Labor Agreement between William H. Eubank and his Laborers
African Americans, labor, race relations
On January 1, 1866, William H. Eubank hired African Americans Bob, David, George, Patrick, Louisa, and Susan to farm his land for the ensuing year. The labor contract specified what Eubank would pay each of them and that he supplied lodging and rations for them and clothing for some of the women and their children. The labor contract required the workers to rise by dawn and be at work by sunrise. It allowed them one hour for dinner each day and required them to be polite and obedient and to labor at the direction of the landowner or his agent. The agreement also imposed restrictions on when the workers could leave the plantation or receive visitors. If any of the workers violated any provisions of the contract, he or she forfeited all benefits for the year.
William H. Eubank
Lunenburg County Freedmen's Contracts, 1865-1866, Lunenburg County Court Records, Local Government Records Collection, Library of Virginia.
January 1, 1866
Library of Virginia
CC BY-SA
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Manuscript
15_0732_012, 15_0732_012a
Lunenburg County, Virginia
Article of Agreement between Catharine T. Cate and B. L. Johns
African Americans, labor, race relations
In this contract, Catharine L. Cate agreed to work as a cook for B. J. Johns for the rate of $5 per month along with lodging and rations ("found"). They agreed that any changes to the contract would be made before a local Freedmen's Bureau agent, which was one of the duties agents undertook in helping the freedpeople find employment.
Lunenburg County Freedmen's Contracts, 1865-1866, Lunenburg County Court Records, Local Government Records Collection, Library of Virginia.
August 21, 1865
Library of Virginia
CC BY-SA
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Manuscript
15_0732_002, Catharine Cate agreement_1865_transcription_15_0732_002.pdf
Lunenburg County, Virginia
Labor Agreement between P.C. Morgan and his Laborers
African Americans, labor, race relations
P. C. Morgan's contract identifies the people he hired as he would have identified them back in slavery times, as belonging to his neighbors ("Irby's Henry, Hudson's Albert, Thomas's Ned, Peggie and Eley"). It also indicates that the hired people insisted on at least one change in the contract, to delete the passage allowing Morgan to force them to work on Saturdays. Otherwise, the contract is very favorable to Morgan and includes restrictions on the activities and behavior of the laborers. It is not clear why the names that appear in the first line of the contract differ from the names placed with the workers' marks or why the witness or the Freedman's Bureau agent nevertheless approved.
P.C. Morgan
Lunenburg County Freedmen's Contracts, 1865-1866, Lunenburg County Court Records, Local Government Records Collection, Library of Virginia.
January 1, 1866
Library of Virginia
CC BY-SA
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Manuscript
15_0732_010, 15_0732_010a, P.C. Morgan agreement_1866_transcription_15_0732_010-101a.pdf
Lunenburg County, Virginia
Transcription of a Labor Agreement between Slaughter B. Bullock and his Laborers
African Americans, labor, race relations
In June 1865 Hanover County farmer Slaughter B. Bullock contracted with his former enslaved laborers to work for him for stated wages and a place to board on his farm. The agreement was unusual (and unusually fair) in that it allowed either party "to make any change they may choose at the expiration of each month."
Slaughter B. Bullock
Slaughter B. Bullock, Agreement, 1865, Accession 22133, Personal Papers Collection, Library of Virginia.
June 7, 1865
Library of Virginia
CC BY-SA
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Transcription
Bullock Slaughter agreement_1865_transcription.pdf
Hanover County, Virginia
Excerpt of Testimony of Federal Judge John C. Underwood
African Americans, military service, race relations
A joint Congressional committee was appointed in 1865 to determine whether the former Confederate states were entitled to have representation in Congress. More than one hundred witnesses testified early in 1866 about the situations in the four military districts established after the Civil War. Federal judge and Alexandria resident John C. Underwood testified on January 31, 1866, about the attitudes of Virginians in the months after the war.
John C. Underwood
<em>Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, at the First Session Thirty-Ninth Congress</em>, 2 vols. (1866), 2:8
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office
January 31, 1866
Library of Virginia
CC BY-SA
PDF
bound volume
Underwood testimony_1866_transcription.pdf
Richmond, Virginia
Petition of Residents of Lunenburg County to Governor Francis H. Pierpont
African Americans, military service, race relations
For several months after the end of the war, the army stationed soldiers, including African Americans, throughout Virginia to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation and protect the freedpeople. White Lunenburg County residents petitioned Governor Pierpont to remove the African American troops who had been quartered at the county seat, because their presence was "repugnant and humiliating to our feelings," and they feared the troops would have an "improper and injurious influence on our former Slaves."
Lunenburg County residents
Executive Papers of Governor Francis H. Pierpont, 1865–1868, Accession 37024, Library of Virginia
undated, ca. 1865
Library of Virginia
CC BY-SA
<a title="Pierpont Papers" href="http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva/vi00006.xml" target="_blank">Finding aid</a> to Executive Papers of Governor Francis F. Pierpont.
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manuscript
15_0707_006_, Lunenburg County Petition_1865_transcription.pdf
Lunenburg County, Virginia
Jacob Yoder's Diaries, entries of May 10-14, 1869
African Americans, education, race relations
Jacob Eschbach Yoder (1838-1905), a Pennsylvania native, came to Lynchburg in 1866 to help educate freedpeople. He left after a few months, but returned in 1868 and continued to teach and serve as an administrator for the African American schools in Lynchburg until his death. Despite his idealistic intentions, he confided to his diary his deep ambivalence aobut his job, the abilities of his colleagues, and the prospects for African American education. Yoder kept a diary between 1866 and 1870, some of which has been published as <em>The Fire of Liberty in Their Hearts</em>, ed., Samuel L. Horst (1996). These entries are from a volume that remains unpublished.
Jacob Yoder
Jacob E. Yoder. Diaries, 1861-1870. Accession 27680, 51148. Personal papers collection. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.
May 8-14, 1869
CC BY-SA
Out of the Box <a title="Jacob Yoder" href="http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2015/06/17/jacob-yoder-freedpeople/" target="_blank">blog entry</a> on Jacob Yoder.
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Text
14_1165_041, 14_1165_042, 14_1165_043, 14_1165_044, Yoder diary_May 1869_transcription_14_1165_041-044.pdf
Lynchburg, Virginia
Jacob Yoder's diary entries from April 10-17, 1869
African Americans, education, race relations
Jacob Eschbach Yoder (1838-1905), a Pennsylvania native, came to Lynchburg in 1866 to help educate freedpeople. He left after a few months, but returned in 1868 and continued to teach and serve as an administrator for the African American schools in Lynchburg until his death. Despite his idealistic intentions, he confided to his diary his deep ambivalence aobut his job, the abilities of his colleagues, and the prospects for African American education. Yoder kept a diary between 1866 and 1870, some of which has been published as <em>The Fire of Liberty in Their Hearts</em>, ed., Samuel L. Horst (1996). These entries are from a volume that remains unpublished.
Jacob Yoder
Jacob E. Yoder. Diaries, 1861-1870. Accession 27680, 51148. Personal papers collection. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.
April 10-17, 1869
CC BY-SA
Out of the Box <a title="Jacob Yoder" href="http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2015/06/17/jacob-yoder-freedpeople/" target="_blank">blog entry</a> on Jacob Yoder.
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14_1165_036, 14_1165_037, Yoder diary_April 1869_transcription_14_1165_036-037.pdf
Lynchburg, Virginia
Jacob E. Yoder's Diaries, entries for December 28, 1868-January 2, 1869
African Americans, education, race relations
Jacob Eschbach Yoder (1838-1905), a Pennsylvania native, came to Lynchburg in 1866 to help educate freedpeople. He left after a few months, but returned in 1868 and continued to teach and serve as an administrator for the African American schools in Lynchburg until his death. Despite his idealistic intentions, he confided to his diary his deep ambivalence aobut his job, the abilities of his colleagues, and the prospects for African American education. Yoder kept a diary between 1866 and 1870, some of which has been published as <em>The Fire of Liberty in Their Hearts</em>, ed., Samuel L. Horst (1996). These entries are from a volume that remains unpublished.
Jacob Yoder
Jacob E. Yoder. Diaries, 1861-1870. Accession 27680, 51148. Personal papers collection. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.
December 28, 1868-January 2, 1869
CC BY-SA
Out of the Box <a title="Jacob Yoder" href="http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2015/06/17/jacob-yoder-freedpeople/" target="_blank">blog entry</a> on Jacob Yoder.
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14_1165_032, Yoder diary_1868-1869_transcription_14_1165_032.pdf
Lynchburg, Virginia
Jacob Yoder's Diaries, entries of December 8-24, 1868.
African Americans, education, race relations
Jacob Eschbach Yoder (1838-1905), a Pennsylvania native, came to Lynchburg in 1866 to help educate freedpeople. He left after a few months, but returned in 1868 and continued to teach and serve as an administrator for the African American schools in Lynchburg until his death. Despite his idealistic intentions, he confided to his diary his deep ambivalence about his job, the abilities of his colleagues, and the prospects for African American education. Yoder kept a diary between 1866 and 1870, some of which has been published as <em>The Fire of Liberty in Their Hearts</em>, ed., Samuel L. Horst (1996). These entries are from a volume that remains unpublished.
Jacob Yoder
Jacob E. Yoder. Diaries, 1861-1870. Accession 27680, 51148. Personal papers collection. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.
December 8-24, 1868
CC BY-SA
Out of the Box <a title="Jacob Yoder" href="http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2015/06/17/jacob-yoder-freedpeople/" target="_blank">blog entry</a> on Jacob Yoder.
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Text
14_1165_024, 14_1165_025, 14_1165_027, 14_1165_028, 14_1165_029, 14_1165_030, 14_1165_031
Lynchburg, Virginia