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Tappahannock Va. June 20th 67

To Bvt. Lt. Col. James Johnson
Sub Asst. Com'r Bureau R.F. & A.L.

Col.

I have the honor to represent that at the November term of the Circuit Court held in the County of Essx. The following Freedmen were arraigned and held to trial for Riot Route and unlawful assembly and were convicted by the jury and assessed with a fine of sixteen dollars and fifty cents, each and sentenced by the court to twenty four hours imprisonment.  All of which will more fully appear by reference to a certified copy of the record, herewith filed and prayed to be made on part of this petition.  

The facts of the case as detailed before the committing justices (as required) in such cases and given in evidence upon the final trial were in substance as follows:
Early in the spring or late in the winter of 1866, one James Brown a merchant, doing business at a place called Catch Perry in the County of Essx. advertised to close out his stock of goods at auction on a certain day.  This advertisement was widely circulated & posted throughout the county.  At the time appointed there was a large assembly of persons of both white & colored, and the auction went on during the day some little difficulty arose in the yard between a young white man and a colored man which led to some confusion [[strikethrough]] each [[/strikethrough]] generally participated in, but each 

Transcription Notes:
Essx. is abbreviation for Essex county. ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-10-21 18:43:25