![Transcription Center logo](/themes/custom/tc_theme/assets/image/logo.png)
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
=4th Page= men have adopted the unfortunate system of "cropping", and most of the others will not make contracts for any length of time- though I use every method to persuade them to fix themselves at steady employment- Contracts for money- by the year is the best system for the ordinary laboring Freedpeople until they have gained experience and learned the art- or science- of being free- A few of the sagacious are already arriving at this conclusion- The colored churches in Lexington are well attended and the congregations decorous and well dressed- No want- excepting ordinary pauper indigence- exists among the colored people and their health is good I have not been in Bath or Alleghany County since the 10th inst, and cannot tell what may have recently transpired there but have hear no unfortunate reports from either- Very Respectfully Your Obt. Servt J. W. Sharp Capt & Sub Ass Sub Com. Rockbridge Bath & Alleghany Cos. Va. Brvt. Brig Genl Brown Through Capt. Lacey Agent 7th Dist. Va.