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Bureau Office
Girard Russell County Alabama
Personaly appeared before me J. B. Healy
an agent of the Bureau of R. F. and A.L. Kinchen
[[Threanott?]] (Freed.) and being duly sworn makes the following statement. That on the 26th of December 1866. Deponant made a contract with J. T. Holland which contract was so worded that Defendant did not understand the meaning as it has since been explained to him. That said J. T. Holland and his agent has repeatedly beat and abused the laborers furnished by deponant and [[strikethrough]] for bid f [[/strikethrough]] drove them off his place forbiding their return. The agent at one time shot at one of the laborers and upon deponant complaining to said Holland the reply was (with an oath.) "If it had been me I would have killed him".  That he has complied with the contract as near as Holland would let him.  That Holland had repeatedly cursed him for reporting the case to the "yankees" and intimated that by so doing he had lost the whole crop.
Defendant further states that he has repeatedly heard said Holland say with an oath that he did not care for all of the dead yankees nor the yankee Bureau. Deponant further states that said Holland had directed planted