By Marie Hughes, director of the Chambers County Museum at Wallisville
Alma Lois Harmon Turner of Chambers County, Texas, was born from good solid pioneer stock. The crimson thread of life of those who came before her infused her with the character qualities coveted by all who aspire to succeed. Her ancestors modeled vision, courage, and leadership as they traveled to an untamed land full of opportunity where, with grit and tenacity, they carved out a legacy which continues to this day.
Alma Harmon learned the skills of entrepreneurship from her grandfather, Charley Harmon, who established the Harmon Saddle Shop in Hankamer. The qualities of honesty and fairness she learned at her father Alvie’s knee who taught her ‘your word is your bond.’ Her strong-willed determination and can-do attitude was mirrored in her Moor ancestors who left the Highland Moors of Scotland to seek a life of freedom in this great land.
Her grandfather, Euell Lester Moor, who began rice farming in Chambers County in 1900, passed down to her a love for the land and every aspect of farm life. It is no wonder this spunky little Texan rose to a position of honor and authority in Chambers County. Her integrity and heart of service for friends and community can still be witnessed today in the lives of her children and grandchildren and I’m sure will be perpetuated through many generations. The following is her story:
Alma Lois Harmon Turner was the first, and has been the only, elected female judge in Chambers County, as of 2024. She was a 1942 Anahuac graduate and attended a business school in Beaumont after graduation. Alma Lois began working in the Ration Office at the courthouse during World War II and began her career in the county judge’s office in 1946, working under chief executives ranging from Floyd Williams to Guy C. Jackson III. She was working for Judge Oscar Nelson when he retired, and Guy C. Jackson was appointed to serve Nelson’s remaining term. In 1978, Jackson ran for the office as did Alma Lois. She defeated Jackson, her boss at the time, and become Chambers County’s first elected female county judge.
A 1979 newspaper article reported, “An overflow crowd of more than 200 friends of Chambers County officialdom filled the district courtroom in the courthouse at Anahuac on the afternoon of January 3, for the inauguration of officials elected during the past year.”
“While her husband, Ira A. (Bub) Turner, and other family members and friends looked on, County Judge, Alma Lois Turner took office for her four-year term with an oath of office administered by her longtime friend, County Auditor Floyd E. Williams. He recalled an association with Mrs. Turner going back about 30 years, during which Mrs. Turner served as secretary to Williams as County Judge, and to three other County Judges who followed Williams in office,” the article continues. “For use in her official duty as presiding officer of Commissioners Court, Judge Turner accepted a hand-made wooden gavel from W. E. ‘Bill’ Hughes of Anahuac, made from wood of a tree planted in Chambers County more than 100 years of age.”
Alma Lois, always given to humility, attributed her success to her constituents.
“The people in the county encouraged me to run. I think the people in the county were ready for a change in the administration, and they thought I was the one that could do the job,” she told Adrienne Lyons in a 1982 interview.
Although Alma Lois accomplished much during her years as county judge, she is especially proud of her work with juveniles, work that she says paid off in her 1978 campaign.
“I had the support of the youth. I’ve always contributed a lot to the youth programs in our county, and they really turned out and helped. In fact, they even organized an absentee campaign – the boys and girls that were off in college made sure they voted,” she told Lyons.
County Clerk Norma W. “Beanie” Roland added, “I think that she does a real good job in what she does. She has compassion for people. She needs to be able to see the side of the officer and the person that comes before the court. In her capacity as a juvenile judge, she’s particularly valuable because she tries to help the child.”
Alma Lois served eight years as Chambers County judge, serving from 1979-1987.
Norma Ezer, 31-year employee of Chambers County, said of Alma Lois, “I knew her well, not only as my co-worker but my boss and friend. When I began working for the county, Alma Lois was the Chief Deputy to the county judge, and I worked under her. When she ran for office and won, I took her job, and the title Chief Deputy was changed to administrative assistant. There were others who worked in the office as well, but I was her point person.”
“Alma Lois was honest, trustworthy, and dedicated to the citizens of Chambers County. As the county judge she was a hard worker, preparing diligently for the responsibilities of the office. She treated everyone with respect, listened to citizen concerns and dealt fairly with them. She was a great boss and judge. I loved her and am so happy to be able to share these few words about her,” concluded Norma from a heart of genuine admiration.
“I loved Alma Lois,” said Dan Ella Syphrett McCarty of Liberty, “She was wonderful. She was candid, honest, exhibited great common sense, and was an extremely hard worker. These qualities made her a great county judge. When she took office there was not a juvenile probation department, so she created one and hired me to work there in 1979. Alma Lois didn’t take herself very seriously, but she took her job seriously, never allowing her position to go to her head. She was a wonderful person to work for. She was straightforward, you didn’t have to guess at what she wanted, and she gave us the tools we needed to do the job.”
Family ties
Alma Lois Harmon was the middle child and only daughter of Alva J. Harmon and Mildred Ora Moor Harmon. Growing up sandwiched between an older brother, A J. Harmon, Jr. and younger brother, Billy Earl Harmon, Alma Lois was definitely not one to be content, confined to the indoors and household chores.
Her son, Michael said, “Mother was a good housekeeper, but you would be more likely to find her sweeping the barn than in the house.”
Although Alma Lois loved her mom, she absolutely idolized her dad, Alva Harmon, and followed closely in his footsteps. She loved everything about the farming and ranching lifestyle, and was equally comfortable astride a saddle as she was working on one. She was a no-nonsense kind of gal, but not a harsh one, for her direct manner was always coupled with fairness and honesty and she would never ask you to do anything she was not willing to do herself. These very qualities served her well and did much to shape her future.
A Love for Livestock
Alma Lois had a love for livestock from her youth, so it was only natural when she was grown that she wanted to pass that love on to others.
Janet Lagow, of Double Bayou, said, “The 4-H horse club, started by Alma Lois Turner, started out with about 12 kids and jumped pretty quickly to 20 and pretty soon we had 60 kids. We started at Anahuac Park with just a little rope around the property to the South of the American Legion Hall. We met every month, we had projects to do, reports to turn in, and awards programs. Alma Lois did a jam-up job. She allowed us to have input about what we’d like to discuss or do each month, like bring in a farrier. I was in about the fifth grade. I think I was 9, which was the earliest you could join 4-H. We were trained on how to clean our saddle, how to improve stalls in your barn, and how to take care of your tack. She trained us on the different events we could compete in and show in. She taught us leadership skills and took us on trail rides and at least two or three horse shows a year. There wasn’t anybody as good as Alma Lois. Truly, she went above and beyond taking us further than anyone else could have. She was an amazing lady – one superb lady!”
“There was a group working with home improvements and I told her, Jean and I want to learn stall improvement in the barn,” said Lagow continued. “Alma Lois said, ‘Most people are working with home improvement, but I’ll let you girls work on stall improvement.’ She was just so, so sweet. We also rode in parades; she took us any and everywhere. I can still tell you who started us out – the Porter girls from Mont Belvieu, Mike Turner, and of course little Otho Turner was following us around, he wasn’t old enough yet. There was George Mayes, and Jean and I, there was probably only 12 of us to start out with but it really caught hold and went really big. Alicia Dick (now Turner), joined us and her brother. It was really neat, one of the best clubs I had ever been in, I loved it.”
Alma Lois was funny and witty at times, and very organized. She naturally had great leadership skills, her friends say.
“She could just bring out the best in you and she was great at keeping you between the lines. She expected a lot out of you and therefore she could get a lot out of you. We wanted to do what she asked because we admired her, she excelled in what she did,” Lagow said reverently. “She had competed in rodeos, was a saddle maker, and even later on went on to become county judge, she was a high achiever. She taught us things that could take us farther in life if we wanted them to. She would tell us about registered shows available for us to move forward in after 4-H and told us of colleges that have rodeo clubs. Alma Lois didn’t just teach us how to get together and have a playday and ride fast, she taught us horsemanship skills: how to be a better rider, how to control our horse, how to feed it, how to take care of it and groom it, not just run the heck out of it. Other equestrian leaders would do well to follow in her footsteps.”
Alma Lois taught the kids how to train their horses into well-rounded horses, so they could not only use them in competitions but on the working ranch.
“She’d say, ‘If you train your horse the right way you ought to be able to use it in competitions and still go out and work cows and it be just as settled and nice as can be. This is what’s going to perfect your horse where you and it work as a team.’ I could see if you followed in her footsteps your destiny could be as far as you could dream. She instilled that in you, to reach as high as you want your dreams to go because if you have the will you’ll have the way. She built a positive feeling in you that made you want to get better and better. When she was teaching you something and you didn’t do it right, she’d say, ‘Nope, you didn’t listen to me, come back and do it again, nope come do it again,’ and she would make you do it until you got it right,” said Lagow with a laugh. “She never made it about her, she made it about getting the best out of you and she knew how to do it. She will always be special to me. I loved her.”
Mentor at Heart
“Alma Lois and the county commissioners, Joe Lagow, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. McCall, another from Winnie, and especially Bob Carroll, decided they needed to have somewhere for the kids to show their projects and compete with others, so they started the Youth Project Show. The first arena was just a roped off area on the south side of the American Legion Hall at Fort Anahuac Park,” said Janet. “The rope followed the road around to mark off the area. The rope was the gate to get in and out, you just untied it. Eventually they got the arena set up and started building the barns. I’m telling you, if you got a ribbon, it was really something. Nowadays they get a buckle right away, you get it too soon and then there’s nothing to look forward to.”
“If we just got a participation ribbon, Alma Lois would pull us over to the side and say, ‘This is what you need to work on.’ She gave that personal touch, everyone was like her kid. She had a real heart for the kids and a vision like no other. She took a handful of little country kids and nurtured us and had us compete with kids who were already established in the sport. All the kids who were trained under her leadership have really gone a long way with the wisdom she instilled in us of fulfilling our dreams she gave us the desire to strive and work for what we wanted. She patterned that,” Lagow said.
90th birthday
Lagow attended Alma Lois’s last birthday party in 2014.
“I went to her 90th birthday and she said, ‘Janet, you know these people will not let me ride a horse! I just don’t understand it. Just get me some steps, that’s all I want for my birthday, to ride a horse, can you help me with that?’ I told her, ‘yes ma’am, let me go find Mike and Pat and we’re going to work on that,” Lagow laughed, remembering. “Alma Lois said, ‘I’ve got the horse, I just need somebody to get me up on that horse!’ The same qualities that caused us to look up to her and admire her are the same ones that made her the best county judge we ever had, because she carried that same character and integrity into the courtroom. Just an exceptional lady.”
Alma Lois Harmon Turner died in Beaumont, Texas, on Saturday, July 19, 2014, just a few weeks past her 90th birthday. The people she touched and encouraged to strive for excellence will forever be a testament to her life of integrity and love for justice and equity.