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114

To
Genl. Howard Chief Bureau
of R. F. & A. L.

The petition of Joseph R. Woodley of Portsmouth Va. respectfully represents, that on the 10th May 1862 your petitioner left the city of Portsmouth Virginia, as lieutenant of a signal corps commanded by Capt. James F. Milligan, for the city of Richmond, and in which he continued to fill said office till the surrender of Lees' forces in April last, when he was paroled and returned home to the city of Portsmouth. That at the time of leaving Portsmouth he was the owner of a house and lot situated on Middle Street in that city, the title to which with it's location and boundaries will appear by the enclosed deed marked A. That in his absence from home the paid house and lot was taken possession of as abandoned property by the Government, which now holds and controls it. Your petitioner in the course he pursued believed at the time that he was discharging a duty he owed his native state and therefore connected himself with the late rebellion, but he has in good faith returned to his allegiance to the Government, and is determined to keep and observe the same hereafter. He herewith files his oath of Amnesty under the proclamation of the President, of the 29th May 1865, which he hopes may be regarded as evidence of the same, and under which he may be restored to his rights and [[?]]