Viewing page 11 of 326

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

It was now four O'clk, and I was obliged to move down to the River (Tombigbee) six miles distant and to seek corn and fodder for my horses and mules.  I encamped on the shore of the river and in the morning, Thursday, crossed by ferry, an operation somewhat tedious but safely accomplished. 

At Coffeeville, the settlement on the eastern shore of the Bigbee and in Clarke Co.  I met and conversed with a few persons.  Some months since in the interim between military and civil authority, some abuses were practiced, but I could obtain nothing tangible, and the injured parties had left.

The planters generally observed the fact that the negroes were free and were treating them very well.

This County as well as Choctaw and Washington is infested with a gangs of cotton and horse thieves whose boldness is often unparalleled.  Their operations are confined to the night season and they are usually masked.  The citizens are unable to discover their names or their rendezvous.  A fact not remarkable when it is understood that these Counties are full of persons traveling from one section to another decently clad but without visable means of support.

After a tedious days march I encamped about four miles west of Grove Hill the Shine town of Clarke Co. 

Early Friday morning I entered Grove Hill.

8

Transcription Notes:
Grove Hill is part of Alabama called the Moonshine Triangle, so Shine town makes sense.