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County of Colorado
State of Texas

Nathaniel Axiom sworn says -
I formerly belonged to Dr. John H. Crisp and was his head man, or overseerer. The first Sunday after the Federal troops arrived in Columbus Dr. Crisp brought a paper to my quarters and after reading some of it told me we were all free. He said "Nathan you are as free a man as I am. I wanted to be the guardian of all your people under 21 years old, but I find I cannot be so, now I depended upon you to attend to my business and carry it on for the last eight or ten years. All of my hands have generally been controlled by you and I think they can be still. I want you to go around and tell them all they are as free as me and I will pay my men hands tan dollars per month and my women hands eight dollars per month, or as much as anyone else will pay, for I have been raised with you all and had rather have you than any other hands." I told all the hands what he told me to. We all staid and worked and gathered his crop till Christmas.

Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-04-14 06:56:04