Calvin Turner

Calvin Turner

Biography

Calvin Turner was born to John Turner and Nancy Turner in San Antonio, Texas, March 16, 1904. Turner’s father migrated from Florida to Texas, where Nancy was born and raised. The Turner family was fairly big; Calvin had three brothers and three sisters. By 16 years old, Calvin and his family moved from Texas to Silver City, Mexico in 1920 to Arizona, and then Los Angeles until 1930, where Calvin lived until the time of his arrest. Between 1924 and 1930, Calvin had been arrested in five different cities (San Antonio, Texas; Santa Monica; Los Angeles; San Bernardino; San Francisco) for charges ranging from disturbing the peace, felony theft, grand larceny (auto), failing to report an auto accident, and eventually first degree robbery and assault with a deadly weapon in San Francisco.

Calvin stated, “ that he was accused of holding up Lemon’s Drug Store located on the corner of 12 St. and Hooper St., Los Angeles, and at the point of a revolver, taking from the clerk Foster Driver approximately $ 65.00 in cash on or about March 16, 1930. Calvin is also accused of shooting Foster in the hand during the hold up. After serving 7 years in San Quentin prison on a 1-15 and 7-year sentence, Calvin was released, whereas an employer in Lucia, Monterey agreed to employ him for $20.00 per month as a janitor in a garage service station.