 Turner garnered white followers such as Etheldred T. Brantley, whom Turner was credited with having convinced to "cease from his wickedness".By the spring of 1828, Turner was convinced that he "was ordained for some great purpose in the hands of the Almighty".He "heard a loud noise in the heavens" while working in his enslaver’s fields on May 12, "and the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the Serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the Serpent, for the time was fast approaching when the first should be last and the last should be first".