Melcenia Velustrial (Barnett) Turner (1836 - 1869)

This story was shared verbally with me over the phone from a 2C1R who is a great-granddaughter of David William Turner and Melcenia Barnett. She read it from a book she had that I'm trying to track down, but it said that David William Turner lived on a plantation and had five little girls who were raised as little princesses. He left to fight during the Civil War and while he was gone, their mother died. The book states that the family slaves stayed on the plantation to take care of the little girls. During the war, they buried their valuables, but couldn't find them again after the war was over. One daughter told of how the Union troops came through taking everything. After the war, when David returned, he sent the girls to Union City to go to school, where they stayed with their Uncle Alex [Alexander Randolph Turner]. The story is not fully true, as Melcenia did not die until 1869. She died while giving birth to a son, John, who also died.