Recently I decided to find the plantation where my 2X great grandparents, Joe and Emma Turner were enslaved. I started by looking at white Turners in Hayneville, Lowndes County, Alabama where my family lived in 1870. I found Wiley Turner and his brother Thomas Turner. Both died in 1851. Wiley’s estate file contained several lists of those enslaved on his plantation. I found a Joe. I believe this is my Joe because there was only one Joe Turner in the area, because he is the right age and because he was described as “white”, and my great great grandfather Joe Turner was very light skinned.
Of the four lists, this first one is the most complete in that it includes names, ages and monetary worth. I will be writing more about the Turner plantation and those who were once enslaved on it, as I continue to try and piece together the lives of Joe and Emma Turner and others in their community.
Inventory; and Appraisement of the Est. of Wiley Turner, Deceased. February 1852. Those in maroon were set aside for his widow, Francis Turner.
Sex Name Aged Worth
1. Boy Andrew 20 $850.00
2. Girl Fanny 20 750.00
3. Boy Lewis (Tyus) 24 750.00
4. Girl Amy 29 550.00
5. Boy Mordicai 20 875.00
6. Girl Leah 20 650.00
7. Boy Billy (Tyus) 22 850.00
8. Girl Martha 20 700.00
9. Boy Toney 25 600.00
10. Woman Ellen & child 40 400.00
11. Girl Abby 14 550.00
12. Girl Little Margaret 13 500.00
13. Boy Alfred 22 700.00
14. Woman Maria & child Ranson 30 500.00
15. Girl Little Jane 9 250.00
16. Girl Louisa 4 250.00
17. Girl Adella 2 175.00
18. Man Doctor 55 240.00
19. Woman Mary 50 175.00
20. Girl Eliza 14 600.00
21. Girl Minerva 12 450.00
22. Girl Amanda 10 350.00
23. Man Lewis 18 750.00
24. Woman Lucy 30 400.00
25. Man Adam 22 500.00
26. Girl Mary Ellen & boy Edward 18 800.00
27. Man Jack 30 350.00
28. Woman Big Margaret 25 650.00
29. Boy Jesse (Tyus) 20 900.00
30. Woman Elizabeth 23 650.00
31. Man William 50 400.00
32. Woman Rachell 50 200.00
33. Boy Little Charles 8 450.00
34. Girl Susan 18 700.00
35. Girl Eliza 34 400.00
36. Girl Harriett 5 225.00
37. Man Sam 35 400.00
38. Woman Lyddy 30 400.00
39. Boy Henry (May) 19 900.00
40. Woman Ellen Brown 25 500.00
41. Man Robbin 25 800.00
42. Woman Cherry & child Louisa 36 400.00
43. Boy Prince 5 350.00
44. Woman Rachell (Patten) 28 700.00
45. Boy Robert 11 500.00
46. Boy Frank 6 300.00
47. Woman Maria Ann 16 700.00
48. Man Charles (Rugely) 23 850.00
49. Woman Rose & child Gabril 28 650.00
50. Boy Washington 14 700.00
51. Man John 24 800.00
52. Woman Nelly 49 200.00
53. Boy Abram 16 900.00
54. Man Big Jesse 26 450.00
55. Girl Jane 18 700.00
56. Girl Hager 23 500.00
57. Girl Abegail & child Ema 23 400.00
58. Woman Old Rachell 60 100.00
59. Man Frederick 23 850.00
60. Woman Clara & child Alford 35 500.00
61. Girl Sylvia 12 500.00
62. Girl Lucy 12 450.00
63. Girl Alice 8 350.00
64. Boy Freeman 6 350.00
65. Boy Harrison 6 350.00
66. Girl Julia Ann 3 200.00
67. Boy Henry (Turner) 18 875.00
68. Man Old Jim 45 400.00
69. Woman Menty 45 300.00
70. Boy Daniel 3 200.00
71. Man Ben 33 800.00
72. Woman Mary McQueen 28 500.00
73. Boy Harry 12 550.00
74. Woman Hannah 55 200.00
75. Boy George 13 600.00
76. Woman Betsey & child Caroline 23 800.00
77. Girl Phillis 8 375.00
78. Girl Peggy 3 225.00
79. Man Achilles 43 650.00
80. Woman Mariah Mosely 35 450.00
81. Girl Elvira 14 650.00
82. Boy Jim Swagert 18 800.00
83. Man Wilson 28 850.00
84. Woman Yellow Jinny 45 400.00
85. Man Martin 26 1,100.00
86. Woman Letty 21 300.00
87. Man Hardy 56 250.00
88. Boy Nelson 15 750.00
89. Boy Cary 13 700.00
90. Boy Lloyd 17 700.00
91. Boy Austin 16 800.00
92. Boy Long George 19 350.00
93. Boy Isaac 10 350.00
94. Boy Joe (white) 15 650.00
95. Boy Jim Patton 14 700.00
96. Woman Milly 55 150.00
97. Man Edmond 38 600.00
98. Man Tom 40 600.00
99. Boy Ned 11 475.00
100. Girl Emeline 9 350.00
101. Man Yellow John 24 875.00
102. Woman Yellow Milly 30 800.00
103. Boy Anthony infant (included with Milly)
104. Boy Little William 10 450.00
105. Boy Carter 6 350.00
106. Boy Braxton 4 250.00
107. Woman Alcey 40 200.00
108. Old Man Turner 65 1.00
109. Boy Frank (blind) 18 1.00
Joe and Emma Turner were the parents of Howard Turner who was my grandmother Fannie Mae Turner Graham’s father. You can see other posts about my Turner’s below.
Joe Turner – Land, Mules and Courts
I was talking to some new found Lowndes County family and they were asking if I knew any Turners from Lowndes County.
Do you know what happened to Joe Turner Jr.?
Did he get married? If so, what was his wife’s name?
Joe Turner Jr. married Emmaline Williams, which made it quite confusing for a minute as his parents also were Joe and Emma.
Joe Turner Sr married his second wife around 1901 after his first wife Emma died. Her name was Luella Freeman. She was quite a bit younger than he was and they had 9 children together before he died at age 80 in 1919.
I have never been able to find any of my Turners. Recently I did find a descendant of Luella’s sister Annie. We both lamented the fact that we can find no Turners.
Who did you find? Do you know how they fit into the family? Please give them a link to this post!
I found a Rosie Dean who married a Joe Turner Jr in 1899 in Lowndes County.
Rosie was my 2x Great Grandmother’s niece.
Rosie remarried in 1917 in Ottawa County, OH
Interesting. I will look again. Thank you for posting.
I found the marriage record for Rosie Dean and Joe Turner in 1899 and a marriage record for Joe Turner and Emmaline Williams for 1900. In 1900 I found Joe Turner living alone, Emma living with her parents and her and Joe’s daughter, Fanny Turner who was born in 1888 (same name and birth year as my grandmother but different parents. They were cousins). In the 1910 census I find Joe and Emma together in Lowndes County and it says they are both in their 2nd marriage. If you could email me at kcleage at gmail dot com and give me some more info about Rosie – parents, birthdate, Ohio husband. Maybe we can figure this out!
I will send you the information
Makes me sad to see so many people listed as property, especially the children. Can’t wait to see the stories you will uncover.
So many wasted lives lived in slavery.
Extraordinary research as always Kristin! Have you come across any plantation records detailing the day to day operations of any plantations noted in your research yet? I haven’t, but would love to. But again, I’m not sure just where I would locate those records especially with university libraries clamoring to find them first to add them to their special collections.
In the estate file, which encompassed over 10 years, there are several sheets itemizing doctor visits, who he treated and for what. I will be posting those as soon as I get them transcribed. I have not come across any diaries by enslavers that talk about the day to day operation of the plantation. I have a letter that Sam Cleage wrote to the overseer on the Cleage plantation here http://findingeliza.com/archives/4
I had a strong emotional reaction when I saw the listed values of these individuals. They all made me feel sad. And, even thought it was many years ago, the $1 for “Old Man Turner” and the blind boy really made me worry about their welfare.
I haven’t found either of them in the 1870 or 1880 census.
I find it heartbreaking to see so many people identified as “property.” Even Thomas Jefferson kept his own children by a slave he owned as property. It boggles the mind. So terribly sad.
@Kathleen01930 Blog
I’m with the others above – reading through the list of people, ages, ‘values’ made my stomach hurt. Thank you so much for doing this work and sharing it.
When I first find records listing my enslaved ancestor, or sometimes when I’m going over information, I feel emotional about it. Usually, I’m going over and over the information trying to get a picture of the lives that were being lived even during those times.