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* * * * *
KU KLUX KLAN
ITS ORIGIN, GROWTH AND
DISBANDMENT
BY
J.C. LESTER AND D.L. WILSON
WITH
APPENDICES CONTAINING THE PRESCRIPTS
OF THE KU KLUX KLAN, SPECIMEN
ORDERS AND WARNINGS
WITH
INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
BY
WALTER L. FLEMING, PH. D.
_Professor of History in West Virginia University; Author
of "Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama."_
NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
Assistance was given to me while searching for information in regard
to Ku Klux Klan, by many former members of the order, and by their
friends and relatives. Of especial value were the details given to me
by Major James R. Crowe, of Sheffield, Alabama; the late Ryland
Randolph, Esq., and his son, Ryland Randolph, Jr., of Birmingham,
Alabama; Judge Z.T. Ewing, of Pulaski, Tennessee; Miss Cora R. Jones,
of Birmingham, Alabama, niece of one of the founders of the Klan; Mr.
Lacy H. Wilson, of Bristol, Tennessee, the son of one of the authors
of the History printed within, Major S.A. Cunningham and Mr. A.V.
Goodpasture, of Nashville, and Dr. John A. Wyeth, of New York City.
There is still much that is obscure about Ku Klux Klan and I shall be
glad to obtain additional information in regard to the order, and also
to receive notice of mistakes and errors in this account.
W.L.F.
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION.
BY WALTER L. FLEMING. 13
KU KLUX KLAN.
BY J.C. LESTER AND D.L. WILSON.
PAGE
Chapter I. The Origin 47
Chapter II. The Spread of the Klan 68
Chapter III. The Transformation 83
Chapter IV. The Decline 100
Chapter V. Disbandment 125
APPENDICES.
PAGE
Appendix I. Prescript of Ku Klux Klan 133
Appendix II. Revised and Amended Prescript of Ku Klux Klan 151
Appendix III. Constitution of a Local Order 177
Appendix IV. Ku Klux Orders, Warnings, and Oaths 187
Index 199
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Badge worn by high officials of the Klan. See outside cover.
PAGE
2. Some Klansmen 19
3. General Nathan Bedford Forrest, Grand Wizard 28
4. General John B. Gordon 33
5. Room in which the Klan was organized 53
6. Costumes worn in Mississippi and West Alabama 58
7. Costumes worn in Tennessee and North Alabama 97
8. Carpetbaggers Listening to a Ku Klux Report, (Cartoon) 113
9. The Fate of the Carpetbagger and the Scalawag, (Cartoon) 192
10. A Specimen Warning sent by the Klan 196
"When laws become lawless contrivances to defeat
the ends of justice, it is not surprising that
the people resort to lawless expedients for
securing their rights."--_S.S. Cox, in "Three
Decades," p. 558._
INTRODUCTION
BY
WALTER L. FLEMING
INTRODUCTION.
By WALTER L. FLEMING, Ph. D.,
Professor of History in West Virginia University.
Twenty-one years ago there was privately printed in Nashville,
Tennessee, a little book by J.C. Lester and D.L. Wilson, that
purported to be an account, from inside information, of the great
secret order of Reconstruction days, known to the public as Ku Klux
Klan. It attracted little notice then; and since that time it has not
been given the attention it deserved as a historical document.[1] At
the time of writing, sectional feeling was still inflamed; the
Northern people were not ready to hear anything favorable about the Ku
Klux Klan, which they considered a band of outlaws and murderers; and
the Southern people were not desirous of being reminded of the
dreadful Reconstruction period. Many of the members of the Klan who
had been hunted for their lives, and who were still technically
outlawed, were unwilling to make known their connection with the order
and some even considered their oaths still binding. But since the book
was printed, the Prescripts or Constitutions of the order have come to
light, and the ex-members are now generally willing to tell all they
know about the organization. As yet, no other member has written an
account of the Klan, though several have been projected, and Lester
and Wilson's History seems likely to remain the only one written
altogether from inside sources.
The authors, Capt. John C. Lester and Rev. D.L. Wilson, were in 1884,
when the booklet was written, residents in Pulaski, Tennessee, where
the first Den of the Klan was founded. Major Lester was one of the six
original members of the Pulaski Den or Circle. He made a fine record
as a soldier in the Civil War in the Third Tennessee (Confederate)
Infantry, and afterwards became a lawyer and an official in the
Methodist Church, and was a member of the Tennessee legislature at the
time of writing the book. Rev. D.L. Wilson, who put the account into
its present form, was born in 1849, in Augusta County, Virginia. He
went to school to Jed Hotchkiss and was graduated as valedictorian of
his class from Washington and Lee University, in 1873, and a year
later from the Union Theological Seminary, near Hampden-Sidney,
Virginia. From 1874 to 1880 he was pastor of a Presbyterian church at
Broadway, Virginia, and from 1880 to 1902 he served a church in
Pulaski, Tennessee. He died in 1902 after a six months' residence in
Bristol, Tennessee, as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. He was
not a member of the Klan, but was acquainted with the founders and
with many other former members, and had access to all the records of
the order that had not been destroyed. In addition to information
received from other members, Wilson was assisted by Captain Lester,
who furnished most of the facts used, revised the manuscript and the
book was printed with both names on the title page.
As a general account of the Ku Klux movement Lester and Wilson's
History leaves something to be desired. It is colored too much by
conditions in Tennessee. No knowledge is shown of other organizations
similar to Ku Klux Klan, when in fact there were several other very
important ones, such as the White Brotherhood, the White League, the
Pale Faces, the Constitutional Union Guards, and one, the Knights of
the White Camelia,[2] that was larger than the Klan and covered a
wider territory. Then, too, in an attempt to make a moderate statement
that would be generally accepted, the authors failed to portray
clearly the chaotic social, economic and political conditions that
caused the rise of such orders, and in endeavoring to condemn the acts
of violence committed under cloak of the order they went too far in
the direction of apologetic explanation. Consequently, the causes seem
somewhat trivial and the results not very important.[3] It would seem
from their account that after a partial success, the movement failed
in its attempt to regulate society, and degenerated into general
disorder. This is a superficial conclusion and is not concurred in by
the survivors of the period and those who understand the conditions of
that time. The remnants of such a secret, illegal order were certain
to degenerate finally into violence, but before it reached this stage
it had accomplished much good in reducing to order the social
chaos.[4]
[Illustration: SOME KLANSMEN
1. D.L. Wilson, one of the authors of "Ku Klux Klan." 2. Major
J.R. Crowe, one of the founders. 3. Captain John C. Lester, one
of the founders. 4. General Albert Pike, chief judicial officer.
5. General W.J. Hardee. 6. Calvin Jones, one of the founders. 7.
Ryland Randolph.]
In view of the fact that the Lester and Wilson account does not
mention names it will be of interest to examine the _personnel_ of the
original Pulaski Circle, out of which the Klan developed. (See p. 52).
There were six young men in the party that first began to meet in the
fall and winter of 1865: (1) Captain John C. Lester, of whom something
has been said. (2) Major James Richard Crowe, now of Sheffield,
Alabama, who was a native of Pulaski and was educated at Waterbury
Academy and Giles College. When the Civil War began he was studying
law in Marion, Alabama, and enlisted at once in the Marion Rifles,
Company "G," Fourth Alabama Infantry. Later he was transferred to the
35th Tennessee Infantry. He was in the battles of Manassas, Fort
Donelson, Shiloh, Shelton's Hill, White Farm, Richmond, Perrysville,
and others of less importance. Three times he was severely wounded and
twice discharged for disability. He was captured with Sam Davis and
both were tried as spies; Crowe was acquitted and Davis was hanged. He
has held high rank in the Masonic order and has been an official in
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. (3) John Kennedy, the only
survivor of the original six except Major Crowe. He was a soldier in
the 3rd Tennessee Infantry during the Civil War, is a Presbyterian,
and an honored citizen of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. (4) Calvin Jones,
son of Judge Thomas M. Jones, was a lawyer, and a member of the
Episcopal Church. He was Adjutant of the 32nd Tennessee Infantry
during the Civil War. (5) Richard R. Reed was a lawyer, a
Presbyterian, and during the war had served in the 3rd Tennessee
Infantry. (6) Frank O. McCord was editor of the _Pulaski Citizen_, a
Methodist, and had been a private soldier in the Confederate service.
Two others came in at the second or third meeting--Capt. J.L. Pearcy,
later of Nashville, now of Washington, D.C., and James McCallum.[5]
The founders were all of Scotch-Irish descent and most of them were
Presbyterians.
In regard to the founding of the Pulaski Circle, Major J.R. Crowe
says: "Frank O. McCord was elected Grand Cyclops, and James R. Crowe,
Grand Turk. A committee composed of Richard R. Reed and Calvin
Jones[6] was appointed to select a name for the organization. The
Greek for _circle_ was chosen. We called it Kuklos, which was changed
to Ku Klux afterward when the name was proposed to the Circle. John
Kennedy suggested that we add another _K_, and the order was then
called Ku Klux Klan.... The mysterious lights seen floating about the
ruins (See p. 61) presented a weird and uncanny appearance and filled
the superstitious with dread of the place; so we were never disturbed,
and it only required a quaint garb and a few mysterious sounds to
convince the uninitiated that we were spirits from the other world. We
were quick to catch on to this idea and we governed ourselves
accordingly.... During our parades or appearances in public the
darkies either hid out or remained close in their houses.... The
origin of the order had no political significance. It was at first
purely social and for our amusement. It proved a great blessing to the
entire South and did what the State and Federal officials could not
do--it brought order out of chaos and peace and happiness to our
beloved South.... The order was careful in the admission of members
and I have never known of a betrayal of the secrets of the order. I am
proud to say that I never knew of one single act done by the genuine
Ku Klux Klan that I am ashamed of or do not now endorse."
Major Crowe and other members repeatedly mention the fact that the
membership of the Klan was largely of Scotch-Irish descent. This was
bound to be the case since in the territory covered by the Klan proper
the great majority of the Scotch-Irish of the South were settled. The
Ku Klux Klan extended from Virginia to Mississippi through the white
county section--the Piedmont and mountain region. It seldom extended
into the Black Belt, though it was founded on its borders. There
another similar order--the Knights of the White Camelia--held sway. In
the Piedmont region before the spread of the Klan, there were numerous
secret protective societies among the whites, and these were later
absorbed into the Klan. The Klan led a more strenuous existence than
the Black Belt orders. In most of its territory, social conditions
were worse than in the black counties. It is a mistake to consider
that in 1865-1870, the whites in the densest black districts were in
the place of greatest danger. There the blacks were usually the best
behaved; there the whites were never divided and never lost their grip
on society; there the negro still respected the white people as
beings almost superhuman. But race relations were worse in the white
districts where there was a lower class of whites, some of whom
mistreated the negro and others encouraged him to violence. Here the
negro had never had the great respect for _all_ whites that the Black
Belt negro had, and here the whites were somewhat divided among
themselves. During the war the "tories," so called, or those who
claimed to be Union sympathizers and the Confederates, alternately
mistreated one another, and the close of the war brought no peace to
such communities. To this region escaped the outlaws, deserters, etc.,
of both armies during the war, and here the wreckage of war was worst.
Such was the nature of the country where the Klan flourished. It was a
kind of ex-Confederate protest against the doings of the "tories,"
Unionists and outlaws, and the negroes banded in the Union League. For
several years neither the Federal Government nor the State Government
gave protection to the ex-Confederates of this region, and naturally
secret associations were formed for self-defense. This method of
self-defense is as old as history.[7]
The members of Ku Klux Klan are nowadays inclined to consider that
their order comprehended all that took shape in resistance to the
Africanization of society and government during the Reconstruction
period. As one ex-member said: "Nearly all prominent
men--ex-Confederates--in all the Southern states were connected in
some way with the Klan." This is true only indirectly. Nearly all
white men, it may be said, took part in the movement now called the
"Ku Klux Movement." But more of them belonged to other organizations
than were members of the Klan. The Klan had the most striking name and
it was later applied to the whole movement. The more prominent
politicians, it is said, had no direct connection with any such
orders. Such connection would have embarrassed and hampered them in
their work, but most of them were in full sympathy with the objects of
the Ku Klux movement, and profited by its successes. Many of the
genuine Unionists later joined in the movement, and there were some
few negro members, I have been told. Some prominent men were honorary
members, so to speak, of the order. They sympathized with its objects,
and gave advice and encouragement, but were not initiated and did not
take active part. General John B. Gordon, of Georgia, and General W.J.
Hardee, of Alabama, were such members. The active members were, as a
rule, young men. In this respect the Klan differed from the order of
White Camelia, which discouraged the initiation of very young men.
Some well-known members of the Klan were General John C. Brown, of
Pulaski, Tennessee; Captain John W. Morton, now Secretary of State of
Tennessee; Ryland Randolph, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, editor of the
_Independent Monitor_, the official organ of the Klan in Alabama;
General N.B. Forrest and General George W. Gordon, of Memphis,
Tennessee; Generals John B. Gordon, A.H. Colquitt, G.T. Anderson and
A.R. Lawton, of Georgia; General W.J. Hardee, of Alabama; Colonel
Joseph Fussell, of Columbia, Tennessee. General Albert Pike, who stood
high in the Masonic order, was the chief judicial officer of the Klan.
General Forrest heard of the order after it began to spread, and after
investigation consented to become its head as Grand Wizard. He was
initiated by Captain John W. Morton, who had formerly been his chief
of artillery. Under him the order, which was becoming demoralized, was
reorganized. As soon as it had done its work he disbanded it. An
enterprising newspaper reporter interviewed General Forrest, in 1868,
on the subject of Ku Klux Klan and extracted much information;[8] but
when before the Ku Klux Committee of Congress, in 1871, the General
would make only general statements and he evaded some of the
interrogatories. To the committee he appeared to be wonderfully
familiar with the principles of the order, but very ignorant as to
details. The average member of Congress, ignorant of Southern
conditions, did not understand that the members of the order
considered themselves bound by the supreme oath of the Klan and that
other oaths, if in conflict with it, were not binding. That is, the
ex-Confederates under the command of Forrest, Grand Wizard of the
Invisible Empire, were obeying the first law of nature and were bound
to reveal nothing to injure the cause, just as when Confederates under
Forrest, Lieutenant-General of the Confederate Army, they were bound
not to reveal military information to the hostile forces. The
government, in their view, had not only failed to protect them, but
was being used to oppress them. Consequently they were disregarding
its claim to obedience.
[Illustration: GENERAL N.B. FORREST
Grand Wizard of Ku Klux Klan
FACING PAGE 28]
Now that General Forrest's connection with the Klan is known it is
amusing to read the testimony he gave before the Ku Klux Committee of
Congress in 1871.[9] Though evading questions aimed to elicit definite
information, yet he was willing to speak of the general conditions
that caused the development of the organization in Tennessee. He
stated that it was meant as a defensive organization among the
Southern whites to offset the work of the Union League, which had
organized, armed and drilled the negroes, and had committed numerous
outrages on the whites; to protect ex-Confederates from extermination
by Brownlow's "loyal" militia, to prevent the burning by negroes of
gins, mills, dwellings, and villages, which was becoming common; to
protect white women from criminal negro men; in short to make life and
property safe and keep the South from becoming a second San Domingo.
He stated that about the time the order arose he was getting as many
as fifty letters a day from his old soldiers who were suffering under
the disordered conditions that followed the war, whose friends and
relatives were being murdered, whose wives and daughters were being
insulted, etc. They wanted advice and assistance from him. Not being
able to write himself, on account of a wounded shoulder, he kept a
secretary busy answering such letters. Most of the defensive bodies,
Forrest stated, had no names and had no connection with one another.
He admitted that he had belonged to the Pale Faces, and that he fully
approved of the objects of the Klan. A copy of the original Prescript
was shown to him and he was able to say that he had never seen it
before. In his day, the Revised and Amended Prescript was used, which
was never discovered by any investigating committee. He maintained
that the order was careful in admitting new members, only sober,
mature, discreet gentlemen being allowed to join. At one time, Forrest
estimated, so a newspaper reporter stated, that the Klan had 40,000
members in Tennessee and 550,000 in the entire South. This estimate
was probably not exaggerated if the entire membership of all the
orders similar to the Klan be counted in. Forrest refused to give the
names of members. It is likely, from several bits of evidence, that he
had much to do with consolidating the order, giving it a military
organization, and making its work effective.
General John B. Gordon, the most prominent military man, next to
Forrest, who was connected with the Klan, gave a clear account of the
conditions in Georgia that led to the organization of the defensive
societies of whites.[10] In Georgia the state of affairs where General
Gordon lived was in some respects unlike conditions in Tennessee. In
Tennessee the whites were somewhat divided among themselves and there
were not so many blacks. In Georgia, according to Gordon, the
principal danger was from blacks, incited to hostility and violence by
alien whites of low character. The latter organized the negroes into
armed Union Leagues, taught them that the whites were hostile to all
their rights, and that the lands of the whites were to be, or ought to
be, divided among the blacks. Under such influences the negroes who
had not made trouble began to show signs of restlessness; some of them
banded together to plunder the whites, and serious crimes became
frequent, especially that of rape, and men were afraid to leave their
families in order to attend to their business. The whites feared a
general insurrection of the blacks, and as Gordon stated, "if the sort
of teachings given [to the negroes] in Georgia had been carried out to
its logical results the negroes would have slaughtered whole
neighborhoods." That they did not do so, was, in his opinion, due to
the forbearance and self-control of the whites, and to the natural
kindness and good disposition of the negroes and their remembrance of
former pleasant relations with the whites. There was no great danger,
as one can see today, of the negro uprisings, but the whites thought
then that there was. The religious frenzy of the blacks during the
year after the war also alarmed the whites. The black troops stationed
in Georgia were frequently guilty of gross outrages against white
citizens and were a constant incitement to violence on the part of
their fellow blacks. The carpetbag government pardoned and turned
loose upon society the worst criminals. There was no law for several
years. The whites were subject to arbitrary arrest and trials by
drumhead courts-martial; military prisoners were badly mistreated. In
general, society and government were in a condition of anarchy; the
white race was disorganized, and the blacks organized, but not for
good purposes.
[Illustration: GENERAL JOHN B. GORDON
Head of Klan in Georgia
FACING PAGE 33]
General Gordon spoke of another matter often mentioned by the best
class of ex-Confederate soldiers: the Southern soldier believed
that the "Appomattox Program" had not been carried out. At Appomattox
the magnanimity of General Grant and the victorious soldiers had
impressed very favorably the defeated Confederates. The latter
believed that if Grant and the soldiers who had defeated them had been
allowed to settle matters, there would have been no more trouble.
Instead, the politicians had taken charge and had stirred up endless
strife. No effort at conciliation had been made; and the magnanimity
of Grant gave way to the vindictive policies of politicians.[11] The
whites believed that the "understanding of Appomattox" had been
violated and that they had been deliberately humiliated by the
Washington government.
Such were some of the influences, in General Gordon's opinion, that
caused the spread of the Klan in Georgia. He says that he heartily
approved the objects of the order, that it was purely for
self-protection, an organization for police purposes, a peace police,
which kept the peace, prevented riots, and restrained the passionate
whites as well as the violent blacks. Its membership was, he said, of
the best citizens, mostly ex-Confederates, led by the instinct of
self-preservation to band together. It was secret because the leaders
were sure that the sympathy of the Federal Government would be against
them and would consider a public organization a fresh rebellion. It
took no part in politics and died out when the whites were able to
obtain protection from the police and the courts.
These were the explanations of men who were high in the order but who
never attended a meeting and were never in actual contact with its
workings. Private members--Ghouls they were called--could have told
more thrilling stories. But deficient as the accounts of Gordon and
Forrest are in detail they supplement the history of Lester and Wilson
in explaining the causes that lay at the bottom of the secret
revolution generally called the Ku Klux Movement.
As to the success or failure of the movement, Lester and Wilson,
condemning the violence that naturally resulted from the movement,
cause the impression (Ch. 4) that the main result was disorder. Such
was not the case, nor was it the intention of the writers to create
such an impression. The important work of the Klan was accomplished in
regaining for the whites control over the social order and in putting
them in a fair way to regain political control. In some States this
occurred sooner than in others. When the order accomplished its work
it passed away. It was formally disbanded before the evil results of
carpet bag governments could be seen. When it went out of existence in
1869, there had been few outrages, but its name and prestige lived
after it and served to hide the evil deeds of all sorts and conditions
of outlaws. But these could be crushed by the government, State or
Federal. In a wider and truer sense the phrase "Ku Klux Movement"
means the attitude of Southern whites toward the various measures of
Reconstruction lasting from 1865 until 1876, and, in some respects,
almost to the present day.
* * * * *
Two elaborate Prescripts or Constitutions were adopted by the Ku Klux
Klan--the original Prescript (See Appendix I) and the Revised and
Amended Prescript (See Appendix II). The ritual and initiatory
ceremonies and obligations were never printed. The by-laws and the
ritual of the Pulaski Circle or Den were elaborate but were in
manuscript only. They were quite absurd and were intended only to
furnish amusement to the members at the expense of the candidates for
initiation. No oaths were prescribed--only a pledge of secrecy. As the
Klan spread among neighboring towns, the Pulaski by-laws and ritual
were modified for the use of new Dens. After the Klan had changed
character and become a body of regulators, and it was decided that the
administration should be centralized, a convention of delegates from
the Dens met in Nashville, in April, 1867, and adopted the original
Prescript already referred to. Lester and Wilson are mistaken in
saying (Ch. 3) that the Revised and Amended Prescript was adopted at
this convention. Where and how this Prescript was printed no one now
knows. A copy was sent, without notice or explanation, from Memphis to
the Grand Cyclops of each Den. It must have been printed in a small
printing office since in the last pages the supply of *'s and +'s ran
out and other characters were substituted. Many Dens used only this
Prescript, and most of the members have never heard of more than one
Prescript.
In some respects this first Constitution was found defective and in
1868 the Revised and Amended Prescript was adopted. Who framed it we
do not know, but it is known how it was printed. Frank O. McCord, one
of the founders of the Pulaski Circle, was editor of the _Pulaski
Citizen_. A relative of his who worked in the printing office of the
_Citizen_, made the following statement some years ago in reference to
a copy of the Revised and Amended Prescript.[12]
"This is an exact copy of the original Prescript printed in the office
of the Pulaski (Tennessee) _Citizen_, L.W. McCord, proprietor, in
1868. I was a printer boy, and with John H. Kirk, the father of the
Rev. Harry Kirk, recently of Nashville, set the type. My brother, L.W.
McCord, received a communication one day, delivered to him by means of
a hole in the wall near the door, in which the Ku Klux deposited all
their communications for the paper, asking for an estimate for
printing this pamphlet, describing it. He delivered his reply in the
same hole, and the following morning the copy in full, the money, and
minute directions as to the disposition of the books when completed,
were in the hole. We did it all under seal of secrecy and concealment,
hid the galleys of type as they were set up, stitched them with our
own hands in a back room over Shapard's store, and trimmed them with a
shoe knife on the floor. When finished they were tied into a bundle
and deposited late at night just outside the office door, whence they
were immediately taken by unseen hands. I knew personally all the
originators of the Ku Klux Klan, and the history of its origin, its
deeds, purposes and accomplishments.
"LAPS D. MCCORD."[13]
It will be noticed on comparing the two Prescripts that there are some
considerable differences between the two. The Revised and Amended
Prescript is eight pages longer than the other; the name of the order
is longer; the poetical selections that introduce the first are
omitted from the second; the second has Latin quotations only at the
top of the page; and the second Prescript throws much more light on
the character and objects of the order; the register is changed, and
important changes in the administration are provided for.
The imperfect Prescript printed in Appendix III was used in the
Carolinas and was evidently written out from memory by some person who
had belonged to the genuine Klan. The members were widely scattered
and to many of them the entire contents of the Prescript were never
known.
When the Klan was disbanded strict orders were issued that all
documents relating to the order should be destroyed and few
Prescripts escaped. At present only one copy of the original copy is
known to be in existence. That one was used by Ryland Randolph, of
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, formerly Grand Giant of a province of the order,
and was given to me by him. It is a little brown pamphlet of sixteen
pages, and is reprinted in Appendix I. Randolph stated that he never
saw the Revised Prescript. There are two copies of the Revised and
Amended Prescript, one in the library of the Southern Society of New
York, which is now deposited with the Columbia University Library; the
other belongs to Mr. J.L. Pearcy, formerly of Nashville, now of
Washington, D.C. From the latter copy the late Dr. W.R. Garrett, of
Nashville, had the plates made that are now used in reproducing the
Revised and Amended Prescript in Appendix II.
* * * * *
The curious orders and warnings printed in Appendix IV had several
purposes. They were meant to warn and frighten evil-doers, to mystify
the public, and to give notice to members. Parts of the orders were
written in cypher which could be interpreted by the initiated. The
rest was gloomy sounding nonsense calculated to alarm some obnoxious
person or persons. The cypher used is found in the Register of the
Prescript. All orders that I have seen were written according to the
Register of the first Prescript. This may be accounted for by the fact
that in 1868 it was generally forbidden by law or by military order to
print or distribute notices from the Ku Klux Klan. About all that the
cypher was used for, I have been told, was to fix dates, etc. There
are thirty-one adjectives in the Register, one for each day of the
month, the first twelve for the morning hours, the last twelve for the
evening hours, and the seven in the middle for the days of the week.
The last word--"Cumberland"--is said to have been a general password.
At first the orders were printed in the newspapers, and during the
winter of 1867-1868 and the spring of 1868 many of them appeared. As
to the significance of the orders printed in Appendix IV, Ryland
Randolph wrote: "I well remember those notices you saw in _The
Monitor_ for they were concocted and posted by my own hand, disguised,
of course." ... "You ask if any of the notices you saw in _The
Monitor_ had any real meaning. Well, they had this much meaning: the
very night of the day on which these notices made their appearances,
three notably offensive negro men were dragged out of their beds,
escorted to the old bone-yard (3/4 mile from Tuscaloosa) and thrashed in
the regular ante-bellum style until their unnatural nigger pride had a
tumble, and humbleness to the white man reigned supreme."
* * * * *
Some of the illustrations used are of historical interest. The cartoon
opposite p. 192 is taken from the _Independent Monitor_ of Tuscaloosa,
Alabama, a Ku Klux newspaper. The hanging carpetbagger was Rev. A.S.
Lakin, of Ohio, a Northern Methodist missionary to the negroes, who
had succeeded in getting himself elected President of the University
of Alabama. The other hanging figure represents Dr. N.B. Cloud, the
scalawag superintendent of public instruction who was assisting Lakin
to get his position. They were both driven from Tuscaloosa by the
Klan. The wood-cut from which this picture was printed was fashioned
by Randolph himself in _The Monitor_ office. The picture was eagerly
welcomed by the Reconstructionists as an evidence of the state of
affairs in Alabama, and it was reproduced far and wide during the
Presidential campaign of 1868. Randolph's brother Democrats were
furious because he had furnished such excellent campaign material to
the other side. In one of Randolph's letters he states: "The name of
the Ohio newspaper that republished my famous wood-cut was the
_Cincinnati Commercial_. I have good authority for stating that said
paper issued 500,000 copies for distribution throughout Ohio during
the Seymour-Grant campaign. Not only this, but a Columbus, Ohio, paper
also issued a large edition."
The cartoon opposite p. 113 is reproduced from "The Loil Legislature,"
a pamphlet by Capt. B.H. Screws, of Montgomery. The Alabama
Reconstruction Legislature was the first to make an investigation of
Ku Klux Klan and _Sibley_ and _Coon_ were two carpetbaggers active in
the investigation.
Opposite p. 196 is a typical warning sent to persons obnoxious to the
Klan. It is taken from the Ku Klux Report, Alabama Testimony.
The costumes represented opposite p. 58 were captured in Mississippi
and were worn both in Mississippi and in Western Alabama. The
costumes represented opposite p. 97 were captured after the famous Ku
Klux parade in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1868. Federal soldiers donned
the captured disguises and were photographed. During the campaign of
1868 the pictures were reproduced in the Reconstructionist newspapers.
Miss Cora R. Jones kindly furnished a drawing (see outside cover) of
the badge worn by the higher officials of the Klan, and a sketch of
the room (see p. 53) in which the Klan was founded. Her uncle, Calvin
Jones, was one of the founders, the father, Charles P. Jones, was also
a member and the badge mentioned belonged to him.
The text of the Lester and Wilson History is reprinted without change.
_West Virginia University,
October, 1905._
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Cutler, in his "Lynch Law," p. 139, is the first writer outside of
the South who has paid serious attention to this history of Ku Klux
Klan.
[2] The Constitution and Ritual of the Knights of the White Camelia
have been printed in West Virginia University Documents relating to
Reconstruction, No. 1.
[3] Tourgee's "Invisible Empire" gives the carpetbagger's view of the
Ku Klux movement, and, though filled with worthless testimony from the
Ku Klux Report, it shows a very clear conception of the real meaning
of the movement and a correct appreciation of its results. The best
later interpretation is that of Mr. William Garrott Brown in "The
Lower South," Ch. 4.
[4] For a full account of its work in Alabama see Fleming's "Civil War
and Reconstruction in Alabama," Ch. 21.
[5] Other well-known members of the Pulaski Den were: Captain Robert
Mitchell, Captain Thomas McCoy, Dr. M.S. Waters, Dr. James Bowers,
Milton Voorheis, C.P. Jones, Robert Martin, Dr. C.C. Abernathy, I.L.
Shappard, Robert Shappard, J.L. Nelson, John Moore, F.M. Crawford,
Alexander McKissick, W.H. Rose.
[6] Charles P. Jones, brother of Calvin Jones, joined later. He now
lives in Birmingham, Alabama.
[7] Examples in European history are the Carbonari of Italy, the
Tugenbund and the Vehmgericht of Germany, the Klephts of Greece, Young
Italy, the Nihilists of Russia, the Masonic order in most Catholic
countries during the first half of the Nineteenth Century, Beati Paoli
of Sicily, the Illuminati, etc. The "Confreries" of Medieval France
were similar illegal societies formed "pour defendre les innocentes et
reprimer les violences iniques."--Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire
Generale, Vol. 2, p. 466.
[8] See Ku Klux Report, Vol. 13, p. 32.
[9] Ku Klux Report, Vol. 13, Florida and Miscellaneous, p. 3.
[10] See Ku Klux Report, Georgia Testimony, p. 304.
[11] General Clanton, of Alabama, complained that the Southern people
had passed "out of the hands of warriors into the hands of squaws."
General Edmund W. Pettus, now U.S. Senator from Alabama, said that the
entire Reconstruction was in violation of the understanding made at
the surrender of the Confederate armies. The Confederate soldier
surrendered with arms in hand and in return a certain contract was
made in his parole according to which, as long as he was law-abiding,
he was not to be disturbed. This contract had been violated. The
government of the United States had made a promise to men with arms in
their hands and had violated this promise by passing the
Reconstruction measures, which amounted to punishment of individuals
for alleged crime without trial by law. See Ku Klux Report, Alabama
Testimony, pp. 224, 377, 383.
[12] It is the copy he refers to that is reproduced in Appendix II.
[13] _American Historical Magazine_, Vol. 5, p. 4.
KU KLUX KLAN
ITS ORIGIN, GROWTH AND DISBANDMENT
BY
J.C. LESTER AND D.L. WILSON
KU KLUX KLAN
CHAPTER I.
THE ORIGIN.
There is no stranger chapter in American history than the one which
bears for a title "Ku Klux Klan." The organization which bore this
name went out of life as it came into it, shrouded in deepest mystery.
Its members would not disclose its secrets; others could not. Even the
investigation committee, appointed by Congress, were baffled. The
voluminous reports containing the results of that committee's tedious
and diligent inquiry do not tell when and where and how the Ku Klux
Klan originated. The veil of secrecy still hangs over its grave. We
propose to lift it.
The time has now arrived when the history of the origin, growth and
final decay of "The Invisible Empire" may be given to the public.
Circumstances not necessary to detail have put it in the power of the
writer to compile such a history. For obvious reasons the names of
individuals are withheld. But the reader may feel assured that this
narrative is drawn from sources which are accurate and authentic.
The writer does not profess to be able to disclose the secret signs,
grips and pass-words of the order.[14] These have never been disclosed
and probably never will be. But we claim to narrate facts relating to
the order, which have a historic and philosophic value. It is due to
the truth of history; to the student of human nature; to the
statesmen, and to the men who were engaged in this movement, that the
facts connected with this remarkable episode in our nation's history
be frankly and fairly told.
A wave of excitement, spreading by contagions till the minds of a
whole people are in a ferment, is an event of frequent occurrent. The
Ku Klux movement was peculiar by reason of the causes which produced
and fed the excitement. It illustrates the weird and irresistible
power of the unknown and mysterious over the minds of men of all
classes and conditions in life. And it illustrates how men, by
circumstances and conditions, in part of their own creation, may be
carried away from their moorings and drifted along in a course against
which reason and judgment protest.
The popular idea supposes the Ku Klux movement to have been conceived
in malice, and nursed by prejudice and hate, for lawlessness, rapine
and murder. The circumstances which brought the Klan into notice and
notoriety were of a character to favor such conclusions. No other
seemed possible. The report of the Congressional Investigating
Committee confirmed it.[15] Even if that report be true, like
everything else which is known of the Ku Klux, it is fragmentary
truth. The whole story has never been told. And the impression
prevails that the Ku Klux Klan was conceived and carried out in pure
and unmixed deviltry. The reader who follows this narrative to its end
will decide, with the facts before him, whether this impression is
just and true.
The Ku Klux Klan was the outgrowth of peculiar conditions, social,
civil and political, which prevailed at the South from 1865 to 1869.
It was as much a product of those conditions as malaria is of a swamp
and sun heat.
Its birthplace was Pulaski, the capital of Giles, one of the southern
tier of counties in Middle Tennessee. Pulaski is a town of about three
thousand inhabitants. Previous to the war its citizens possessed
wealth and culture--they retain the second--the first was lost in the
general wreck. The most intimate association with them fails to
disclose a trace of the diabolism which, according to the popular
idea, one would expect to find characterizing the people among whom
the Ku Klux Klan originated. A male college and a female seminary are
located at Pulaski, and receive liberal patronage. It is a town of
churches.
There, in 1866, the name Ku Klux first fell from human lips. There
began a movement which in a short time spread as far north as
Virginia[16] and as far south as Texas, and which for a period
convulsed the country and attracted the attention of the civilized
world. Proclamations were fulminated against the Klan by the President
and by the Governors of States; and hostile statutes were enacted both
by State and National Legislatures.
It was finally quieted, but not until there had become associated with
the name Ku Klux gross mistakes and lawless deeds of violence. To this
day there are localities where the utterance of it awakens awe and
fear.
During the entire period of the Klan's organized existence, Pulaski
continued to be its central seat of authority. Some of its highest
officers resided there. This narrative, therefore, will relate
principally to the growth of the Klan and the measures taken to
suppress it in Tennessee. It is necessary to a clear understanding of
the movement to observe that the history of the Klan is marked by two
distinct and well defined periods. The first period covers the time
from its organization, in 1866, to the summer of 1867. The second from
the summer of 1867 to the date of its disbandment in the early part of
the year 1869.[17]
The first period contains but little of general interest, but it is
necessary to describe it somewhat minutely, because of its bearing on
subsequent events. When the war ended, the young men of Pulaski, who
had escaped death on the battlefield, returned home and passed through
a period of enforced inactivity. In some respects it was more trying
than the ordeal of war which lay behind them. The reaction which
followed the excitement of army scenes and service was intense. There
was nothing to relieve it. They could not engage at once in business
or professional pursuits. In the case of many, business habits were
broken up. Few had capital to enter mercantile or agricultural
enterprises. There was a total lack of the amusements and social
diversions which prevail wherever society is in a normal condition.
[Illustration: ROOM IN WHICH THE KLAN WAS FOUNDED
Law office of Judge Thomas M. Jones, Pulaski, Tennessee. From
sketch by Miss Cora R. Jones
FACING PAGE 53]
One evening in May, 1866,[18] a few of these young men met in the
office of one of the most prominent members of the Pulaski bar.[19] In
the course of the conversation one of the number said: "Boys, let us
get up a club or society of some description." The suggestion was
discussed with enthusiasm. Before they separated it was agreed to
invite others, whose names were mentioned, to join them, and to meet
again the next evening at the same place. At the appointed time eight
or[20] ten young men had assembled.
A temporary organization was effected by the election of a chairman
and a secretary. There was entire unanimity among the members in
regard to the end in view, which was diversion and amusement. The
evening was spent in discussing the best means of attaining the object
for which they were seeking. Two committees were appointed, one to
select a name,[21] the other[22] to prepare a set of rules for the
government of the society, and a ritual for the initiation of new
members. The club adjourned to meet the following week to hear and act
upon the reports of these committees. Before the arrival of the
appointed time for the next meeting, one of the wealthiest and most
prominent citizens of Pulaski went on a business trip to Columbus,
Miss., taking his family with him. Before leaving he invited one of
the leading spirits of the new society to take charge of and sleep at
his house during his absence. This young man invited his comrades to
join him there. And so the place of meeting was changed from the law
office to this residence. The owner of it outlived the Ku Klux Klan
and died ignorant of the fact that his house was the place where its
organization was fully effected.
This residence afterwards came into the possession of Judge H.M.
Spofford, of Spofford-Kellogg fame.[23] It was his home at the time
of his death, and is still owned by his widow.
The committee appointed to select a name reported that they had found
the task difficult, and had not made a selection. They explained that
they had been trying to discover or invent a name which would be, to
some extent, suggestive of the character and objects of the society.
They mentioned several which they had been considering. In this number
was the name "Kukloi" from the Greek word _Kuklos_ (Kuklos), meaning a
band or circle. At mention of this some one cried out: "Call it Ku
Klux." "Klan" at once suggested itself, and was added to complete the
alliteration. So instead of adopting a name, as was the first
intention, which had a definite meaning, they chose one which to the
proposer of it, and to every one else, was absolutely meaningless.
This trivial and apparently accidental incident had a most important
bearing on the future of the organization so singularly named.
Looking back over the history of the Klan, and at the causes under
which it developed, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that the
order would never have grown to the proportions which it afterwards
assumed, or wielded the power it did, had it not borne this name or
some other equally as meaningless and mysterious--mysterious because
meaningless.
Had they called themselves the "Jolly Jokers" or the "Adelphi," or by
some similar appellation, the organization would doubtless have had no
more than the mere local and ephemeral existence which those who
organized it contemplated for it. Hundreds of societies have
originated just as this one did, and after a brief existence have
passed away. But in this case there was a weird potency in the very
name Ku Klux Klan. Let the reader pronounce it aloud. The sound of it
is suggestive of bones rattling together! The potency of the name was
not wholly in the impression made by it on the general public. It is a
singular fact that the members of the Klan were themselves the first
to feel its weird influence; they had adopted a mysterious name.
Thereupon the original plan was modified so as to make everything
connected with the order harmonize with the name.
Amusement was still the end in view. But now the method by which they
propose to win it were those of secrecy and mystery. So when the
report of the committee on rules and ritual came up for consideration,
the recommendations were modified to adapt them to the new idea. The
report as finally adopted, provided for the following officers: a
Grand Cyclops, or President; a Grand Magi, or Vice-President; a Grand
Turk, or Marshal; a Grand Exchequer, or Treasurer; and two Lictors.
These were the outer and inner guards of the "Den," as the place of
meeting was designated.
The one obligation exacted from members was to maintain profound and
absolute secrecy with reference to the order and everything pertaining
to it. This obligation prohibited those who assumed it from disclosing
that they were Ku Klux, or the name of any other member, and from
soliciting any one to become a member. The last requirement was a
singular one. It was enacted for two reasons. First, it was in keeping
with the determination to appear as mysterious as possible, and thus
play upon the curiosity of the public. Secondly, and mainly, it was
designed to prevent unpleasantness following initiations. They wished
to be able to say to novices: "You are here on your own solicitation,
and not by invitation from us." They desired accessions; to have them
was indispensable; but they knew human nature well enough to know that
if they made the impression that they wished to be exclusive and
select, then applications for membership would be numerous. The result
showed that they reasoned correctly.
Each member was required to provide himself with the following outfit:
A white mask for the face, with orifices for the eyes and nose; a
tall, fantastic cardboard hat, so constructed as to increase the
wearer's apparent height; a gown, or robe, of sufficient length to
cover the entire person. No particular color or material were
prescribed. These were left to the individual's taste and fancy, and
each selected what in his judgment would be the most hideous and
fantastic, with the aim of inspiring the greatest amount of curiosity
in the novice. These robes, of different colors, often of the most
flashy patterns of "Dolly Varden" calicos, added vastly to the
grotesque appearance of the assembled Klan.[24]
[Illustration: COSTUMES WORN IN MISSISSIPPI AND WEST ALABAMA
FACING PAGE 58]
Each member carried also a small whistle, with which, by means of a
code of signals agreed upon, they held communications with one
another. The only utility of this device was to awaken inquiry.[25]
And the object of all this was amusement--"only this, and nothing
more." A few young men debarred for the time by circumstances from
entering any active business or professional pursuits, and deprived of
the ordinary diversions of social life, were seeking in this way to
amuse and employ themselves. The organization of this Klan was to them
both diversion and occupation. But where, it may be asked, did the fun
come in? Partly in exciting the curiosity of the public, and then in
baffling it; but mainly in the initiation of new members.
The ritual used in the initiation was elaborate, but not worthy of
reproduction. It is enough to say that it was modeled on and embraced
the leading features of the ritual of an order which has long been
popular in colleges and universities under various names.[26] In one
place it is the "Sons of Confucius;" in another, the "Guiasticutus;"
but everywhere, the "Ancient and the Honorable," and the
"Mirth-Provoking."
The initiations were at first conducted in the law office, where the
suggestion for the formation of the Klan had been made. But it was not
a suitable place. The room was small. It was near the business portion
of the town, and while in session there, they never felt entirely free
from apprehensions of interruption.[27]
They soon found a place in every respect better adapted to their
purposes. On the brow of a ridge, that runs along the western
outskirts of the town, there used to stand a handsome and commodious
residence. The front, or main building, was of brick, the "L" of wood.
In December, 1865, the brick portion of this house was demolished by a
cyclone. The "L" remained standing, but tenantless. It consisted of
three rooms. A stairway led from one of them to a large cellar
beneath. No other house stood near. Around these ruins were the
storm-torn, limbless trunks of trees, which had once formed a
magnificent grove. Now, they stood up, grim and gaunt, like spectre
sentinels. A dreary, desolate, uncanny place it was. But it was, in
every way, most suitable for a "den," and the Klan appropriated
it.[28]
When a meeting was held, one Lictor was stationed near the house, the
other fifty yards from it on the road leading into town. These were
dressed in the fantastic regalia of the order and bore tremendous
spears as the badge of their office.
As before stated, and for the reasons assigned, the Ku Klux did not
solicit any one to join them; yet, they had applications for
membership. While members were not allowed to disclose the fact of
their membership, they were permitted to talk with others in regard to
anything that was a matter of common report with reference to the
order. If they chose, members were allowed to say to outsiders: "I am
going to join the Ku Klux." If the persons addressed expressed a
desire to do likewise, the Ku Klux would say, if the party was a
desirable one: "Well, I think I know how to get in. Meet me at such a
place, on such a night, at such an hour, and we will join together."
Other similar subterfuges were resorted to, to secure members without
direct solicitation. Usually, curiosity would predominate over every
other consideration, and the candidate would be found waiting at the
appointed place.
As the Ku Klux and the candidate approached the sentinel Lictor, they
were hailed and halted and questioned. Having received the assurance
that they desired to become Ku Klux, the Lictor blew the signal for
his companion to come and take charge of the novices. The candidate,
under the impression that his companion was similarly treated, was
blindfolded and led to the "den." The preliminaries of the initiation
consisted in leading the candidate around the rooms and down into the
cellar, now and then placing before him obstructions which added to
his discomfort, if not to his mystification. After some rough sport of
this description, he was led before the Grand Cyclops who solemnly
addressed to him numerous questions. Some of these questions were
grave, and occasionally a faulty answer resulted in the candidate's
rejection. For the most part they were absurd to the last degree. If
the answers were satisfactory, the obligation to secrecy, already
administered, was exacted a second time. Then the Grand Cyclops
commanded:
"Place him before the royal altar and adorn his head with the regal
crown."
The "royal altar" was a large looking glass. The "regal crown" was a
huge hat bedecked with two enormous donkey ears. In this headgear the
candidate was placed before the mirror and directed to repeat the
couplet:
"O wad some power the giftie gie us
To see oursel's as ithers see us."
As the last word was falling from his lips, the Grand Turk removed the
bandage from his eyes, and before the candidate was his own ludicrous
image in the mirror. To increase the discomfiture and chagrin which
any man in such a situation would naturally feel, the removal of the
bandage was the signal to the Klan for indulgence in the most
uproarious and boisterous mirth. The Grand Cyclops relaxed the rigor
of his rule, and the decorum hitherto maintained disappeared, and the
"den" rang with shouts and peals of laughter; and worse than all, as
he looked about him, he saw that he was surrounded by men dressed in
hideous garb and masked, so that he could not recognize one of them.
The character of these initiatory proceedings explains why, from the
very first, secrecy was so much insisted on. A single "tale out of
school" would have spoiled the fun. For the same reason the Klan, in
its early history, was careful in regard to the character of the men
admitted. Rash and imprudent men--such as could not be confidently
relied upon to respect their obligation to secrecy--were excluded. Nor
were those admitted who were addicted to the use of intoxicants. Later
on in the history they were not so careful, but in the earlier period
of its existence the Klan was composed of men of good habits.[29]
In some instances, persons not regarded as eligible to membership, or
not desirable, were persistent even to annoyance in their efforts to
gain admission to the order. Such persistence was occasionally rebuked
in a manner more emphatic than tender.
One young man had a consuming desire to be a Ku Klux. The sole
objection, to him was his youth. When he presented himself to the
Lictor, the latter received him kindly, and led him blindfold, "over
the hill and far away" to a secluded spot, and left him with the
admonition to "wait there till called for." After hours of weary
waiting, the young man removed the bandage from his eyes and sought
the shelter of the paternal roof.
Another of riper years, but for some reason not acceptable to the
order, made repeated efforts to join the Klan. For his special benefit
they arranged to have an initiation not provided for in the ritual. A
meeting was appointed to be held on the top of a hill that rises by a
gentle slope to a considerable height, on the northern limits of
Pulaski. The candidate, in the usual way--blindfold excepted--was led
into the presence of the Grand Cyclops. This dignitary was standing on
a stump. The tall hat, the flowing robe, and the elevated position
made him appear not less than ten feet tall. He addressed to the
candidate a few unimportant and absurd questions, and then, turning to
the Lictors, said: "Blindfold the candidate and proceed."
The "procedure" in this case was to place the would-be Ku Klux in a
barrel, provided for the purpose, and to send him whirling down the
hill! To his credit, be it said, he never revealed any of the secrets
of the Ku Klux Klan.[30]
These details have an important bearing on the subsequent history of
the Ku Klux. They show that the originators of the Klan were not
meditating treason or lawlessness in any form. Yet the Klan's later
history grew naturally out of the measures and methods which
characterized this period of it. Its projectors did not expect it to
spread. They thought it would "have its little day and die." It lived;
it grew to vast proportions.
FOOTNOTES:
[14] The writer, D.L. Wilson, was not a member. The secrets of the
Klan were not printed or written, but were communicated orally. In
Appendix IV, p. 197, will be found versions of the oath taken by the
members.--_Editor._
[15] In 1871-1872 a Committee of Congress made an investigation of
affairs in the South. Its report, with the testimony collected, was
published in 13 volumes, and is usually called the Ku Klux Report. See
Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama, p. 701; Garner,
Reconstruction in Mississippi, p. 344.--_Editor._
[16] See above, p. 23.
[17] General Forrest said that the order was disbanded in the fall of
1868. See Ku Klux Report, Vol. XIII., pp. 3-35.--_Editor._
[18] Wilson's account in the _Century Magazine_, July, 1884, says that
the order was founded in June, 1866.--_Editor._
[19] This was the law office of Judge Thomas M. Jones, father of one
of the originators.--_Editor._
[20] Survivors say that six men organized the club and that others
joined soon after.--_Editor._
[21] This committee was composed of Calvin Jones and R.R.
Reed.--_Editor._
[22] In this committee were J.R. Crowe, J.C. Lester and John
Kennedy.--_Editor._
[23] Spofford was a brother of A.R. Spofford, Librarian of Congress.
He was a native of New Hampshire, who removed to Louisiana and held
high judicial office there before the Civil War. After 1870 he spent
much of his time in Pulaski. In 1877 he was elected to the United
States Senate from Louisiana, but the Senate seated W.P. Kellogg, a
carpetbagger from Illinois, who had been voted for by the "Packard
Legislature."--_Editor._
[24] "Their robes used in these nocturnal campaigns consisted simply
of sheets wrapped around their bodies and belted around the waist. The
lower portion reached to the heels, whilst the upper had eye-holes
through which to see and mouth-holes through which to breathe. Of
course, every man so caparisoned had one or more pistols in holsters
buckled to his waist."--_Ryland Randolph._
[25] It is said that the members of the Pulaski Den wore small metal
badges.--_Editor._
[26] In the Southern colleges of today the peculiar Greek letter
fraternity known as Alpha Sigma Sigma, and the institution of "snipe
hunting" most nearly resemble the Klan in its early stages.--_Editor._
[27] After leaving the law office of Judge Jones the Klan met for a
while in a room of the _Pulaski Citizen_ building. The editor of the
_Citizen_ was a member of the Klan and his paper published the orders,
proclamations and warnings sent out by the officials.--_Miss Cora R.
Jones._
[28] This building was the property of Dr. Benjamin Carter,
grandfather of the present postmaster of Birmingham, Alabama.--_Miss
Cora R. Jones._
[29] "My information was that they admitted no man who was not a
gentleman and a man who could be relied upon to act discreetly; not
men who were in the habit of drinking, boisterous men, or men liable
to commit error or wrong."--General _Forrest in Ku Klux Report, Vol.
XIII, p. 22._
[30] Later, when Brownlow's Administration was endeavoring to crush
out the Ku Klux Klan, one of his detectives sought to gain admission
to the order. His purposes became known and the Nashville Den, which
he was trying to join, put him into a barrel and rolled it into the
Cumberland River, drowning the detective.--_Washington Post_, _August
13, 1905._