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Mrs. Mitchell & husband came in person & exhibited their accounts & although not perfectly satisfactory, I thought it better to dismiss the case for the time, wishing if possible to avoid any difficulty with a woman of Mrs. Mitchell's antecedents & character. Numerous other complaints are made by Freedmen from time to time which satisfied me that Mrs. Mitchell must be more or less in debt to all of the one hundred or more Freedmen employed by her last year. I told the complainants that I would do what I could for them, that I had been informed that Mrs. Mitchell would make me trouble if I undertook to collect their back pay; that they had better lose no more time coming to see me; that in a month or two I would see what I could do for them & would let them know.

The better I became acquainted with Mrs. Mitchell's antecedents & manner of doing business the more thoroughly I became convinced that she would carry her points at all hazards. Thus matter remained until Sunday evening, May 26th, when, about dark, a Freedman calling himself Charles H. Brandon, called to see me with a complaint that he & his wife had not been paid in full by Mrs. E.H. Mitchell for work during the year 1866. Brandon said he has come from Falls County & wanted to return as soon as possible. That he was working land upon shares, which was suffering from his absence & that he needed the money to carry on the same. I told Brandon to be on hand the following morning & I would ride down to Mrs. Mitchell's place & see if she would settle with him without a trial. Arrived at Mrs. Mitchell's place about 10 o'clock the next morning Mrs. Mitchell & the Dr. were at home & greeted me very cordially. I soon stated the object of my visit: viz: to make a settlement between her and the Freedman, Charles H. Brandon & wife Mrs Mitchell signified her willingness to do the same with

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2.9.2023 - Transcribed per guidelines and marked for review