People named: J.H. Alexander, Bevelly (Beverly) Wilson, Sezar (Caesar) Daniel, Peney (Penny) Daniel, Margarett Daniel, Doll Alexander, Caroline and Martha
Following is a labor contract found in the U.S. Freedmen’s Bureau records of Liberty County, Georgia. (See citation at the end for full details of source.)
[Begin Transcript]
Articles of Agreement between
J. H. Alexander of the 1st part and Bevelly Wilson, Sezar Daniel, Peney Daniel, Margarett Daniel and Doll Alexander of the second part
Copy
Headquarters A.B.R.F. & A.L. for Liberty County
May 21st 1866
I approve the within contract.
Wm. B. Gaulden
A.B.R.F. & A.L. for Liberty County
January the 15[th], 1866
State of Georgia, Liberty County }
Articles of Agreement
Between J.H. Alexander of said County & State of the first part and the Freedmen & Freed Women whose names are hearunto [sic] signed of the second part. This agreement witnesseth that J.H. Alexander party of the first part is to manage and control the plantation on which said freedmen and women are to work he is to direct their labor not only in all matters connected with the crop, but in making such repairs to buildings, roads, bridges & fencing on the plantation as in his judgment may be right & proper & to command their personal services from time to time to himself & family as may be necessary. The said freedmen & women agree to submit to the direction & control of the said J.H. Alexander, doing at all times such work as he may require of them, not to absent themselves from the plantation without his permission but bind themselves to work faithfully to the end of the year & until the whole crop is harvested & prepaired [sic] for market. The said freedmen & women further agree to feed & Cloth [sic] themselves & to pay their own doctor bills receiving at the end of the year or when the crop shall have bin [sic] harvested & prepaired [sic] for market one half of all that they have maid [sic] and harvested accept [sic] the oat crop. It is further agreed by the said freedmen & women that if at any time during the year any of them shall fail to work according to the above agreement or shall leave the plantation without permission of the said J.H. Alexander or his agent he or she may be dismissed from the plantation & shall forfeit all claim or title to any portion of the crop made. The said J.H. Alexander on his part agree[s] to furnish the necessary team for the working of the plantation & all the agricultural implement[s] necessary and to manage & control the labor according to the best of his skill & ability. It is further understood & agreed by the parties hearto [sic] that the team & all implement[s] furnished by the said J.H. Alexander shall be his individual property & that the feed of the team shall be deducted from the crop before division & that in the division every mule or horse shall count as one hand & the said J.H. Alexander shall receive the portion of one hand for every mule or horse in addition to his other shear [sic] of the crop. And it is further agreed by the said freedman & woman that all time lost through sickness or from any other cause beyond twelve working days in the year shall be deducted from the portion of him on his part losing said time. It is further understood & agreed to by the parties hearto [sic] tha the necessary seed used in planting the crop shall be equally furnished or deducted from the crop made before division. It is further understood by the parties that one half acre of ordinary land be furnished each full hand for garden purposes and it is further understood that the amount of horse feed to be deducted for two horses are to be fifty bushel good corn and one thousand wight of fodr [fodder] and it is also further understood and agreed by the undersign[ed] parties that if any of them shall refuse to work or comply with the above contract then the rest of them shall pay to the said J.H. Alexander what he or she may be due the said J.H. Alexander for provision or otherwise and then the undersign[ed] parties are to have his or her shir [share] of said crop.
[signed]
Bevelly Wilson – full hand
[NOTE: There was a Beverly Wilson in the Liberty County 1870 census, 1870 agricultural census, and 1867 voter registrations. His wife’s name was Penny and he had a daughter named Margaret. By the early 1880s, he was paying property tax on 25 acres.]
Sezer Daniel – full hand
[NOTE: Possibly a misspelling of the first name Caesar.]
Peney Daniel – half hand
Margarett Daniel – hand hand
Doll Alexander for Caroline and Martha [half hands]
[Above all signed by mark]
J.H. Alexander of the 1st part
[NOTE: There was a James H. Alexander living in Liberty County at this time. In the 1860 U.S. census slave schedule, he was listed as owning seven people. He apparently moved from Liberty County to Reidsville in Tattnall County sometime between 1880-1900.)
Witness
Mathew Butler
S?? Hill
[End Transcript]
Records of the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen & Abandoned Lands, Field Office Records for Georgia, Liberty County, Labor Contract for J.H. Alexander and freedmen; digital database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/62309/images/004139868_00255), U.S., Freedmen’s Bureau Records, 1865-1878 -> Records of the Field Offices -> M1903 > 83, images 134-7; citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M1903, Roll 83.