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Culpeper C Ho Va. Nov. 27th 1865

Gen. Howard
Washington D.C. 

Dear Sir
I most respectfully submit for your consideration, the following brief appeal and inquiries in behalf of The Colored People who are with us, as well as for our own interest. 

1st. What is The duty of a Provost Marshall, or the Military Authorities, who are distributed through The State of Virginia? Now in relation to The Military who favoured us with their presence for the past six months, they have differed very much in their Conduct. We have had three different Officials acting as Provost Marshalls, and but one out of The Three, (who was Col. Hines,) who I think attempted to do his duty, so far as I can judge and I have proof to this effect, that he endeavoured to deal out justice to all without regard to Color, Thereby rendering himself unpopular with some of the "would be" leading Citizens and former Rebels who never faced a Bullet. On the 17th we were favoured with another official, who presented himself to the Coloured People [[strikethrough]] on the 17th [[/strikethrough]] to inform them that he desired by order of our distinguished President to establish a Freedman's Court here, which would place on the 25th inst and requested them to select and be in readiness by the appointed times to present a man of their own choice to represent them - in the Freedmen's Court  The election came off at the appointed time, and I was almost unanimously elected, by the Coloured people who were present, remembering about Five to Eight Hundred, but those few "would be "leading" white citizens alluded to protested against my election, for reasons never

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