might well have been
written with reference to "Uncle" Henry Turner, ninety-three years of
age, of Turner, Arkansas, in Phillips County, and among the very few
remaining ex-slaves, especially of those who were old enough at the time
of their emancipation to have now a clear recollection of conditions,
customs, events, and life during those days long past immediately
proceeding and following the Civil War. "Uncle" Henry's eyes have now
grown dim and he totters slightly as, supported by his cane, he slowly
shuffles along the path over a short distance between the clean,
white-washed cabin where he lives with a daughter and the small,
combination store and post office, on the porch of which he is
accustomed to sit in an old cane-bottomed chair for a few hours each day
and the white folks in passing stop to speak a few words and to buy for
him candy, cold drinks, and tobacco.

Though "Uncle" Henry is approaching the century mark in age, his mind is
remarkably clear and his recollection is unusually keen. He was born
a slave in northern Mississippi near the small towns of Red Banks and
Byhalia, was the property of his owner. Edmond Turner, and was brought
to Phillips County by "his white folks" some months before the war.
Turner, who owned some fifty other slaves besides Henry, settled with
his family on a large acreage of land that he had purchased about
fifteen miles west of Helena near Trenton. Both Turner and his wife died
soon after taking up residence in Arkansas leaving their estate to their
two sons, Bart and Nat, who were by that time grown young men, and being
very capable and industrious soon developed their property into one of
the most valuable plantations in the County.

As "Uncle" Henry recalls, the Turner place was, it might be said, a
world within itself, in the confines of which was produced practically
everything essential in the life of its inhabitants and the proper and
successful conduct of its operations. Large herds of cattle, hogs,
sheep, and goats provided a bountiful supply of both fresh and salt
meats and fats. Cotton and wool was carded, spun and woven into cloth
for clothes, fast colored dyes were made by boiling different kinds
of roots and barks, various colored berries were also used for this
purpose. Medicine was prepared from roots, herbs, flowers, and leaves.
Stake and rider fences enclosed the fields and pastures and while most
of the houses, barns and cribs were constructed of logs, so