The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1866-04-26
The Freedmen.

t. -0 The Freedmen. 8".
Some time during the winter a few
ladies canvassed the town for second
hand clothing for the freedmen. Two
boxes were sent off, valued at near 500
In one Of the boxes was letter to who.
ever might come In possession Of them.
AS luck would have 1t, they fell into the
hands of an old friend of those who con-
stituted the committee that sent the
goods, and he replied at length, stating
the condition of the freedmen at Nat
chez. He is \ man who has devoted
much of his life to missionary labors
and is entirely trustworthy. We pubs
lish his letter that the donors of the
goods sent, may know that their contri-
buttons were rightfully applied. Il
The committee are preparing to send
another box and would be glad to re-
ceive anything suitable that may be
given. Articles may be loft with Mrs.
Clapp or at the postoffice. The freed
men need assistance, and it is the duty
of all to give what they can.
.,... a. ~ NATcHEz, April I'd, 1866.
Mrs. l.. J. DANIELS MRS. j. NJ. L. DANIELS,
MRS. NJ D.CLAPP:
=, '"t My Dear Mstcrs:-I am permitted
to hail you from this far off "Dixie
Land,' and acknowledge the receipt of
the clothing sent by you for the benefit
OF the Freedmen. Some of you will re-
cognize me as an old acquaintance, and
I do the more cheerfully take my pen to
your benefactions.
We received with yours, several other
boxes and barrels. To avoid being inn
posed upon by unworthy applicants it is
necessary for us to use great caution in
the distribution of clothing. Persons
who are able to labor and provide for
themselves will often dress up in old
rags and come to beg for clothes. We
the safest way would be for
us to go among the people and see for
ourselves who were actually needy.
Friday last, Bro. Lifts and myself Wis.,
tied Natchez Under the Hill, place as
near like Sodom as any on earth. We
visited about two miles along the banks
of the river. including the kraal The
freedmen live mostly in cabins built of
shakes, which they split out of spruce
or sweet gim trees. Sometimes in
cabin ten or twelve feet square there will
be two or three families. We do not
find SO much absolute suffering among
them as l anticipated, tho the destitu-
ton was very great. We found but few
sick ones among them; and most of
them were working in their gardens.
Many of these are soldiers families and
are comfortably provided for, but there
are many others, old and iniirm, who
have none to care for them. There are
also multitudes of orphan children
among them. They live on lands be-
longing to others, some paying a high
rent and others without rent They
manage in various ways to keep soul
and body together. We took the names
1fthe most destitute ones and gave them
tickets, telling them to come to the
Teachers Home, Saturday morning, be-
tween nine and ten o'clock, and we
would give them some clothing their |
good friends at the north had sent down |
to them. If they are alwaM as punctual
to the calls for labor, none will have oc-
oasion to complain. They began to ar
rive about sun rise, and we had from
fifty to an hundred in our front yard
~ o,,l-
p. III. Such a set of talledemalions you
never saw. l would willingly give fifty
dollars for a good photograph of the
group. AS looked upon them in their
rags and filth, l could hardly refrain
from disgust, but when l remembered
that ragged, filthy, degraded and pow
erty-stricken us they were, they were
beings for whom Christ died. Among
them were many children Of God, "My
brothers, my sisters;' redeemed by the
same precious blood, and destined to the
same eternity. I could hardly refrain
from weeping. We gave, first, to those
who had our tickets, and then did what
we could for the rest, giving the prefer
ence to the aged and infirm. If the do
nors could have looked upon that crowd
as they stood before us and received their
portion and heard their thankees and
God bless you, they would have felt
amply repaid for their old clothes, and
next time would have cleaned q little
closer. ~ -
1t IS now warm weather here so that
they do not suffer much from cold, but
they need to be clothed for decency's
sake. Many of the children who had
attended our schools have been Obliged
to stay away for want of rags enough to
cover them. We usually get great
deal more clothing for men and boys,
than for women and girls; whereas the
females are the most destitute; our sup
l.,