops at Wllberforce
university in June, Bishop Gaines rose
and began a TRADE against him and
Laura Pearl Lemon. Bishop Gaines
said that the bishop had gone so far
as to give her a ring with H. M. T.
to L. p. L." engraved on 1t Bishop
Gaines called on the council to pre-
vent such marriage, one that would
be against church discipline
1T is a lei" shouted the senior
bishop
With that Bishop Gaines made for
him, and Bishop Turner lifted chair,
and would have then and there annihi-
lated his opponent, he says, but for
interference. Bishop Turner explains
that he did not call the other bishop
liar, but said 'it was a lie"
All this, and much more, Bishop Tur-
ner says In his foreword to only for
the Bishops Eye" He then produces
his documents. Chief among these is
an affidavit OF Rev Thomas Jefferson,
who is alleged to have married Powell
and Laura P. Lemon In 1897. Jeffer-
con denies that he performed the
ceremony, but admits he signed the
marriage license. He did this, he says,
because Powell misled him, and led
him to believe that the woman wanted
him to sign the paper.
The alleged marriage occurred on
March 70, 1897. On March %, 1897.
Laura Pearl Lemon, through Glenn
& Rountree, her attorneys, filed a psti-
ton with the ordinary denying the
marriage. She asked that the certia-
cate be not recorded.
Following this is an order Of Judge
w. H. Hulsey, then ordinary, ordering
that the certificate be withheld from
the court records.
Following this is an afldavit Of An
derson, Fielder, Rountree & Wilson,
Laura Lemons counsel, dated June s,
1907, declaring that she had con-
suited them about Powells suit, but
that they had advised her to let it pro-
ceed, as she was not party to it.