The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-09-18

y
Elm i'm we'll. and have talked with him often,
and hfs;rnemorv was perfectly tiear and .niss
tinct. BE belonged to my dfather lsf ,
then has lived near by.
TIE United States surveyors are ins OUT
neighborhood new fnakingsnFv sor the
railroad fr0mthe west to TIDE
water (done by act Of Congress)s i.
There will soon be In operation anotner
iron mine in this county, worked Dy fenn,
sylyania company. The Pennsylvania ana
North Carolina Iron Mining ana Manuiactn-
ring Company have been operating very ex-
.tensigely on Woods mountain ior s0me
months. Yours, rs.
a Man One Hundred and Twenty one Years Old
81 :, i [For the Dispaten,1 63,
DEATH OF A cEaTENARiAN. .4i.f
Harry Spencer, an OLD .colored man, who
died near New Store, Buckingham county
September 9th, 1914, was not body servant
10 General Washington, nor did he remember
when James river was a spring branch; Dal
his memory was clear and distinct up 10
within day or two of bis death, though bis
eye-sigbt- bad long since failed him. Uncle
Harry was man Of >herculean stature, and
from his own account must have been up.
wards of one hundred and twenty-one years
old at his death. He said bis father and
mother were brought from Africa, and were
settled as slaves In Isle Of Wight county, Va,
and he remembered distinctly the cabin in
which they lived in sight Of Hampton Roads
that he, along with his younger brother, was
brought by man named Williams TO TINS
county, which was at that time almost viii
dcrness, and they had to cut their, road q
part Of the way through the woods;- that
when he reached this county, which was then
called Albemarle, they were holding their
first court in very rude log.cabin, near the
present county seat, which was then in
woods, and for the accommodation of those
who came to court there was log tavern,
and for the horses there were fixed stalls in
the woods, and he was large enough then to
help carry the horses to water. He said he
and bis brother were sold to Moses Spencer
for G1OO, and Dir. Spencer lived where
Colonel r. H. Gillian now lives, upon
Slate river; that he was given to Spen-
GERS son Nathaniel, who owned him until
about the year 1S43, when he and his wife,
being considered too old for farm work, were
put up to be sold to the lowest bidder e.,
TO be sold to the person who would take them
and receive the least compensation for 80
doing-and were knocked out to William
ID. Jones at 500. He remembered that
when he was q grown man. working in the
field, that Mr.. William D. Jones, his late
master, was scbooi-boy, and used to see
him as be passed through the farm on which
he worked on his way to school.
Now, in corroboration Of what Uncle
Harry says, Mr. William D. Jones, who re-
Gently died in his ninety second year, SAID
that he did 60 to school to Mr.. Frank Nc
Craw, and on bis way did pass the farm
which Uncle Harry designated. This was
about the year 1892. The records of this
county show that Buckingham was cut off
from Albemarle county, and the first court
held was its June term, 1853, and it is known
that the former courthouse then stood where
Uncle Harry said. Now, if Uncle Harry was
ten years old when lie came to the county in
1863 he must have been at his death over
one hundred and twenty-one years Of age.
Although whilst slave Uncle Harry had
not been required TO do any work fora num-
Der of wears, in 1865, after slavery was abol-
ished, be made with his hoe two wagon.
loads of corn. Aunt Tabby, his wife, the
mother of twenty.one children, including
two pair twins, and supposed to be the pro-
genitor of about five hundred children, more
or less. is now spry widow turned out.
though her head is as white as cotton. She
bids lair to be as old as Uncle Harry.
A. RoDDEY,
Postmaster New Store, Va.
rNote.-Nathan Spencer was sold out by the
sheriff during the hard times of 1S43 or IA,
and Harry and Tabby sold with the balance
Of the slaves and farm. A. RI