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ER

Stevenson, Ala., 1st month 28th/66.

To Gen. O. O. Howard

Resp. friend,

It may seem presumptuous in me, to thus encroach upon thy time; but duty seems to require it. I wrote to thee on the 26th inst., in regard to the proposed indiscriminate binding out of poor colored children (orphans & others), to their former masters, without any Schooling; and requested thee – on behalf of the adult colored people of this place, — to authorize them to elect a Board of Managers, levy a tax upon their own race; and support as far as possible, their destitute orphans, widows, & helpless aged people.
My object in writing now is to inform thee of what occurred here yesterday. Through the supposed influence of some Southern pretended Union folks, an order came here for the removal to Bridgeport, of the worthy Commander