"When de war ended I was discharged at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Some ob de darkies was turnt out like stray cattle. I'se seed 'em bunkin' 'round sleepin' in hay stacks an' roaming 'round wid no whar to go. Some owners had to be made to give up deir slaves while others treated 'em wid consideration an' sont 'em where dey needed to go or let 'em stay on an' wuk fer wages." Elmo Steele, Ex-Slave in Copiah County, Mississippi
Freedmen Labor Contract - List of Freedmen
Planter: L. N. Geigher
Plantation: J. M. Dampear
County: Simpson County, Mississippi
Date: August 01, 1865
LIZZA, 25 - SHE HAS TWO CHILDREN.
Sources
Freedmen Bureau Laor Contract - Microfiche Number 47-057
Slave Narrative of Elmo Steele
All sources found at Mississippi Department of Archives and History.