Lettie Garner, Over 100, Formerly Enslaved
Lettie Garner, over 100, formerly enslaved, was born on February 25, 1807, in Shepherdstown, West Virginia according to the papers. She, and her husband, Joseph Garner were both supposed to be around 50 at the 1870 census. The news reported she came to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, when she got free in 1863, and her husband died only a few years after…Lettie stayed in Harrisburg for more than 42 years. She died having lived for more than 100 years, on June 13, 1913, at the age of 106. Lettie was buried at Lincoln Cemetery. None of the papers report her having any family—but Lettie had many children–on the 1900 census Lettie reported she had birthed 9 children, and that 7 of them were still living. Maybe there are quite a few Garner’s in Harrisburg that are descended from Lettie & Joseph Garner’s children…
Former Slave Dies at Almshouse
Aunt Letty Garner, aged 106 years, 3 months and 16 days, believed to be the oldest woman in Dauphin county, died at the Almshouse yesterday. She came to Harrisburg in 1863, after she was liberated from a plantation at Shepherdstown, [West Virginia]. Her friends have always been able to know her exact age, because the owner of the plantation on which she worked always kept a record of the birth on his properties.
Funeral services will be held tomorrow afternoon, at 1 o’clock, in the Harris Street African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. The Rev. W. H. Marshall and the Rev. J. J. Turner will officiate. Burial will be made in the Lincoln Cemetery.
Harrisburg Telegraph. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 14 Jun 1913, Sat • Page 5.
