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and during his life of slavery was and honest obedient servant after his liberation behaved as well as could have been expected never heard of any thing wrong charged against him in my life until the crime if it is a crime for which he was convicted & sent to the Penitentiary last Spring I am satisfied he never would have done what he did had he not been advised by mean white men [[strikethrough]] to do what he did [[/strikethrough]] Negros during slavery had as many wives as they pleased to have kept them as long as they wanted to &and quit them when they pleased and this man for want of better information together with evil advising caused to commit the act he had just been turned loose from slavery had never been any where only on a farm and knew nothing of law supposing he could do as he always had done mary whom he pleased