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Office Bureau R.F. & A.L.
Fort Smith. Ark. Feby. 7th 1868.
Lieut. Jno. E. Bennett
A.A.A. Gen'l B.R.F&A.L.
Little Rock, Ark.
Sir:
I have the honor to make the following report concerning the educational and devotional facilities, enjoyed by the Freedmen in this City.
The Freedmen own and have a deed to a lot of ground, very eligibly and centrally located in the City of Fort Smith, Arkansas. A Church edifice was erected  by the Baptists, (white and colored) on this lot, in 1861.  During the war, the building was used by the United States as a granary -- the pulpit, seats, windows, etc. destroyed or carried off, and the floor broken and otherwise injured.
The building therefore needs repairing, before it can be used as a church.