Viewing page 281 of 300

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Agreement with Freedmen.

This Agreement, made this 11" day of August A. D., 1865, by and between William. D. Terry of the County of Hinds and State of Mississippi, of the first part, and the persons hereinafter named and undersigned, Freedmen of the same place, parties hereto of the second part,    
  Witnesseth, That for the purpose of cultivating the plantation known as the Terry Depot Place in the County aforesaid, during the year commencing on the 11th day of August A. D., 1865, and terminating on the 1st day of January, 1866. The said William D. Terry party of the first part, in consideration of the promises and conditions hereinafter mentioned on the part of the parties of the second part, agrees to furnish to the said laborers and those rightfully dependent upon them, free of charge, clothing and food of good quality and sufficient quantity ; good and sufficient quarters ; medical attendance when necessary, and kind and humane treatment ; to allot from the lands of said plantation, for garden purposes, one acre to each family ; such allotment to include a reasonable use of tools and animals for the cultivation of the same ; to exact only one half day's labor on Saturdays, and none whatever on Sundays. 

[[margin note 1]]

  And it is further agreed, That in case the said William D Terry shall fail, neglect, or refuse to fulfil any of the obligations assumed by him, or shall furnish said parties of the second part with insufficient food or clothing, or be guilty of cruelty to them shall, besides the legal recourse left to the party or parties aggrieved, render this contract liable to annulment by the Provost Marshal of Freedmen. And it is agreed on the part of the second parties of the second part that they will each well and faithfully perform such labor as the said W.D. Terry may require of them for the time aforesaid, not exceeding ten hours per day in summer and nine hours in winter, and in case any laborer shall voluntarily absent him or herself from, or shall neglect, or refuse to perform the labor herein promised, and the fact shall be proven to the satisfaction of the proper officer, the party so offending shall be punished in such manner as the Provost Marshal of Freedmen shall deem proper.
  IT IS FURTHER AGREED, That any wages or share of profits due the said laborers under this agreement, shall constitute a first lien upon all crops or parts of crops produced on said plantation or tract of land by their labor. And no shipments of products shall be made until the Provost Marshal of Freedmen shall certify that all dues to said laborers are paid or satisfactorily arranged.

[[margin note 1]] William D. Terry and Freedmen Hinds Co. August 11. 1865.

Transcription Notes:
paper is creased (?) down the middle horizontally between types paragraphs. The page also may have horizontal lines across it, but I cannot tell if those are for that page or from the one on other other side of it. The same goes for three vertical lines near the center/center-right of the document. I placed [[??]] after each word or punctuation mark or letter I was uncertain of. In these cases, I wrote what I either saw or thought it was, so anything right before a [[??]] should be checked in case someone can correctly make it out in the event I did not. Additionally, I did not indent the paragraphs as they had them, or do the extra spacing between periods and some words if they had that, but I did place the extra space between words and the semicolons. I wasn't sure if I needed to indent, so if I do that needs to be fixed as well. Same with any other extra spaces between periods and other words, such as ". And". I also didn;t leave a space between some words above in the transcription because when the person handwrote in "himself" and such, and "ies" to make "parties", there was no space between those words and the next typed word, so if I needed a space that needs to be fixed also. Thank you!