Mr. B. B. Dikes, referred to in the foregoing statement of Floyd Snelson, is not the only claimant who has endeavored to secure possession of the grounds in and around the stockades at Andersonville, Georgia. I should have said that he has entered a suit in the U. S. Court for the possession of these lands, but in the absence of the military he judged the ejectment of the freedmen, and getting possession in the manner I have described, as more sure and speedy than the “law’s delay.”

A Mr. Crawford claims that the land which lies within and around the south stockade, in which are the hospital sheds, where so many of our soldiers died, where even now the bare ground upon which they lay shows the indenture made by the bodies of our suffering dying soldiers, belongs to certain heirs, and he, too, has been endeavoring to get possession of these grounds. My pastoral visitations led me to the cabins in and around the stockades, that have been built upon the land now claimed by Mr. Crawford. As was most natural, they poured into my ears the sad, the almost incredible, accounts of the wrongs they have suffered “since freedom came,” or, as they more frequently expressed it, “since the surrender came through.” One of these men came to me in January, in great distress, and told me that the day before he had been notified by Mr. Souber, the magistrate of the district, that he must leave his house by the next Monday night, or he would bring the Sheriff and turn him out. Mr. Souber told him that he had charge of the land for Mr. Crawford, and that he was agoing to fence it in, and raise a cotton crop in and around these stockades. There are thousands who know how this soil has been ensanguined and enriched. I had frequently walked over these grounds, and seen evidences of what is both too indelicate and too horrible to be described. I confess that my indignation was roused to the highest degree. I sat down immediately and wrote a statement of these facts to Hon. J. M. Ashley, and begged him to call on General Grant, and see if there was any power in the Government to prevent these outrages.

The Lieutenant in charge at Andersonville called upon me some days later, and informed me that my letter to Congressman Ashley had been referred, by General Grant to General Meade, who had referred it to him. I furnished him the facts upon which it was based, and also wrote General Meade as follows:

ANDERSONVILLE, GA., January 30, 1869.

GENERAL: I send you the accompanying “statements” in regard to the matters referred to in my letter to the Hon. J. M. Ashley, M.C. My letter was based upon part of these statements. Those additional to what had then been communicated to me are the result of investigations made since Lieutenant Corliss informed me that my letter had been referred to General Meade and to himself.

I have been acquainted with colored people in the South more than
twenty-five years I know the difficulty of getting at the truth in
such matters. But I think these “statements” can be depended upon.

With great respect, yours very truly,

H. W. PIERSON.

To MAJOR GENERAL MEADE.

STATEMENTS OF ALBERT WILLIAMS, MARTHA RANDALL, JANE ROGERS, AND BENJAMIN WESTON.

Albert Williams states to me that in January after the surrender he was employed by the Government to work in the cemetery, and worked there until last spring. That Mr. Van Dusen, Supt. of the cemetery, gave him the privilege of moving into the house he now occupies, near the stockade that enclosed the hospital buildings; that afterwards Captain Rench gave him the privilege of clearing off the ground east of the stockade and raising a crop; that he hired hands and cleared and fenced about fifteen acres; that his wife and children helped to raise a crop; that after it was “laid by,” Mr. Crawford, who claims the land, called on him and demanded rent, that he also called on Lewis Williams, Howard Ingraham, and Butler Johnson, who were raising crops around the stockades by permission of Captain Rench, and demanded rent, that Mr. Crawford called upon us four, with Mr. B. B. Dikes and Esquire Souber, and compelled us to sign a written contract, which they had prepared, that each of us four would pay forty bushels of corn each for rent; that he (Williams) was unable to pay the forty bushels of corn, but did pay ten dollars in money, ten bushels of corn which he gathered and hauled to Mr. Dikes’ crib, for which he was allowed fifteen dollars in rent. None of the four men were able to pay the forty bushels of corn; but Mr. Crawford brought the Bailiff, John Law, and took what corn he could, and a sow and pig from Howard Ingraham. All these men but me have left their places that they had cleared and fenced, because they could not pay such rent, and Mr. Crawford has put the places in charge of Mr. Souber, and brought him two males to cultivate the grounds. Mr. Williams states that twice the stockade has been set on fire in the night, and he and his boys have toted water and put it out.

Mr. Williams states that Mr. Souber came to his house some two or three weeks ago, and told him he must get out of the house and leave the place, that he had charge of it now, that he was going to fence in the grounds and raise a crop in and around the stockade, and that he would not let any body live there but those that worked the place. That some time after this Mr. Souber sent him word by Bob Stevens that he had rented the place to him, and that he must get out or Mr. Souber would have him put out by the Sheriff, Mr. Raiford; that Mr. Stevens and his wife have both been to his house several times with this message from Mr. Souber; that last Saturday (January 23, 1869,) his wife told him that Mr. Souber came to his house while he was away and told her we must get out by Monday night or he would bring the Sheriff and have us put out. Mr. Williams says he will make oath to these statements.

Mrs. Martha Randall and Mrs. Jane Rogers live very near Mr. Williams. They state to me that they occupy the house by permission of Mr. Souber, as they have agreed to work for him. They both say to me that they heard Mr. Souber tell Mrs. Williams, last Saturday, that “they must get out of the house or he would have the Sheriff put them out.”

Benjamin Weston states to me that Major Anthony gave him permission to raise a crop east of the stockade, where the small-pox hospital was located. That he cleared and fenced about six acres; that there was no clearing on the land only some of the underbrush was cut out; that there was not a rail on the place; that he cut and split all the rails and made a good fence, and raised a crop of corn; that about the first of August Mr. Crawford came to him and said the land was his, and demanded thirty-five bushels of corn for rent, and required him to sign a contract and give security for that amount; that the place only yielded about twenty bushels, of which his family and stock used ten bushels, and he gave ten bushels for rent.

Mr. Weston states that he heard that Mr. Souber had charge of the land, and about the first of January he applied to him to rent what he had cleared and fenced. Mr. Souber told him that he had charge of the land but it was not for rent; he was agoing to tend it himself. He then asked me what Mr. Williams was agoing to do. I told him I did not know. He said well, he had better hunt him a house, for I am agoing to tend that place myself. Mr. Weston says he has never had any pay for clearing and fencing the land, only about ten bushels of corn, as above stated. He says he will make oath to the above statements.

January 29, 1869.

GENERAL: I do not know the boundaries of the land claimed by Crawford, but as far as I am able to learn, the mob that burnt the buildings here last summer, and threats and treatment like that detailed above, have driven off all the families that occupied these grounds by authority of officers of the United States Government, except Mr. Williams, and Mr. Rhodes who occupies a building in the large stockade, which he tells me he has been warned to leave. Through the means above detailed Mr. C. has very nearly secured possession, which is nine-tenths in law.

With great respect, yours, very truly,

H. W. PIERSON.

To MAJOR GENERAL MEADE.

On the 10th of February, 1869, Captain Bean called on me and introduced himself as a member of General Meade’s staff, and said he had come from Atlanta to Andersonville by order of General Meade to make investigations in regard to the matters referred to in my letters. I went with him to the stockade and pointed out the new fences made and the grounds claimed by Mr. Souber. At his request I went with him to the office of Mr. Williams, the superintendent of the cemetery, and in my presence he told him to notify Mr. Souber to suspend all work upon these grounds.

I confess that I was exceedingly gratified at this complete success of my efforts. I felt that these historic grounds, this Gethsemane of the nation, had been rescued from what I could but esteem a sacrilegious use and possession, and that the flag that floated over the dead at Andersonville had been honored by this order. When I told the Freedmen the result of Captain Bean’s visit their joy was great. In describing to me, as they often had, the suffering and losses they had endured when they were driven from their homes, and their cabins were burnt last summer, they always, in their simplicity, spoke of it as the time “when the Government busted up.” And this truly described the condition of the Government from that time to the present, so far as they were concerned, for these facts show that no matter how horrible and brutal the outrage and personal violence committed upon them there had been no punishment to the perpetrators and no redress to the Freedmen. Now they felt that the Government would again afford them some protection.

But great as was my joy, and the joy of the suffering Freedmen, it was nothing to the rage of those who, after so long a struggle, had been defeated in their efforts to get possession of these grounds just as they were about to become completely successful. Captain Bean visited and left Andersonville on the 10th. On the 12th I received a Ku-Klux letter, of which the following is a true copy:

Skull and
cross-bones.

FEBRUARY 12, 1869.

“Dr. PEARSON (so-called).

“SIR: For your especial benefit I am instructed to write you this
special communication of warning and instruction.

“The citizens of this place are aware of a few facts relative to yourself that I will proceed to designate: In the first place, they know you to be a wandering vagrant carpet bagger, without visible means of support, and living at present on the earnings of those who are endeavoring to make an honest living by teaching. You have also proved yourself a scoundrel of the deepest dye by maliciously interfering in matters which do not in the least concern you, to the detriment of some of our citizens.

“This, therefore, is to warn you to LEAVE this county forthwith. Twenty-four (24) hours from the above date is the time allowed for you to leave. If after the said time your devilish countenance is seen at this place or vicinity your worthless life will pay the forfeit. Congressional reconstruction, the military, nor anything else under Heaven, will prevent summary justice being meted out to such an incarnate fiend as yourself.

“By order of committee.”

I should do great injustice to Mr. Dikes, Mr. Souber, and Mr. Crawford, and their sympathising friends, the author and inspirers of the above letter, were I to say, or convey the impression, that they were worse men than their neighbors. From what I have seen and heard of them I am sure that in mental culture, in kindness of heart, in loyalty, and in Christian civilization they are decidedly above rather than below the over-whelming majority of their fellow citizens. They represent not the lowest but the highest type of patriotism, philanthropy, and Christianity prevailing in that region. I challenge their late Congressional representative, the Hon. Nelson Tift, to go before his constituents and deny my statements in regard to the social standing of these men.

The above letter states my offence: “You have proved yourself a scoundrel of the deepest dye, by maliciously interfering in matters which do not in the least concern you, to the detriment of some of our citizens.” But General Grant, General Wade, and Captain Bean interfered far more potentially than I did. If I am a “scoundrel of the deepest dye” what must they be?

The “skull and bones,” the insignia of the Ku-Klux Klan and not the stars and stripes, represent the dominant power in that region. “Congressional reconstruction, the military, &c.,” are successfully defied. The power of the United States Government is not felt or feared. They only know it as powerless to prevent the atrocities enacted before their eyes during and since the war.

The flag that I had united with others to honor with procession, songs, and cheers, was powerless to protect me, and floats dishonored above the graves of the 12,848 martyr heroes who suffered and died in the stockades at Andersonville, as prisoners of war never suffered and died before.

I need hardly say that with my knowledge of the condition of things around me, as presented only in part in this communication, I left Andersonville as desired by the Ku-Klux Klan. I knew that human life that my life was not worth as much as the life of a chicken in any law-abiding, law-governed community, for should any evil disposed person there maliciously kill his neighbor’s chicken he would be compelled to pay some slight fine or endure some brief imprisonment; but no one of all the perpetrators of the crimes I have named has suffered or has dreamed or suffering any fine, imprisonment, or punishment whatever. I knew that in their own language my life was “worthless.” I went South to reside in 1843, and there are few who know it as thoroughly. As agent of the American Bible Society, and in other capacities, I have traveled tens of thousands of miles over different States on horseback before the war. Bishop Kavenaugh, of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, in introducing me to the Louisville Conference in 1858, told them that though a Presbyterian I had “out itinerated the itineracy itself.” And yet I have never seen or heard as much of outrage and personal violence upon the colored people in any five years of slavery as I heard and saw at Andersonville, Georgia, from December 22, 1868, to February 12, 1869. I have never known crime to be committed in any community with such perfect impunity. I have yet to learn of a single instance where the civil courts in that part of the State have rendered any punishment or redress for outrages like those I have detailed. The fact that such crimes have for years been committed with perfect impunity that the men who perpetrate them have not the slightest fear or thought of ever being punished that the Freedmen who have suffered outrages such as these, and others entirely too gross for me to repeat, have not the faintest shadow of a hope that their wrongs will ever be redressed, has reduced these poor people to a state of almost utter hopelessness and despair.

Turner Hall, a freedman, a deacon in the Congregational church in Andersonville, under whose black skin beats one of the most patriotic and noble Christian hearts I have ever known, writes: “We seem to be forsaken of God and man.”

I have talked with many of these men, who in the late Presidential election, with a spirit as noble as ever beat in the heart of a martyr, slept in swamps for weeks, were hunted like wild beasts, and perilled all means of livelihood for their wives and children, and their own lives, that they might vote for General Grant for President. Those of them that were employed in the National Cemetery at Andersonville, Georgia, were threatened with dismission in case they voted for General Grant. Notwithstanding this threat some of them went to the polls, voted for General Grant, and were immediately dismissed by Henry Williams, superintendent of the cemetery. This was done to deter the others, but they went forward and executed a “freeman’s will” by voting for General Grant. (Mr. Williams has since been removed.) And what to this hour has been their reward from their friends? I forbear to press this question.

But with facts like these in mind can anyone suppose that a fair election an election in which the thousands of Freedmen in Georgia shall give expression to their political wishes can be held in that State in 1870. The thing is simply impossible. Until these ignorant, outraged people shall have some demonstration that there is power, either in the State or Federal Government, to afford them protection, and punish such outrages as that of Rev. Robert Hodges upon Cane Cook, the Freedmen cannot be expected again to risk their livings and their lives in voting for those whom they know to be their only friends.

It will be proper for me to add that I did not come to Washington at the suggestion or with the knowledge of any party in Georgia. I belong to no “delegation.” I came here at my own charges, in the interests of patriotism and suffering humanity, to lay these facts before Congress and the highest officers of the Government. All my self respect and honor as a man, all my regard for the rights of American citizenship, all my toils for the triumph of the starry banner, all my labors for the education and protection of the ignorant and outraged Freedmen, and all the emotions stirred in my soul as again and again I have walked amid the graves of the nation’s martyred dead at Andersonville, compelled me to the performance of these unsought labors. I ask that these Freedmen may be protected and their wrongs redressed. I ask for the vindication of the rights of American citizenship in Georgia and everywhere beneath our own flag upon our own soil.

With great respect, your obedient servant,
H. W. PIERSON.

Hon. CHARLES SUMNER,
United States Senate.