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118 Bureau Refs. Freedmen & Aband Lands. Office Sub. Comm'r Dist Meridian Meridian, Miss. Oct 31st 1866. Oppell Miss H. C. De Kalb, Kemper Co. Campbell Mr R. F. Enterprise, Clarke Co. Miss Enclosed please find two Blank "Teachers Monthly School Reports" which please carefully fill out. One copy will be retained by you, the other will be forwarded to this Office as soon as possible. The late forms furnished you are not in use any longer. Very respectfully, Your obd't Servt Henry E Rainals Capt VRC. Sub-Commr. D M Bureau Refugees, Freedman and Aband. Lands, Office Sub-Comm'r Dist of Meridian Meridian, Miss, Oct. 31st 1866 Preston Bvt Major A. W. A.A.A. Gen. Bu. R.F and A L Vicksburg, Miss. Major, I have the honor herewith to submit my Report for the month of October, 1866. The condition of the freed people is as satisfactory, taking all things into consideration, as might fairly be expected. Less abuses are reported and the ill feeling on the part of the whites towards their former slaves in a great measure abating. There seems to be a great desire on the part of the Freedmen to purchase and settle on the Government lands set aside for that purpose by Congress. In all such cases I have taken pains to explain to the interested parties the necessity of having sufficient means 119 wherewith to purchase one or two mules, a cow, a wagon, ploughs and other implements and provisions sufficient to last them one year, and that unless they were in possession of the required means for these purposes it would be better for him [vehemently?] to labor for others, be economical, and lay enough aside wherewith to make a future start, instead of now investing their few savings in barren lands with the sure prospect of losing within a short time every [[dime?]] they had invested. In most cases my advises have been listened to but as a general thing the col'd people have had a very limited view of the value of money and how far it will reach. Hon Leachman, U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, has taken the matter into hand of breaking lands &c for all such as apply to him, for which services he charges the very moderate fee of [?]5. He is a friend to the negro, even ready to advise all and assist him and [[strikethrough]] is [[/strikethrough]] a thoroughly loyal man. I have been informed by him that quite a number of Whites, who can take the prescribed oath, have declared their intention likewise of settling on these lands. There are at present 4 Schools in operation in this District: one in this city, one at Lauderdale|Asylum|, one at Enterprise, Clarke Co & one at DeKalb, Kemper Co. The two latter have been organized without aid from any society, and are taught by Southern teachers. The required School Report shall be forwarded as soon as the blanks have been filled out by the teachers and returned to this Office. The crops in this locality are considered a failure and a great deal of suffering among what is known as the 'poor whites' anticipated in consequence thereof. Strong hopes are expressed among people here that the Bureau will not suffer these poor unfortunates to die from starvation but that a reissue of rations may be looked for at an early day. The community, they say, is too poor to aid in the matter. I heartily endorse these views believing the necessity for aid in this direction was never greater - not even immediately after the surrender - than it is now. Captain Sunderland has been very ill during the month, most of the time confined to his bed, in consequence he has not been able to comply with the timelines laid down in Special Orders No 78, Office Assistant Commissioner. My health too, continues to be greatly impaired enclosed please find Reports 1-2-3 & 8.
