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The State of Texas }
County of Austin   } Corporation of Hempstead

Personally appeared before the undersigned authority R Mebus a citizen of said county & state who being duly sworn declares and says in answers to inquiry of his knowledge as to matters pertaining to the present excitement. Says that some three weeks since some of the freedmen one a man named George came to meet
Said the "Ku Klux" were coming out to rob them &c and he wanted to know what to do, and said he was unarmed & asked me for arms- I gave him (George) my gun and told him if an unlawful crowd came, to defend himself & call for me and I would help him but if any civil officer came to yield- and some few days previous to last Friday week some more freedmen came to me and said there was to be a big meeting in Hempstead friday (last friday week) and some of the freedmen are going to take L Springfield that they regretted this as the time set for their work was the coming Fourth of July. And on that on said friday I saw at least fifty (50) freedmen (I counted them) marched by my place in military order all fully armed- about one half were mounted balance on foot all coming in the direction of Hempstead. And on the day previous (Thursday) I saw at a secluded spot a small prairied distant from any habitation one or two miles, a large body (at least four hundred of armed freedmen drilling- the military drill- and went through all the order with surprising facility- The freedman who told me of the meeting on friday said if a fuss should start the determination was to exterminate the "Reb's" from the cradle up - and if the Reds thought the Yankees were hard on them they intended to be ten times with them- they would not leave them a spot to sleep on - 
On last Sunday I was told a Big gathering was to come off in Hempstead on the following tuesday