"In Some neighborhoods in Augusta County the citizens are forming Themselves into vigilence committies for their their own protection against this Nuisance."(Theft)

P.F. Earmary August 20, 1867

Theft

When the Freedmen's Bureau was first established, one of its primary goals was to assist both black and white citizens in recovering property lost or stolen during the war. With both Union and Confederate armies roaming Virginia's Shenandoah Valley during four years of war, much of the valley's inhabitants either had land destroyed or had property stolen. During the war, horses were a favorite target for both Union and Confederate cavalry and artillery units. With local authorites lacking the will and ablity to resolve cases involving thefts which had occured during the war, the Freedmen's Bureau attemped to pick up the slack. Captain Jackson of the Staunton Freedmen's Bureau received letters from both black and white residents concerning the recovery of stolen property, especially horses. In one letter Captain Jackson writes Captain McDonnell of the Bureau's Winchester office detailing that he had received a letter from a black resident, Hiam Thompson of Augusta County, stating that his horse "was stolen from his stable during the war, by a Lieut. Hunter" of the Conferderate Army. Jackon continues to inform McDonnell that Thompson knows that his horse is still alive and is residing with Hunter near Leesburg, Virginia. As is typically the case, it is not known if the Mr. Thompson ever recovered his horse.

Another issue which plagued victims' ability to recover stolen goods was that local officials did very little to help citizens. In multiple letters from Agent McDonnell in Winchester, to Agent Jackson, McDonnell enquires how the condition is concerning "full justice being given to freedpeople by the civil courts." An example of this problem can bee seen in a letter written by Staunton resident P.F. Earmary, who wrote to the Bureau saying that he was having trouble presuading the local authorites to address the increasing problem of theft which was plaguing the county. In his letter, Earmary sees this crime as "being intolorable" and even mentions that some local men were forming their own protection posses to protect their property. Earmary also mentions in the letter to Jackson that he did not even know that there was a Freedmen's Bureau in Staunton or he would not have originally written to General Schofield in Richmond. Schofield then informed Jackson of this matter and Jackson wrote to Earmany asking for more information concerning the thefts and the situation. The fact that Earmary wrote to Schofield and did not even know that there was a Bureau office in Staunton, shows that obviously the Bureau office in Staunton was not known to exsist by everybody in the area.

Although we know that none of the thefts reported to the Freedmen's Bureau were prossessed in court we do know that at least one case involving theft during the war might have been brought to court. In a letter from Thomas Jackson to Capt J. L. H. Hall, Military Commisionner in Woodstock Virginia, Jackson informs Hall that it is likely that Alexander Curry, an accused horse thief, will be in court in Montery, Virginia. Curry, already had been indited in Highland County on another charge. This success was rare in Augusta. No records in the Agusta County Court House show any evidence that cases involving theft and freedmen were tried in court.

Return to Justice and Violence