Richard Turner
According to the “U.S. Find a Grave Index, 1600s to Current for Richard Turner,” Turner was born in 1840 in Virginia.1 However, legal documents filed on his behalf through his life, however, imply birth years of a range from 1830 to 1840. Turner himself gives his birthplace as Woodstock; Shenandoah Valley, VA but census records for Shenandoah County are not available for either 1830 or 1840 so his age is unknown.2 This is due to speculation that Turner was likely a slave born in Virginia but sold south to a large and prosperous plantation in Louisiana.