Our Family Tree lists the descendants of William and Leander (Neal) Turner. Recently, we have  found the parents of William Tuner and their names have been added as well. 'The Turner-Neal's  are originally from the Pike/Lincoln/Lawrence/Jefferson Davis County areas of Mississippi. Today, they are scattered throughout the United States.  DNA results with Renee Sartin Kirby have linked us to James/Jim Neal's 3rd wife and children and they have been added to the tree.

Here is the history through the eyes of Synovia Arbell (Turner) Sartin-1975.

"This is the history as told to me by my grandfather, Jim (James)   Neal, who was a slave. He was a  farmer that lived in Jeff Davidson County (Jefferson Davis County), out from Sontag,  Mississippi. He was owned by several slave masters who owned big plantations. Jim Neal worked  very hard on the plantations and obeyed his masters, If he disobeyed, he was harshly whipped,  if he ran away, he was caught by bloodhounds, brought back to his master and received severe  punishment, sometimes, slaves were sold to other masters; they were priced by their height and  weight, and were showcased by standing on a tall block of wood, and were then bid off to the  highest bidder, Grandfather Jim said, “the slaves had a meeting place called the Old Camp  ground.” When they wanted to talk to one another they would sing, “They’ll be a meeting  tonight, at the old camp ground.” If no one came, they would sing, “Way down there by myself, I couldn’t hear nobody pray.”

My grandfather, Jim Neal had three wives. His first wife and two children were sold as slaves  and taken away by another slave owner. He never saw them again. He married his second wife and  was living in Jeff Davidson county in the state of Mississippi. Jim Neal and his second wife  had seven children {we know have evidence that they had 12 children}. Their three boys were named John Neal, George Neal and Ike Neal. Their four  girls were named Ollie Neal, Annie Neal, Leander Neal (my mother) and Arbell Neal, My  grandfather’s second wife passed away while the children were very small. The family had it  very hard. Aunt Ollie was the oldest girl and she had to take care of the family, do the  laundry, cook and work in the field.

Grandfather Jim married his third wife and two more girls {and 2 sons} were born, living out from Sontag, Mississippi. Ollie Neal married Robert Oatis, Annie Neal married Andrew Warner and Arbell  married Dock Lumpkin.

My mother, Leander Neal, taught school in a one room classroom in Jefferson Davidson County for quite a few years, she rode the old dummy freight train to school every day. During the latter part of the 1800s William Turner and Leander Neal were united in holy matrimony, possible in Pike County, Mississippi. I did not know my grandmother on my father’s side. My father had three sisters: Della Rollins, Mary Marsalis, Mariah Patterson and Tempe(?). They lived in Amite County, Mississippi. My father’s two brother were named Young and Harry Swanigan.

To the union of Leander Neal and William Turner, six children were born, four sons and two daughters: Willie Turner Jr (Sr), Rosie Lee Turner, Walter Turner, John Bertram Turner, Roscoe Tuner, and Synovia Arbell Turner. Grandfather Jim visited us quite often, sometimes he would stay with us two or three weeks. He would work in the field with me, hoeing cotton. When he got tired, he would go and sit down in the shade under a tree, I would continue to hoe all by myself. He would tell my mother I was a smart little girl. Each morning when Grandfather Jim got out of bed, he would ask my brothers “what are you going to do today.” He had a very good Opossum dog, and sometimes he would bring the dog with him. If it was hunting season, my brother Roscoe and I would go Opossum hunting with the dog and catch quite a few Opossums with the dog. One night somebody stole the dog.
 It was very painful for us to tell grandfather someone had taken his dog. My grandfather passed probably in 1924; we missed him very much. He was quite a lively old man. "

Synovia Arbell Turner is the youngest and only surviving descendant. In 1936, Synovia Arbell Turner and Obie Ben Sartin were united in holy matrimony. To this union one son, Obie Ben Sartin Jr, and one adopted son, Leonard Clark Sartin were born. There are five grandchildren, nine great grandchildren, and a host of nieces and nephews through six generations.

Synovia said, "my parents, William and Leander Turner were God fearing parents they reared their children to obey the Lord and their parents, according to the scriptures: Ephesians 6:1-3, “Children obey your parents, in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth” (New International Version). "

(This was dictated by Synovia Sartin to her granddaughter Renee Marie Sartin in 1975.)

2023 Dec 1 -UPDATE: Through DNA of myself and two DNA cousins, I have identified Jim Neal's 3rd wife and 4 children- Jane Weathersby (#3 wife), children of her and Jim Neal (Edward, Lonnie, Rosie Lee and Lovella). We have also identified a brother to Jim Neal- W.S Augustus Neal (wife and 11 children). Tree has been updated. Renee 

We will be putting in email links so we may contact one another through this website. Please be patient, we are still putting in information.  If you don't see your name please contact Renee  Kirby and it will be entered. In the meantime look around and view the family tree. The Family  View is nice because it shows any notes that are attached to the name of the person  you are looking at and if there is an email link. Enjoy yourselves and the site will get better  and better the more you visit and the more you submit information to the administrator. We also  hope to continue adding family members to the Facebook Group page.