Nathaniel “Skeeter” Garner

Nathaniel Garner was an employee of Gilbert Royston’s, of about the same middle age, both before and during Royston’s tenancy of Clermont Farm in 1939-1948. He had worked for Gilbert during his tenancy at the Arthur Lee farm prior to Clermont. Nathaniel, or “Skeeter” as he was known to all, has not been found in the U.S. Census of 1940 for Clarke County, but he was living in Clermont at that time. Don Royston, between two and twelve during his father’s tenancy at Clermont, writes in his memoir of that period: “Pop employed a Negro man, Nathaniel ‘Skeeter’ Garner. Skeeter was provided a house [the former Slave Quarter] to live in and his meals. He ate when we did – breakfast, dinner (noon meal), and supper (evening meal) – in the same room with us but not at the same table. Segregation was the norm during those days.”

Skeeter had been an assistant to a veterinarian and was especially talented with horses. This was very important to his employer because Clermont was still farmed with draft horses stabled in the Main Barn and because Royston had bred and trained a team of four black horses, of which he was especially proud. Skeeter was also a friend and mentor to the five Royston children. In his memoir, Don said:  “I remember Bill was sitting on the tractor seat and I was standing on the drawbar when Bill must have released the brake – he must have kicked it out of gear, too. Anyway, that tractor started moving down the hill, gathering speed as it headed for the creek. I looked behind us, and here came a big black man running for all his worth. Not knowing the danger we were headed for, I wondered why he wanted to ride, too. Fortunately for Bill and me, he jumped onto the drawbar and smashed his foot on the brakes – bringing us to a stop before we went into the creek and certain injury.”

We do not know about Nathaniel Garner’s later life, but we know from the memoirs of both Don and his sister Helen Royston about his importance in the family’s life and that he was a key member of the team that made the Royston tenancy such a success in the last days of horse-powered, highly diversified farming. We also know from them that at Gilbert Royston’s retirement sale in 1948, his proudest moment was when Skeeter Garner drove and showed (the only person trusted to do so) the special four-horse team for the last time.