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J. F. H. Claiborne at ?Laurel Wood? Plantation, 1853-1870	11
rendered.? Reaffirming his loyalty to the Union, Claiborne stated his position in unequivocal terms:
Does the Proclamation of the President affect the loyal as well as the disloyal ? Does the mere fact of my residence in Mississippi, reduce me to the condition of an enemy of the Union, to which-1 am bound by all the traditions of my family? Can I reside here on or after 1st Jan. and lawfully hold my colored people as bondsmen? I have the Southern views on the subject of slavery; I wish to retain my people; but if I cannot lawfully do so, and the Government, for public use desires to appropriate them, I will cheerfully send them within your lines, relying on the U. S. to do me justice. I have ever treated my people more as wards than as slaves. I never had an overseer. I never used a whip. I have clothed & fed them abundantly, and every industrious adult on my place has realized for themselves [sic] from $75 to $100 per annum. I had, for the next year, allotted to them 100 acres of land, to be planted in cotton for themselves, I aiding them to cultivate it with my teams. ... I was advised long since to retreat into the interior, as mo^t slave holders, in exposed sections, have done. I refused to do 'so ... I am now derided by the disloyal for my credulity. I still retain my faith, and apply to you, General, for advice. . . . Surrounded here by armed men, mostly of desperate character & fortunes, my person in danger, and my property liable to be plundered, I have been compelled to be circumspect. But I have neglected no means to further the cause. I have created a strong Union sentiment, which is rapidly developing.38
On five separate occasions during the month of July, 1863, Claiborne informed Banks of the activities of salt-makers and tannery operators on the Gulf Coast. To Claiborne?s chagrin, the leatherworkers were systematically stripping the bark from live oak trees which had been set aside as a reserve for the United States Navy for use in the tanneries they had erected at Bay St. Louis.38 Furthermore, a great quantity of salt was being produced for military and civilian use. According to Claiborne, Governor Pettus had
38	J. F. H. Claiborne, Hancock County, to Banks, December 23, 1862,
ibid.
39	[J. F. H. Claiborne] to Banks, July 10, 1863, ibid.