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Auburn, Ala May 29th 1867

Genl. W. Swayne

Dear Sir
I yesterday received a letter from Mr. C. A. Stanton, Judge of Probate of Mason County, dated 27th init. notifying me to appear before him on the 3rd of June to show cause why the letters of apprenticeship granted me on the boys Jack and Jordan should not be revoked. Now inasmuch as all the parties live in this place and the whole community know them generally, I would respectfully request that the investigation and trial of the matter be fixed by you to take place here, either before the Justice of the Peace, or at the R.R. Hotel, where ample room can be had to accommodate the parties without expense. It would be very much to the advantage of the boys' mother and stepfather to have it so arranged, both for economy and convenience, and would enable the parties to have the whole matter fully and thoroughly stated and investigated, and satisfactorily tried. Tuskegee is more inacceptable than Montgomery, Westpoint, or Columbus, and should suppose that you would be willing to accommodate all interested by such a change, so as to enable them to economize in time and expense, and at the same time get the best opportunity to make any effort for the benefit of the boys that might be desired, or their mother could wish. The whole truth should be made known to the Bureau Department for Freedman, and both sides so stated and proved, that a fair inference could be drawn, and a  just decision made.
I am desirous that you should know all the facts and decide this case on its true principles and intrinsic merits. The father of the boys was desirous, all through the war and subsequently, that his children should remain in my family, and when emancipation took place he was desirous that we should have the boys bound to us until age, Knowing and believing that it would be to their advantage. He bound them. But it was