e was
shot and killed in action, and the other William Wert Turner, came out
of the army after the close of the war and became a lawyer. Later he
went to New Castle, Kentucky, and became a prominent lawyer, where he
remained until his death in 1932.
I married John R. Jones, a lieutenant in the Union Army, at Gilmer, W.
Va., when I was about twenty years old, shortly after the war. We then
moved to New Castle, Kentucky, Henry County. We had four children born
to us, and I now have three living children; later on in years we moved
to Louisville. During the days of the Civil War my father owned three
slave, one was an old darkey named Alex, and the nigger mammies, were
Diana and Mary Ann. My parents were always good to their slaves, and
never traded or sold them. They were good workers and my father never
kept many.
My Uncle, John C. Turner, had farms close to my father's in West Va.,
and he had fifty-two slaves when the war ended. He would buy, sell and
trade them all the time. The slaves were judged by the Masters. If they
were big and strong they would bring a good price, as they would be
better workers for the fields, and then, I would watch my uncle swap and
buy slaves, just the same as he was buying any other stock for his farm.
I am getting [HW: old] now, and my memory is not so good no more, and it
is hard to remember the things of so long ago. You see, I will be ninety
years old, next Feb. 23rd. I was born in 1847."
FLOYD CO.
(John I. Sturgill)
Charlie Richmond:
We are unable to interview ex-slaves in Floyd County, so far as anyone
we are able to contact knows, there are no living ex-slaves in the
County. There are several colored people. The majority of them reside at
Tram, Kentucky, Floyd County, in a kind of colored colony, having been
placed there just after the Civil War. A small number of colored people
live in the vicinity of Wayland, Kentucky, the original being the
remains of a wealthy farmer of Civil War day, by name of Martin. The
colored people were identified as "Martin's Niggers."
The last ex-slave of Floyd County, says Mr. W.S. Wallen of Prestonsburg,
Kentucky, was "Uncle" Charlie Richmond, of Prestonsburg. Uncle Charlie
was brought to the county by old Judge Richmond, father of I. Richmond
of the Richmond Dept. Stores of Prestonsburg, about the time of the
Civil War. When the war was over "Uncle" Charlie worked at Richmond's
for hire and lived as a member of the family. While
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