[1] Born in Lévis, Canada East, the son of Simon Turgeon and Pélagie Paradis, he was educated at the Séminaire of Quebec and the Université Laval.

Turgeon was a journalist in Bathurst, New Brunswick and was editor for Le Courrier des Provinces Maritimes.

He was summoned to the Senate of Canada in 1922 representing the senatorial division of Gloucester, New Brunswick on the advice of William Lyon Mackenzie King.

[2] Turgeon was married twice: to Margaret Eulalia Baldwin in 1876 and to Mary Loretta Meahan in 1905.

[2] His son James Gray Turgeon also served as Member of the House of Commons and the Canadian Senate for many years.