Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Louisiana
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, 1865 - 1869.
National Archives Microfilm Publication M1027 Roll 34
"Miscellaneous Reports and Lists Relating to Murders and Outrages" Mar. 1867 - Nov. 1868

Natchitoches La. Nov. 5, 1868
Extract from Letter of James Cromie
Reports Murder Alfred Hazen & c.

"Again in the 5^th ward they murdered on Monday night the president of our club in that ward and destroyed all our tickets took the chairman of the commissioners out of his house after robbing him of his registration papers and all our tickets as well as burning his school books as he was a teacher, and robbing him of his private property---Blindfolded him and took him to the woods when he promised to vote the Democratic and resign the office of Police Juror or they would hang him, beat him nearly to death,"

"On the Saturday week before the election R. L. Faulkner colored Police Juror of the 5^th ward came to town and I had him take tickets to ?Desoto as well as his own ward. He got a young man to take the tickets to Pleasant Hill to a party there for distribution he was met on the road and being a stranger was taken they took him off his horse after resistance and took his tickets from him put a rope about his neck and tied him up when nearly dead they took him down again and because he would not tell hung him up again when he told them that he got the tickets from Mr. Faulkner----
     that night they visited Faulkner and would have killed him but for one of the party when they near beat him to death and after robbing him of everything and telling him what they would do to me, they left him and went to Alfred Hazen and because he would not come out went to set fire to his house when sooner than see all his family destroyed he told his wife he would go out as he knew they would kill him anyhow and he would rather die than see all his family destroyed slaughtered he went out and they killed and immediately butchered him. This man's only crime was that he was an exhorter in the Methodist Church a branch established by Wm. Heyward and under the supervision of the Rev. Dr. Norman . . . and President of the Grant and Colfax club ward no. 5"

"From Genl. McLaughlin's report the parties to this can be traced but he has made the statement I have just written but I have not given you the names, have heard them. He gave them to Hilstand."