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of the barest necessaries of life.  With the great body of these Citizens, it has been a severe labor and struggle, ever since their return, to procure food and clothing, for their families.  The Trade of the Town has been of the most limited and unremunerative kind, to the Merchant Citizens, & other Callings, because the Area of County trading with the Town was left by the War greatly desolated and impoverished the farms being stripped of fencing, Cattle, Draught animals, implements and other outfit and the land holders having utterly inadequate means to refit their wasted condition.  Indeed but for the Christian benevolence of friends in more favored regions of the county, who sent Alms to help the suffering in this Town and surrounding County and the aid extended by the Federal Government, it would have been impracticable for the local Commanders to have warded off famine from this region of the State.  The Crops made in 1866 and 1867 in the Counties trading to Fredericksburg have not been sufficient to support in any comfort the population inhabiting this region, no surplus means have been accumulated and the distressing failure of the wheat Crop for the present year, has destroyed the main hope on which said farming region depended for procuring some capital to enlarge and improve their farming operations.  It is not deemed necessary to do more, than make a general

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