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Office Bureau R.F. & A.L.
Woodville Greene Co Ga Dec. 13th 1865

General.
An assault with a knife was made by a Freedwoman named "Elvira" upon another woman named "Chaney" resulting in the cutting of the latter tho not severely. Complaint being made to me by the Husband of the Woman assaulted. I directed Dr. R. P. Jane, their present Employer & former owner on whose plantation all a [[illegible due to page crease]] arrest the accused, & with all witnesses in the case to come before me for investigation of the matter. Upon a preliminary hearing of the case, the charges being proven, in fact admitted by the accused, & having referenced to the instructions contained in yr circular No 4, Sec 4. And likewise, as to jurisdiction Sec 3 of same, I concluded, upon examining the punishment for like offenses as laid down in the code of Georgia 4th Div Penal Laws Sec 53 paragraph 4268, to turn the case over to the civil authorities for trial. To that end myself and two other magistrates, constituting the tribunal proceeded to the full & fair examination of the facts connected with the assault in question. We had no doubt of the guilt of the party accused but concluded that there were possibly extenuating circumstances. The difficulty originating from jealousy caused by a suffered intimacy existing between the accused woman & her husband and the woman assaulted - tho the mitigating circumstances would not be tantamount to justification. Notwithstanding which this "Civil Tribunal" above referred to duly considering the surroundings and the fact that if committed to jail to await trial at the [[page crease]] Sup'r Court the woman would thus necessarily be in jail until next March, awaiting trial.  Concluded that it would as well subserve the ends of justice & prove a salutory to the woman and likewise by expense to the public and accordingly decided to remand the woman back to the authority of the Bureau for punishment believing myself thus to be the best course that could be found. I at once assumed jurisdiction and sentenced the woman as I have no other way or convenient means of punishing to 30 days imprisonment in the county jail, part of the time upon Bread