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NARA544 will have to solve. Some months ago he come to me & wished to put up a house on my land for himself & wife He married a half breed woman, her father being a negro her mother an Indian one of the Choctaws; George(the man in question) went to the Probate Clerk for license to marry the woman & was told that there was no law for Indians He then went to John McRae who is one of the Commis" for this place & a lawyer. McRae told him to call witnesses and marry her & they would be lawfully married & no one could molest them in any way. This he did but on Monday his wife came to me & told me that certain parties were speaking of prosecuting them for living together as they married without license. She seemed to be in great trouble and asked me to write to you and see if they could do anything with them. The Freedmen here have to suffer many wrongs, they complain most bitterly of their inability to get justice done them. I know myself of many cases in which gross injustice has been done them, but they say "It is of no use for us to go to the Bureau they will do nothing for us for they never have" & the Commissioners "here will not do anything for them. Please let me hear from you as soon as convenient as I shall want to know what George must do Yours Very Respectfully H. C. Oppelt
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Reopened for Editing 2024-04-01 09:54:24 because more than 2 [?] remain
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Reopened for Editing 2024-04-01 11:49:12