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Decatur Ala July 30th 1865
Genl Wager Swayne
Montgomery Ala

Dr Sir

[[stamp]] THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES [[/stamp]]

I take the liberty of writing you, presuming that in your present position you may to able to give me some information in regard to the price that an improved cotton plantation of some 1200 or 1500 Acres can be bought at in middle or Southern Alabama.
Capt Williams, (whom you will probably remember as having been a captain in the 29th Ohio, as well as myself) and I are cultivating this year a rented plantation 5 miles North East of Decatur, employing 45 Freedmen under the Treasury Regulations. 
We have 500 Acres in Cotton and 100 in Corn and every prospect for a good crop and are desirous of purchasing a plantation to operate on next year. 
There are plenty offering for sale in our neighborhood at farm $6 to $16 per acre, but before purchasing we wished to make inquiries elsewhere and I had also thought of taking a trip sometime this summer