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Bureau Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands,
Office Superintendent 1st District of Virginia.
Norfolk, Va., September 19, 1866.

Brvt Lieut Col James A. Bates
A.A.A.G. Bureau R.F. and A.L.
Richmond Va.

Colonel:

In compliance with letter of 17th inst: I have the honor to report that so far as the jurisdiction of this Bureau extended Craney Island was leased to Henry. A. Beatty and David T. Corson, on the 23rd of September 1865 for one year from October 1st 1865 to be renewed from year to year for five years, by mutual agreement at an annual rent of ($75) Seventy five dollars.  The authority to lease this property was given by General Mann then in command of this District.  What the jurisdiction of the Bureau is does not appear by the records of this Office -  Messrs Beatty and Corson have been at considerable expense in fitting up the buildings and in planting oysters, upon which they expect to realize sufficient to pay the rent and expenses.

I am informed that in the month of August last, by authority from Col Blunt A.Q.M., a detachment of U.S. soldiers was quartered upon the Island to prevent the spread of the 

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Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-07-18 16:08:43 Craney Island is a point of land in the independent city of Portsmouth in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia in the United States.