Title	J. K. Nelson to M. D. Walsh, March 27, 1867
Record type	correspondence
Creator	Nelson, J. K.
Date of creation	1867-03-27
Series	Records of the field offices for the state of Tennessee, 1865-1872
Description	Correspondence regarding labor contracts, schools, and recruitment of Freedmen for the army. Also, information about the questionable nature of William A. Osborn and John E. Dromgoole, claim agents.
Additional notes	Series M1911, Reel 80, [Frames 581-585]
Excerpt from record	I have the honor to report that in the month of March I have written and approved Forty contracts. A majority of them were for a portion of the crop, ranging from two fifths to one half – the laborers finding their own rations – everything else necessary found by the employer. The employer finds the provisions where one third of the crop is promised. Not quite one third of all the contracts written this month have been for stated wages of which the average rate for a good hand is Twelve and one half Dollars per month, quarters, fuel and rations found by the employer. In filling up those blanks furnished by your office, I make the bond given by the employer equal to the sum of the wages to be paid the laborers. But little complaint has arisen from breach of contract, and the Freedmen have gone to work manfully to pitch their crops and make a living. The schools at this place are progressing favorable. The corps of teachers has been increased to eight, and the number of pupils in attendance has diminished considerably, on account of their labor being required on the surrounding plantations, and yet the number is so large as to make it difficult for the teachers to do justice to all, and give that attention to each necessary to insure rapid progress. A man named Smith who attempted to organize a colored school near Milton has been driven away and his life threatened. This Smith appears to be a very ignorant man. States that he belonged to Blackburns Company of Genl Stokes Cavalry in the army of the United States and that he is still a soldier, has never been discharged. From this statement the only inference I can draw is that he is a deserter. About the first of the month I received a letter from Capt. Henry C. Corbin 38th U. S. Infy Recruiting officer at Nashville, stating that he had been authorized by B[rot] Maj. Genl W. P. Corbin Asst. Comn. to request me to assist him in enlisting men (col’d) for the 38th Infantry, offering me $2.00 premium for each recruit. I declined accepting the commission for the reason that in my judgement it would not be proper or right for me to attempt to serve the Government in that double capacity to assist the freemen in making contracts and then be instrumental in having them break such contracts, by enlisting the men and sending them to the army. I would be glad to know if my position in this matter is approved. The Claim Agents at the place (Osborn and Drumgoole) who have exceeded in getting most of the claims of colored men are fast losing the confidence of every body. They are both hard drinkers. Osborn is drunk almost half of the time. I have not yet been able to ascertain to a certainty that they have defrauded any of the freedmen out of their dues as but few claims have been paid. This I do know, that a former partner of Osborn’s at the place, David Kelso, is afraid to trust him any longer and has taken all the unfinished partnership business out of his hands, and has told me confidentially that of a number of citizens’ claims collect from the Government some of the parties for whom it was paid have not received a cent. Any further information coming to my knowledge in this case will be promptly reported.
Geographic location	Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Rutherford County (Tenn.)
Names that occur in the record	Walsh, M. D. Nelson, J. K. Kelso, David Corbin, Henry C. Corbin, W. P. Dromgoole, John E. Osborn, William W.
Subject (LC)	African Americans--Tennessee--Social conditions--19th century African Americans--Social conditions Agriculture Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Race relations Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)--Tennessee--Rutherford County Rutherford County (Tenn.) United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands--Records and correspondence
Coverage	1860-1869
Contributing institution	National Archives and Records Administration
Medium	microfilm
Bibliographic citation	[Document title, date]. Records of the field offices for the State of Tennessee. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872. Series M1911, [Reel number, Frame number/s]. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
Copyright status	public domain
Collection name	Freedman's Bureau Records