Valley of the Shadow
The Aftermath
Spring 1865–Fall 1870

Freedmen’s Bureau

letters

Administration of John W. Jordan (April 1868-June 1868)

Jordan spends the early part of this period coming up to speed on conditions in Augusta County. He reports on several cases of assault against blacks that are working through the courts, and reports the lack of confidence freedmen have in the local court system. Jordan himself is generally optimistic in his reports, comments that the schools seem to be flourishing, and is surprised by the lack of drunkeness in Augusta. Jordan also reports on a Ku Klux Klan rally held in Staunton and thinks that white hostility toward blacks is stronger in urban centers like Staunton than in the rural regions of the county.