Daisy Turner (storyteller)

Daisy Turner (June 21, 1883–February 8, 1988) was born in Grafton, Vermont to Alex and Sally Turner, freed slaves. She was famous for her oral recordings of her family's history, which can be traced back to Africa and England.

Biography

Alexander Turner was a slave who escaped from his plantation at the start of the Civil War, and joined the 1st New Jersey Cavalry of the Union Army. In the spring of 1863, Turner guided his regiment to his old plantation in Port Royal, Virginia, where he killed his former overseer.

After military service, he returned to New England where he worked as a logger. He and his wife Sally had a homestead in Grafton, Vermont where they raised 16 children. His strength was prodigious, and the Grafton Storekeeper once bet that if Alex carried a one hundred fifty pound barrel of flour home (uphill and over three miles) without setting it down he could have it for free. Alex went ahead and did so to feed his family but at the same time he was followed by forty or so men who carried their own "little jugs of jimmyjohn and hard cider... and after they all got up, they all got drunk." (Beck)

A powerful presence, Daisy Turner was proud of her heritage, and was a strong, outspoken woman from childhood to her death at the age of 104. She is remembered as a gifted storyteller and family historian. The Turner family homestead (they had 13 children in all) is located on the "Daisy Turner Loop", a biking trail near Grafton Pond.

She had been a "striking beauty in her youth, with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes" (Beck) and led an exciting life, many of the details of which have been recorded carefully. Daisy can be seen reciting Civil War poetry, at the remarkable age of 104, in Ken Burns' critically acclaimed PBS documentary, The Civil War. Her story continues to attract wide attention as part of an effort to preserve the folk history of Vermont and the United States.

References

• turner, daisy (1999). Five Dollars and a Jug of Wine: The History of Grafton, Vermont 1754-2000. Grafton Historical Society. pp. 202–204. 
• Palmer, Francis A. (1954). History of the town of Grafton, Vermont. Shaw Press. pp. 118. 
• Cawley, James; Margaret Cawley (1974). Tales of Old Grafton. A. S. Barnes & Company, Inc.. ISBN 0-498-01277-8. 
• Jane Beck (2005). On My Own: The Traditions of Daisy Turner (VHS). University of Vermont. 
• "Vermont Folklife Center Womenspeak: Voices of Vermont Women - Daisy Turner". Vermont Folklife Center. 2006. http://vermontfolklifecenter.org/multimedia/womenspeak/womenspeak_turner/. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
• Beck, Jane C. (2006-05-01). "Daisy Turner, master storyteller". Footsteps. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-16262568_ITM. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
• "The Universe of Battle". The Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns. 1990-09-26. No. 5, season 1.
• Carter, Kate (2006-05-01). "Grafton Ponds' Daisy Turner Loop". Mountain Bike! Vermont. Menasha Ridge Press. http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=BGN080-009. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 

Persondata
Name	Turney, Daisy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1883-06-21
Place of birth
Date of death	1988-02-08
Place of death