Eulogy for Jake Turner written by Preston H. Turner

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A eulogy for Jake Turner written by Preston H. Turner after Jake's death on October 18, 1906. The text is handwritten in graphite on three (3) sheets of paper, with text on the front and back sides of the first two sheets and on the front only of the final paper. The document is title "Tribute to a Servant Faithful to / the Last:" at the top, and begins "On the morning 18th October, '06 Jake Turner died at the ripe old age of 74 years. As a slave belonged to James S. Turner, my father. He was of robust manhood hardy up to his death." This is followed by a narrative account of Jake Turner's role as an enslaved valet to Confederate soldier Turner during the Civil War. Jake continued to work for the Turner family after emancipation, which is also contained in the eulogy. It is signed at the end "P. H. Turner".

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