Viewing page 116 of 191

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Headquarters Sub. Dist. of Ala.
Office C.S.
Montgomery Ala. Oct 13 1866

General
In compliance with special Order No 42 from there Headquarters, I inspected the affairs of the bureau at Talladega on the 29th of September 1866.
The colony at Talladega is partly under the care and direction of the authorities of Talladega County - They furnishing a building and the Superintendent of the colony, and the bureau furnishing clothing and Subsistence.
The condition of the freedmen in this colony is most deplorable, the women and children being almost in a state of nudity, the men are better off for clothing, still they are nothing but walking bundles of rags.
The colony consists of two buildings, frame, one about 16 x 30 feet without windows, or chimney, the other or kitchen is about 10 x 14 feet, these buildings were crowded with inmates without regard to sex, condition, or age.
This colony, so called, is about one & a half miles from Talladega in the Piney Woods, there are no fences, no land cleaned (it would not raise anything if it was cleared) nor any accommodations fitting the place for a colony.