Viewing page 32 of 277

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Office Superintendent,
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands,
District of Demopolis, Alabama.

Demopolis, Ala., January 1867

Sir,
I herewith enclose you an appointment as agent of this Bureau at your place. Please signify immediately in writing, whether you will accept it.
In accepting this appointment, you will be subject to Military Law, Rates, Regulations & penalties, & will be invested with certain powers, and entitled to such protections as is given to other persons serving the United States in any military capacity.
Your duties will be to enforce order of the Bureau issued through this office, to look after the interests of the Freedmen in your Precinct, securing, of possible a prompt and fair settlement for their labor. In making new contracts, you will see that they are properly worded, giving them a lien upon the crop for their wages, & in case the employer is not a freeholder, you will require good security for the fulfillment of his contract. Contracts with employers who cannot give this security,