Unnamed Federal Officers

These "federal officers" would usually be called 'revenuers' (5). According to The Hamlet, as the Old Frenchman's original plantation falls into decay after the Civil War, the area that becomes known as Frenchman's Bend transforms into an enclosed back country effectively outside the reach of government authorities. From time to time, "federal officers" (who would have come to Bend trying to enforce the laws against making moonshine) go "into the country and vanish," though with a trace: after their disappearance their clothing and possessions are sometimes seen on a local "child or old man or woman" (5).