I have included letters and journal excerpts concerning one family's experiences in Chatham and Bryan County during the Reconstruction Era in my book, "Shades of Gray: The Clay & McAllister Families of Bryan County, GA" (available from Amazon.com). It was a particularly dangerous time for people of all races and economic backgrounds; lawlessness was rampant. The chaos was not ameliorated by the fact that Georgia was not admitted back into the Union until 1870. I recommend that you do some digging in the Georgia Historical Society and go through the newspapers of the times in which you are interested.