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Elyton Alabama
Sep. 22" 1866

Sir
I have the honor to inform you that about midnight on the 18" of last July two men whose names are unknown to me came to the vehicle in which [[strikethrough]] explicit [[/strikethrough]] 
I was travelling and in which they supposed I was asleep and waked the gentleman who was travelling with me with the inquiry. "Where is that damned black republican who is travelling with you." My friend replied that I was then he supposed asleep at the house of Mr Jacobs, and told them that he supposed that they were mistaken about me being a black republican, that I was as white as anybody, that I was a man who entertained liberal views and expressed them freely, and that I always manifested a willingness for others to do the same.

They appeared to be very much enraged at not finding
me in the vehicle.  They told my friend that they were not offended at him but that they had followed me from Winston County and that they had determined that no man entertaining black republican sentiments should be permitted to live in this country, and that if I would consult my own safety I would leave the country without delay.  

This occurred four miles south of Arkadelphia Walker County Alabama, where my friend and I