Page 29 - Demo

a conversation
Assistant Treasurer General Robert Mosby Turnbull
Rob Turnbull has been an active participant in the life of our One Society of Friends since he joined the Virginia Society in 1985. He was first elected in the Virginia Society Standing Committee in 1989. In the late 90s he was elected assistant treasurer, and served successively as secretary and vice president before being elected president of the Virginia Society in in 2009. He has also served the General Society successively as chairman of the investment committee and the library committee. Along the way he attended six Triennials as a delegate or alternate delegate. He was chairman of the Virginia Society Triennial Committee and was in charge of planning the 2016 Triennial Meeting in Williamsburg.
His father’s interest in family history led to the admission of father and son. “In the early 1980s,” Rob explains, “my father Benjamin Walton Turnbull devoted a lot of time to documenting our family tree. In the process, he uncovered two officers of the Revolution who were brothers.
He joined the Virginia Society in 1985 on the line of Lt. Henry Tatum, and I joined the same year representing his brother, Lt. Zachariah Tatum.” The Tatum brothers lived in Chesterfield County, in central Virginia and both served in the Virginia Continental Line. Zachariah served in Nathanael Greene’s army in Carolinas during the last stages of the war. Rob’s eldest son, Robert Tucker Turnbull, is now a member of the Virginia Society as his successor. His brother, Benjamin Harrison Turnbull, and his son, Benjamin Harrison Turnbull, Jr., have taken his father’s line.
“The Society of the Cincinnati,” he says, “has been my primary pastime—outside of regular employment—for more than twenty years. It has been a great honor and pleasure to work for the Society and to make many life-long friends in the process. It has truly been very enjoyable for me and for my wife, Anne. Nothing else comes close except family.”
Of all the Revolution’s engagement, Rob says
“I am most fascinated by the victory at Yorktown. This battle highlights the agility of the Washington’s forces and the commitment and expertise of the French army and navy. It is hard to imagine the sounds, smells and tension in the air during that siege and final engagement. It is even more remarkable considering the diverse people, cultures and skills that came together for that brief time to make it successful. I think that is a true American achievement.”
But, he adds, though the military history is impres- sive, “the political plot is even more intriguing.
I now appreciate that the Revolution was a civil war and a coalition of very different people with different expectations. Maybe modern America is like that, too. The combination of great leaders like Washington and hearty people in every state made it happen in a way that was unique, especially compared to later revolutions in France and Russia. I believe that the United States still has that fiber and will continue to reinvent itself and stay strong.”
That, he says, “brings me to the American Revolution Institute. Telling the story of the American Revolution is the duty of the Society and critical to the long-term health of the Republic. How we do that is the challenge. I find crusty old documents and maps very fascinating but most people in the U.S. do not have the time and interest to devote to them. As the ARI gets stronger and has more resources, I expect to see the Society auautoform partnerships to educate and inspire the public about how the country works for everyone and how it developed to be what it is today.
This probably entails much more than books and lectures. The musical Hamilton, for example, has done more to raise public awareness of the Revolution, its conflicting elements and ongoing impact than anything in recent decades. We need to look for opportunities to get our message to the public in new, unconventional ways.”
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