David Turpie

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title: "David Turpie" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1828-births", "1909-deaths", "democratic-party-united-states-senators-from-indiana", "kenyon-college-alumni", "people-from-hamilton-county,-ohio", "politicians-from-indianapolis", "speakers-of-the-indiana-house-of-representatives", "democratic-party-members-of-the-indiana-house-of-representatives", "19th-century-indiana-politicians", "19th-century-united-states-senators"] description: "American politician" topic_path: "people/1820s" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Turpie" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	David Turpie
image	David Turpie.jpg
caption	Turpie, between January 1891 and January 1894
office1	Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus
term_start1	April 1898
term_end1	1899
predecessor1	Arthur P. Gorman
successor1	James K. Jones
office2	United States Senator
from Indiana
term_start2	January 14, 1863
term_end2	March 3, 1863
predecessor2	Joseph A. Wright
successor2	Thomas A. Hendricks
term_start3	March 4, 1887
term_end3	March 3, 1899
predecessor3	Benjamin Harrison
successor3	Albert J. Beveridge
birth_name	David Battle Turpie
birth_date
birth_place	Hamilton County, Ohio, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
party	Democratic
education	Kenyon College (BA)
signature	Signature of David Battle Turpie (1828–1909).png
resting_place	Crown Hill Cemetery and Arboretum, Section 25, Lot 164
resting_place_coordinates
::

| name = David Turpie | image = David Turpie.jpg | caption = Turpie, between January 1891 and January 1894 | office1 = Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus | term_start1 = April 1898 | term_end1 = 1899 | predecessor1 = Arthur P. Gorman | successor1 = James K. Jones | office2 = United States Senator from Indiana | term_start2 = January 14, 1863 | term_end2 = March 3, 1863 | predecessor2 = Joseph A. Wright | successor2 = Thomas A. Hendricks | term_start3 = March 4, 1887 | term_end3 = March 3, 1899 | predecessor3 = Benjamin Harrison | successor3 = Albert J. Beveridge | birth_name = David Battle Turpie | birth_date = | birth_place = Hamilton County, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | party = Democratic | education = Kenyon College (BA) | signature = Signature of David Battle Turpie (1828–1909).png | resting_place = Crown Hill Cemetery and Arboretum, Section 25, Lot 164 | resting_place_coordinates = David Battle Turpie (July 8, 1828 – April 21, 1909) was an American politician who served as a Senator from Indiana from 1887 until 1899; he also served as Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus from 1898 to 1899 during the last year of his tenure in the Senate.

Biography

Turpie was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, the son of John Turpie and Mary Biddle Turpie. Mary was a native of Scotland. He grew up in Ohio and graduated from Kenyon College in 1848. He studied law and moved to Logansport, Indiana, where he set up a law practice. He soon became active in the United States Democratic Party to which he would belong for the rest of his life.

Turpie was elected to the state legislature at the age of 24 in 1852. He served one term and then returned to practicing law. In 1854 he became a common pleas judge and in 1856 he became a state circuit court judge. In 1858 he was elected to the state legislature again for one year.

He was the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House seat held by Schuyler Colfax in 1862, losing only narrowly. Shortly thereafter, Turpie was elected to the United States Senate from Indiana to fill the unexpired term of Jesse D. Bright who had been expelled for alleged disloyalty. He served for just under two months, until the regularly elected senator, Thomas A. Hendricks, arrived to take his seat.

Turpie moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1872. He was again elected to the state legislature and served as speaker of the Assembly from 1874 to 1875. He served as the United States District Attorney for Indiana from 1886 to 1887.

In 1887, Turpie was again elected to the United States Senate from Indiana, this time for a full term. He defeated Benjamin Harrison who would soon become the President of the United States. His return to the U.S. Senate, after 24 years and 1 day out of office, marks the third longest gap in service to the chamber in history. Turpie was reelected in 1893 and served in the Senate for 12 years, from 1887 to 1899. As a senator, he served as chairman of the Committee on the Census from 1893 to 1895, chairman of the Democratic Conference from 1898 to 1899, and supported a plebiscite on annexation for the people of Hawaii rather than forced annexation. Turpie was defeated for reelection by Albert J. Beveridge. He retired from public life and died in Indianapolis.

Journalist and historian Claude G. Bowers, while acknowledging Turpie's reputation as a scholarly speaker of "classic English" and a scrupulous upholder of senatorial decorum, also recorded an anecdote reflecting the dry mischief of which Turpie was capable:[W]hen Henry Cabot Lodge entered the Senate a bit pretentiously and his colleagues thought a bit of hazing might cut him down to size, Turpie, a master of satire, had been assigned the task, because he could do it so beautifully.

References

Sources

References

1. "Schuyler Colfax, 17th Vice President (1869-1873)". Secretary of the Senate, Washington, D.C..
2. Ostermeier, Eric. (December 4, 2013). "Bob Smith and the 12-Year Itch". Smart Politics.
3. [[Claude G. Bowers]], ''My Life: The Memoirs of Claude Bowers'', [https://archive.org/details/mylifethememoirs017259mbp/page/n41/mode/1up?view=theater pp.32-33] (New York: [[Simon & Schuster]] 1962) (retrieved Jul.20, 2024)

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