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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 (¾ 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 "Confréries" of Medieval France
were similar illegal societies formed "pour dèfendre 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._

CHAPTER II.

THE SPREAD OF THE KLAN.

The devices for attracting attention were eminently successful. During
the months of July and August, 1866, the Klan was much talked about by
the citizens of Pulaski. Its mysteriousness was the sensation of the
hour. Every issue of the local paper contained some notice of the
strange order. These notices were copied into other papers, and in
this manner the way was prepared for the rapid growth and spread of
the Klan which soon followed.

Six weeks or less from the date of the organization the sensation in
Pulaski had reached its height and was waning. Curiosity in regard to
it had abated to such a degree that the Klan would have certainly
fallen to pieces but for the following circumstances:

By the time the eligible material in the town had been used up, the
young men from the country, whose curiosity had been inflamed by the
newspaper notices, began to come in and apply for admission to the
Klan. Some of these applications were accepted. In a little while the
members from the country asked permission to establish "dens" at
various points in the county. No provision had been made for such a
contingency, but the permission was granted; had it not been, the
result in all probability would have been the same.

As the ritual followed by the Pulaski Klan could not be conveniently
carried out in the country, various modifications and changes were
permitted. But the strictest injunctions were laid on these new
lodges, or dens, in regard to secrecy, mystery and the character of
the men admitted. The growth in the rural districts was more rapid
than it had been in the town. Applications for permission to establish
"dens" multiplied rapidly.

The news that the Ku Klux were spreading to the country excited the
attention of the country people more generally than the existence of
the Klan in town had done. The same cause rekindled the waning
interest of the town people. Every issue of the local papers in the
"infected regions" bristled with highly mysterious and exciting
accounts of the doings of the "fantastic gentry."

During the fall and winter of 1866 the growth of the Klan was rapid.
It spread over a wide extent of territory. Sometimes, by a sudden
leap, it appeared in localities far distant from any existing "dens."

A stranger from West Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama or Texas,
visiting in a neighborhood where the order prevailed, would be
initiated, and on his departure carry with him permission to establish
a "den" at home. In fact, it was often done without such permission.
The connecting link between these "dens" was very fragile. By a sort
of tacit agreement the Pulaski Klan was regarded as the source of
power and authority. The Grand Cyclops of this "den" was virtually the
ruler of the order, but as he had no method of communicating with
subjects or subordinates, and no way in which to enforce his mandates,
his authority was more fancy than fact. But so far there had appeared
no need for compact organization, rigid rules and close supervision.
The leading spirits of the Ku Klux Klan were contemplating nothing
more serious than amusement. They enjoyed the baffled curiosity and
wild speculations of a mystified public even more than the rude sport
afforded by the ludicrous initiations.

Such is the account of the Ku Klux Klan in the first period of its
history from June, 1866 to April, 1867;[31] yet all this time it was
gradually, in a very natural way, taking on new features not at first
remotely contemplated by the originators of the order; features which
finally transformed the Ku Klux Klan into a band of "Regulators."

The transformation was effected by the combined operation of several
causes: (1) The impressions made by the order upon the minds of those
who united with it; (2) The impressions upon the public by its weird
and mysterious methods; (3) The anomalous and peculiar condition of
affairs in the South at this time.

The mystery and secrecy with which the Klan veiled itself made a
singular impression on the minds of many who united with it.

The prevalent idea was that the Klan contemplated some great and
important mission. This idea aided in its rapid growth. And on the
other hand the rapid extensions of the Klan confirmed this idea of its
purposes. When admitted to membership this conclusion, in the case of
many, was deepened rather than removed by what they saw and heard.
There was not a word in the ritual or in the obligation or in any part
of the ceremony to favor such a conclusion; but the impression still
remained that this mysteriousness and secrecy, the high-sounding
titles of the officers, the grotesque dress of the members, and the
formidable obligation, all meant more than real sport. This impression
was ineradicable, and the attitude of many of the members continued to
be that of expecting great developments. Each had his own speculations
as to what was to be the character of the serious work which the Klan
had to do. But they were satisfied that there was such work. It was an
unhealthy and dangerous state of mind for men to be in; bad results in
some cases very naturally followed from it.

The impression made by the Klan on the public was the second cause
which contributed to its transformation into a band of Regulators.
When the meetings first began to be held in the dilapidated house on
the hill, passers-by were frequent. Most of them passed the grim and
ghostly sentinel on the roadside in silence, but always with a
quickened step. Occasionally one would stop and ask: "Who are you?" In
awfully sepulchral tones the invariable answer was: "A spirit from the
other world. I was killed at Chickamauga."

Such an answer, especially when given to a superstitious negro, was
extremely terrifying, and if, in addition, he heard the uproarous
noises issuing from the "den" at the moment of a candidate's
investiture with the "regal crown," he had the foundation for a most
awe-inspiring story. There came from the country similar stories. The
belated laborer, passing after nightfall, some lonely and secluded
spot, heard horrible noises and saw fearful sights. These stories were
repeated with such embellishments as the imagination of the narrator
suggested, till the feeling of the negroes and of many of the white
people, at mention of the Ku Klux, was one of awe and terror.

In a short time the Lictor of the Pulaski "den" reported that travel
along the road on which he had his post had almost entirely stopped.
In the country it was noticed that the nocturnal perambulation of the
colored population diminished, or entirely ceased, wherever the Ku
Klux appeared. In many ways there was a noticeable improvement in the
habits of a large class who had hitherto been causing great annoyance.
In this way the Klan gradually realized that the most powerful devices
ever constructed for controlling the ignorant and superstitious were
in their hands. Even the most highly cultured were not able wholly to
resist the weird and peculiar feeling which pervaded every community
where the Ku Klux appeared. Each week some new incident occurred to
illustrate the amazing power of the unknown over the minds of men of
all classes.

Circumstances made it evident that the measures and methods employed
for sport might be effectually used to subserve the public welfare--to
suppress lawlessness and protect property. When propositions to this
effect began to be urged, there were many who hesitated, fearing
danger. The majority regarded such fears as groundless. They pointed
to the good results which had already been produced. The argument was
forcible--almost unanswerable. And the question was decided without
formal action. The very force of circumstances had carried the Klan
away from its original purpose. So that in the beginning of the summer
of 1867 it was virtually, though not yet professedly, a band of
regulators, honestly, but in an injudicious and dangerous way, trying
to protect property and preserve peace and order.[32]

After all, the most powerful agency in effecting this transformation,
the agency which supplied the conditions under which the two causes
just mentioned became operative, was the peculiar state of affairs
existing at the South at that time.

As every one knows, the condition of things was wholly anomalous, but
no one can fully appreciate the circumstances by which the people of
the South were surrounded except by personal observation and
experience; and no one who is not fully acquainted with all the facts
in the case is competent to pronounce a just judgment on their
behavior. On this account, not only the Ku Klux, but the mass of the
Southern people, have been tried, convicted and condemned at the bar
of public opinion, and have been denied the equity of having the
sentence modified by mitigating circumstances, which in justice, they
have a right to plead.

At that time the throes of the great revolution were settling down to
quiet. The almost universal disposition of the better class of the
people was to accept the arbitrament which the sword had accorded
them. On this point there was practical unanimity. Those who had
opportunity and facilities to do so, engaged at once in agricultural,
professional or business pursuits. There was but little disposition to
take part in politics.

But there were two causes of vexation and exasperation which the
people were in no good mood to bear. One of these causes related to
that class of men who, like scum, had been thrown to the surface in
the great upheaval.[33]

It was not simply that they were Union men from conviction. That would
have been readily forgiven then, as can be shown by pointing to
hundreds of cases. But the majority of the class referred to had
played traitor to both sides, and were Union men now only because that
was the successful side. And worse than all, they were now engaged in
keeping alive discord and strife between the sections, as the only
means of preventing themselves from sinking back into the obscurity
from which they had been upheaved. Their conduct was malicious in the
extreme and exceedingly exasperating. These men were a "thorn in the
flesh" of the body, politic and social; and the effort to expel it set
up an inflammation which for a time awakened the gravest apprehensions
as to the result.

The second disturbing element was the negroes. Their transition from
slavery to citizenship was sudden. They were not only not fitted for
the cares of self-control, and maintenance so suddenly thrust upon
them, but many of them entered their new role in life under the
delusion that freedom meant license. They regarded themselves as
freedmen, not only from bondage to former masters, but from the common
and ordinary obligations of citizenship. Many of them looked upon
obedience to the laws of the state--which had been framed by their
former owners--as in some measure a compromise of the rights with
which they had been invested. The administration of civil law was only
partially re-established. On that account, and for other reasons,
there was an amount of disorder and violence prevailing over the
country which has never been equaled at any period of its history. If
the officers of the law had had the disposition and ability to arrest
all law-breakers, a jail and court-house in every civil district would
have been required.

The depredations on property by theft and by wanton destruction for
the gratification of petty revenge, were to the last degree annoying.
A large part of these depredations was the work of bad white men, who
expected that their lawless deeds would be credited to the negroes.
But perhaps the most potent of all causes which brought about this
transformation was the existence in the South of a spurious and
perverted form of the "Union League."[34]

It would be as unfair to this organization as it existed at the North,
to charge it with the outrages committed under cover of its name, as
it is to hold the Ku Klux Klan responsible for all the lawlessness and
violence with which it is credited.

But it is a part of the history of those times that there was a
widespread and desperately active organization called the "Union
League." It was composed of the disorderly element of the negro
population and was led and controlled by white men of the basest and
meanest type just now referred to. They met frequently, went armed to
the teeth, and literally "breathed out threatening and slaughter."
They not only uttered, but in many instances executed the most
violent threats against the persons, families and property of men,
whose sole crime was that they had been in the Confederate army. It
cannot be truthfully denied that the Ku Klux committed excesses and
were charged with wrongdoing. But they were never guilty of the
disorderly and unprovoked deeds of deviltry which mark the history of
the Southern "Union League." It was partly, I may say chiefly, to
resist this aggressive and belligerent organization that the Ku Klux
transformed themselves into a protective organization.[35]

Whatever may be the judgment of history, those who know the facts will
ever remain firm in the conviction that the Ku Klux Klan was of
immense service at this period of Southern history. Without it, in
many sections of the South, life to decent people would not have been
tolerable. It served a good purpose. Wherever the Ku Klux appeared
the effect was salutary. For a while the robberies ceased. The
lawless class assumed the habits of good behavior.

The "Union League" relaxed its desperate severity and became more
moderate. Under their fear of the dreaded Ku Klux, the negroes made
more progress, in a few months, in the needed lessons of self-control,
industry, and respect for the rights of property and general good
behavior, than they would have done in as many years, but for this or
some equally powerful impulse.

It was a rough and a dangerous way to teach such lessons, but under
all the circumstances it seemed the only possible way.

Of course, these men were trying a dangerous experiment. Many of them
knew it at the time, and did not expect it on the whole to turn out
more successfully than others of a similar character. But there seemed
to be no other alternative at the time. Events soon occurred which
showed that the fears of those who apprehended danger were not
groundless, and it became evident, unless the Klan should be brought
under better control than its leaders at this time exercised over it,
that while it suppressed some evils, it would give rise to others
almost, if not fully, as great.[36]

FOOTNOTES:

[31] It will be remembered that in March, 1867, the Reconstruction
Acts were passed and that in April, 1867, the Reconstruction was
beginning.--_Editor._

[32] "It originated with returned soldiers for the purpose of
punishing those negroes who had become notoriously and offensively
insolent to white people, and, in some cases, to chastise those white
skinned men who, at that particular time, showed a disposition to
affiliate socially with negroes. The impression sought to be made upon
these latter was that these white-robed night prowlers were the ghosts
of the Confederate dead, who had arisen from their graves in order to
wreak vengeance on an undesirable class of both white and black
men."--_Ryland Randolph._

[33] The class called "tories" during the Civil War. They should not
be confused with the genuine Unionists.--_Editor._

[34] Sometimes called "Loyal League." See in regard to this secret
society--Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama, Ch. 16, and
(West Virginia University) Documents relating to Reconstruction, No.
3.--_Editor._

[35] On this point the testimony of Generals Forrest, John B. Gordon
and E.W. Pettus, and J.A. Minnis, in the Ku Klux Report, is
instructive.--_Editor._

[36] Pease, "In the Wake of War," (fiction) gives a very good
description of affairs in Tennessee by one who was thoroughly familiar
with conditions there.

CHAPTER III.

THE TRANSFORMATION.

Until the beginning of the year 1867, the movements of the Klan had,
in the main, been characterized by prudence and discretion; but there
were some exceptions. In some cases there had been a liberal
construction of orders and of what was by common consent the law of
the Klan. In some, the limits, which tacitly it had been agreed upon
not to pass, had been overstepped.

Attempts had been made to correct by positive means evils which
menaces had not been sufficient to remove. Rash, imprudent and bad men
had gotten into the order. The danger which the more prudent and
thoughtful had apprehended as possible was now a reality. Had it been
possible to do so, some of the leaders would have been in favor of
disbanding. That could not well be done, because at that time the
organization was so loose and imperfect. So to speak, the tie that
bound them together was too shadowy to be cut or untied. They had
evoked a spirit from "the vasty deep." It would not down at their
bidding.

And, besides, the Klan was needed. The only course which seemed to
promise any satisfactory solution of the difficulty was this: To
reorganize the Klan on a plan corresponding to its size and present
purposes; to bind the isolated dens together; to secure unity of
purpose and concert of action; to hedge the members up by such
limitations and regulations as were best adapted to restrain them
within proper limits; to distribute the authority among prudent men at
local centres, and exact from them a close supervision of those under
their charge.

In this way it was hoped the impending dangers would be effectually
guarded against. With these objects in view the Grand Cyclops of the
Pulaski Den sent out a request to all the dens of which he had
knowledge, to appoint delegates to meet in convention at Nashville,
Tenn., in the early summer of 1867.[37] At the time appointed this
convention was held. Delegates were present from Tennessee, Alabama,
and a number of other States. A plan of reorganization, previously
prepared, was submitted to this convention and adopted. After the
transaction of some further business, the convention adjourned, and
the delegates returned home without having attracted any attention.

At this convention the territory covered by the Klan was designated as
the "Invisible Empire." This was subdivided into "realms" coterminous
with the boundaries of States. The "realms" were divided into
"dominions," corresponding to Congressional districts; the "dominions"
into "provinces" coterminous with counties; and the "provinces" into
"dens."

To each of these departments officers were assigned.

Except in the case of the supreme officer, the duties of each were
minutely specified.

These officers were:

The Grand Wizard of the Invisible Empire and his ten Genii. The powers
of this officer were almost autocratic.

The Grand Dragon of the Realm and his eight Hydras.

The Grand Titan of the Dominion and his six Furies.

The Grand Cyclops of the Den and his two Night Hawks.

A Grand Monk.

A Grand Scribe.

A Grand Exchequer.

A Grand Turk.

A Grand Sentinel.

The Genii, Hydras, Furies, Goblins and Night Hawks were staff
officers. The gradation and distribution of authority was perfect. But
for one source of weakness, the Klan, under this new organization, was
one of the most perfectly organized orders that ever existed in the
world.

As we shall see presently, it was vulnerable and failed because of the
character of its methods. Secrecy was at first its strength. It
afterwards became its greatest weakness. As long as mystery was
conjoined with it, it was strength. When masks and disguises ceased to
be mysterious, secrecy was weakness.

One of the most important things done by this Nashville convention was
to make a positive and emphatic declaration of the principles of the
order. It was in the following terms:

"We recognize our relations to the United States Government; the
supremacy of the Constitution; the constitutional laws thereof; and
the union of States thereunder."

If these men were plotting treason, it puzzles us to know why they
should make such a statement as that in setting forth the principles
of the order. The statement above quoted was not intended for general
circulation and popular effect. So far as is known, it is now given to
the public for the first time. We must regard it, therefore, as
accurately describing the political attitude which the Ku Klux
proposed and desired to maintain. Every man who became a member of the
Klan really took an oath to support the Constitution of the United
States.

This Nashville convention also defined and set forth the peculiar
objects of the order, as follows:[38]

(1.) "To protect the weak, the innocent, and the defenceless, from the
indignities, wrongs and outrages of the lawless, the violent and the
brutal; to relieve the injured and the oppressed; to succor the
suffering, and especially the widows and orphans of Confederate
soldiers.

(2.) "To protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and
all laws passed in conformity thereto, and to protect the States and
people thereof from all invasion from any source whatever.

(3.) "To aid and assist in the execution of all constitutional laws,
and to protect the people from unlawful seizure, and from trial except
by their peers in conformity to the laws of the land."

This last clause was the result of the infamous and barbarous
legislation of that day. On the 3rd of June, 1865, the Thirty-fourth
General Assembly of Tennessee revived the sedition law and restricted
the right of suffrage.[39] A negro militia, ignorant and brutal, were
afterwards put over the State, and spread terror throughout its
borders. Men felt that they had no security for life, liberty, or
property. They were persecuted if they dared to complain. It was no
strange thing if they resorted to desperate measures for protection.
The emergency was desperate. Taking all the circumstances and
aggravations into consideration one cannot but be surprised that men
so persecuted and oppressed remained so moderate and forbearing.

The legislation of the Nashville Convention of Ku Klux bears internal
evidence of what we know from other sources to be true. Whilst
devising measures for protection to life and property, and for the
resistance of lawlessness and oppression, whether from irresponsible
parties or from those who professed to be acting legally and under
cover of authority, they were anxious also to control the Klan itself
and to keep it within what they conceived to be safe limits.

Up to this time the majority had shown a fair appreciation of the
responsibilities of their self-imposed task of preserving social
order. But under any circumstances the natural tendency of an
organization such as this is to violence and crime--much more under
such circumstances as those then prevailing.

Excesses had been committed. Whether justly so or not, they were
credited to the Klan. And it was foreseen and feared that if such
things continued or increased the hostility of State and Federal
Governments would be kindled against the Klan and active measures
taken to suppress it. The hope was entertained that the legislations
taken by the convention and the reorganization would not only enable
the Klan to enact its _role_ as Regulators with greater success, but
would keep its members within the prescribed limits, and so guard
against the contingencies referred to. They desired on the one hand,
to restrain and control their own members; on the other to correct
evils and promote order in society; and to do the latter _solely_ by
utilizing for this purpose the means and methods originally employed
for amusement. In each direction the success was but partial, as will
be told presently.

By the reorganization no material change was made in the methods of
the Klan's operations. Some of the old methods were slightly modified;
a few new features were added. The essential features of mystery,
secrecy and grotesqueness were retained, and steps were taken with a
view to deepening and intensifying the impressions already made upon
the public mind. They attempted to push to the extreme limits of
illustration the power of the mysterious over the minds of men.

Henceforth they courted publicity as assiduously as they had formerly
seemed to shun it. They appeared at different points at the same time,
and always when and where they were the least expected. Devices were
multiplied to deceive people in regard to their numbers and everything
else, and to play upon the fears of the superstitious.

As it was now the policy of the Klan to appear in public, an order was
issued by the Grand Dragon of the Realm of Tennessee to the Grand
Giants of the Provinces for a general parade in the capital town of
each Province on the night of the 4th of July, 1867. It will be
sufficient for this narrative to describe that parade as witnessed by
the citizens of Pulaski. Similar scenes were enacted at many other
places.

On the morning of the 4th of July, 1867, the citizens of Pulaski found
the sidewalks thickly strewn with slips of paper bearing the printed
words:[40] "The Ku Klux will parade the streets to-night." This
announcement created great excitement. The people supposed that their
curiosity, so long baffled, would now be gratified. They were
confident that this parade would at least afford them the opportunity
to find out who were the Ku Klux.

Soon after nightfall the streets were lined with an expectant and
excited throng of people. Many came from the surrounding country. The
members of the Klan in the county left their homes in the afternoon
and traveled alone or in squads of two or three, with their
paraphernalia carefully concealed. If questioned, they answered that
they were going to Pulaski to see the Ku Klux parade. After nightfall
they assembled at designated points near the four main roads leading
into town. Here they donned their robes and disguises and put covers
of gaudy materials on their horses. A skyrocket sent up from some
point in the town was the signal to mount and move. The different
companies met and passed each other on the public square in perfect
silence; the discipline appeared to be admirable.[41] Not a word was
spoken. Necessary orders were given by means of the whistles. In
single file, in death-like stillness, with funeral slowness, they
marched and counter-marched throughout the town. While the column was
headed North on one street it was going South on another. By crossing
over in opposite directions the lines were kept up in almost unbroken
continuity. The effect was to create the impression of vast numbers.
This marching and counter-marching was kept up for about two hours,
and the Klan departed as noiselessly as they came. The public were
more than ever mystified. Curiosity had not been satisfied, as it was
expected it would be. The efforts of the most curious and cunning to
find out who were Ku Klux failed. One gentleman from the country, a
great lover of horses, who claimed to know every horse in the county,
was confident that he would be able to identify the riders by the
horses. With this purpose in view, he remained in town to witness the
parade. But, as we have said, the horses were disguised as well as the
riders. Determined not to be baffled, during a halt of the column he
lifted the cover of a horse that was near him--the rider offering no
objection--and recognized his own steed and saddle upon which he had
ridden into town. The town people were on the alert also to see who of
the young men of the town would be with the Ku Klux. All of them,
almost without exception, were marked, mingling freely and
conspicuously with the spectators. Those of them who were members of
the Klan did not go into the parade.

This demonstration had the effect for which it was designed. Perhaps
the greatest illusion produced by it was in regard to the numbers
participating in it. Reputable citizens--men of cool and accurate
judgment--were confident that the number was not less than three
thousand. Others, whose imaginations were more easily wrought upon,
were quite certain there were ten thousand. The truth is, that the
number of Ku Klux in the parade did not exceed four hundred. This
delusion in regard to numbers prevailed wherever the Ku Klux appeared.
It illustrates how little the testimony of even an eye-witness is
worth in regard to anything which makes a deep impression on him by
reason of its mysteriousness.

The Klan had a large membership; it exerted a vast, terrifying and
wholesome power; but its influence was never at any time dependent on,
or proportioned to, its membership. It was in the mystery in which the
comparatively few enshrouded themselves. Gen. Forrest, before the
Investigating Committee, placed the number of Ku Klux in Tennessee at
40,000,[42] and in the entire South at 550,000. This was with him only
a guessing estimate.[43] Careful investigation leads to the
conclusion that he overshoots the mark in both cases. It is an error
to suppose that the entire male population of the South were Ku Klux,
or that even a majority of them were privy to its secrets and in
sympathy with its extremest measures. To many of them, perhaps to a
majority, the Ku Klux Klan was as vague, impersonal and mysterious as
to the people of the North, or of England. They did attribute to it
great good and to this day remember with gratitude the protection it
afforded them in the most trying and perilous period of their history,
when there was no other earthly source to which to appeal.[44]

   [Illustration: COSTUMES WORN IN TENNESSEE AND NORTH ALABAMA
   FACING PAGE 97]

One or two illustrations may here be given of the methods resorted to
to play upon the superstitious fears of the negroes and others.[45] At
the parade in Pulaski, while the procession was passing a corner on
which a negro man was standing, a tall horseman in hideous garb turned
aside from the line, dismounted, and stretched out his bridle rein
toward the negro, as if he desired him to hold his horse. Not daring
to refuse, the frightened African extended his hand to grasp the rein.
As he did so, the Ku Klux took his own head from his shoulders and
offered to place that also in the outstretched hand. The negro stood
not upon the order of his going, but departed with a yell of terror.
To this day he will tell you: "He done it, suah, boss. I seed him do
it." The gown was fastened by a draw-string over the top of the
wearer's head. Over this was worn an artificial skull made of a large
gourd or of pasteboard. This with the hat could be readily removed,
and the man would then appear to be headless. Such tricks gave rise
to the belief--still prevalent among the negroes--that the Ku Klux
could take themselves all to pieces whenever they wanted to.

Some of the Ku Klux carried skeleton hands. These were made of bone or
wood with a handle long enough to be held in the hand, which was
concealed by the gown sleeve. The possessor of one of these was
invariably of a friendly turn and offered to shake hands with all he
met, with what effect may be readily imagined.

A trick of frequent perpetration in the country was for a horseman,
spectral and ghostly looking, to stop before the cabin of some negro
needing a wholesome impression and call for a bucket of water. If a
dipper or gourd was brought it was declined, and the bucket full of
water demanded. As if consumed by raging thirst the horseman grasped
it and pressed it to his lips. He held it there till every drop of the
water was poured into a gum or oiled sack concealed beneath the Ku
Klux robe. Then the empty bucket was returned to the amazed negro with
the remark: "That's good. It is the first drink of water I have had
since I was killed at Shiloh." Then a few words of counsel as to
future behavior made an impression not easily forgotten or likely to
be disregarded.

Under ordinary circumstances such devices are unjustifiable. But in
the peculiar state of things then existing they served a good purpose.
It was not only better to deter the negroes from theft and other
lawlessness in this way than to put them in the penitentiary; but it
was the only way, at this time, by which they could be controlled. The
jails would not contain them. The courts could not or would not try
them. The policy of the Klan all the while was to deter men from
wrongdoing. It was only in rare, exceptional cases, and these the most
aggravated, that it undertook to punish.[46]

FOOTNOTES:

[37] "In the spring of 1867," says Wilson in the _Century Magazine_,
July, 1884. May was the month of meeting. This was just after the
Reconstruction Acts had been passed.--_Editor._

[38] I am convinced that the authors are mistaken in saying that the
first convention adopted the Prescript containing these declarations.
The Prescript adopted was the one reproduced in Appendix I. The other
one, reproduced in Appendix II, was adopted, it is believed, in
1868.--_Editor._

[39] Ex-Confederates were practically all excluded from the
suffrage.--_Editor._

[40] Notices were posted in every public place, and even pasted on the
backs of hogs and cows running loose in the streets.--_Miss Cora R.
Jones._

[41] Most members of the Klan had been Confederate soldiers and were
familiar with military drill and discipline.--_Editor._

[42] A later estimate places the membership of Ku Klux Klan at 72,000
in Tennessee alone.--_Washington Post, August 13, 1905._

[43] Forrest denied that he had made such an estimate. There were many
other orders similar to Ku Klux Klan and the total membership was
probably about half a million.--_Editor._

[44] It made the women feel safer. "And then came the reign of martial
law, and the Freedmen's Bureau. Those dark days of the Reconstruction
period rapidly followed the horrors of civil war, and the reign of the
carpetbagger began, goading the people to desperation. For their
protection the younger and more reckless men of the community now
formed a secret society, which masqueraded at night in grotesque and
grewsome character called the Ku Klux Klan. Always silent and
mysterious, mounted on horses, they swept noiselessly by in the
darkness with gleaming death's heads, skeletons and chains. It struck
terror into the heart of the evil-doer, while the peaceful citizen
knew a faithful patrol had guarded his premises while he
slept."--_Mrs. Stubbs, in "Saunders' Early Settlers of Alabama_," p.
31.

[45] A practice not mentioned here was that of sending out the
peculiar warnings and orders, specimens of which are printed in
Appendix IV.--_Editor._

[46] "We had regular meetings about once a week, at which the conduct
of certain offensive characters would be discussed, and if the
majority voted to punish such it would be accordingly done on certain
prescribed nights. Sometimes it was deemed necessary only to post
notices of warning, which, in some cases, were sufficient to alarm the
victims sufficiently to induce them to reform in their
behavior."--_Ryland Randolph._

CHAPTER IV.

THE DECLINE.

For a while after the reorganization of the Klan, those concerned for
its welfare and right conduct congratulated themselves that all was
now well. Closer organization and stricter official supervision had a
restraining influence upon the members. Many things seemed to indicate
that the future work of the Klan would be wholly good.

These hopes were rudely shattered. Ere long official supervision grew
less rigid or was less regarded. The membership was steadily
increasing. Among the new material added were some bad men who could
not be--at least were not--controlled.

In the winter and spring of 1867 and 1868 many things were done by
members, or professed members, of the Klan, which were the subject of
universal regret and condemnation. In many ways the grave censure of
those who had hitherto been friendly to it was evoked against the
Klan, and occasion, long sought for, was given its enemies to petition
the intervention of the government to suppress it. The end came
rapidly. We must now trace the causes which wrought the decay and
downfall of the "Invisible Empire."

In regard to the doings of the Ku Klux two extreme positions have been
advocated. On the one hand, it is asserted that the Ku Klux committed
no outrages. On the other, that they were the authors of all the
depredations committed by masked and disguised men in the Southern
States from 1865 to 1869. The truth lies between these two extremes.
Great outrages were committed by bands of disguised men during those
years of lawlessness and oppression. And the fact must be admitted
that some of these outrages were committed, if not by the order and
approbation of the Klan, at least by men who were members of it.[47]

The thoughtful reader will readily understand how this came about.

There was a cause which naturally and almost necessarily produced the
result. Men of the character of the majority of those who composed
the Klan do not disregard their own professed principles and violate
self-assumed obligations without cause. We have seen that the Klan was
in the main composed of the very best men in the country--peaceable,
law-loving and law-abiding men--men of good habits and character--men
of property and intelligence.

We have seen that the organization had no political significance; they
expressly and in solemn secret compact declared their allegiance to
the constitution and all constitutional laws, and pledged themselves
to aid in the administration of all such laws. To see such men defying
law and creating disorder, is a sight singular enough to awake inquiry
as to the causes which had been at work upon them. The transformation
of the Ku Klux Klan, from a band of regulators, honestly trying to
preserve peace and order, into the body of desperate men who, in 1869,
convulsed the country and set at defiance the mandates of both State
and Federal governments, is greater than the transformation which we
have already traced.

In both cases there were causes at work adequate to the results
produced; causes from which, as remarked before, the results followed
naturally and necessarily.

These have never been fully and fairly stated. They may be classed
under three general heads: (1). Unjust charges. (2). Misapprehension
of the nature and objects of the order on the part of those not
members of it. (3). Unwise and over-severe legislation.

As has already been pointed out, the order contained within itself, by
reason of the methods practiced, sources of weakness. The devices and
disguises by which the Klan deceived outsiders enabled all who were so
disposed, even its own members, to practice deception on the Klan
itself. It placed in the hands of its own members the facility to do
deeds of violence for the gratification of personal feeling, and have
them credited to the Klan. To evilly-disposed men membership in the
Klan was an inducement to wrongdoing. It presented to all men a
dangerous temptation, which, in certain contingencies at any time
likely to arise, it required a considerable amount of moral robustness
to resist. Many did not withstand it. And deeds of violence were done
by men who were Ku Klux, but who, while acting under cover of their
connection with the Klan, were not under its orders. But because these
men were Ku Klux, the Klan had to bear the odium of wrongdoing.[48]

In addition to this, the very class which the Klan proposed to hold in
check and awe into good behavior, soon became wholly unmanageable.
Those who had formerly committed depredations to be laid to the charge
of the negroes, after a brief interval of good behavior, assumed the
guise of Ku Klux and returned to their old ways, but with less
boldness and more caution, showing the salutary impression which the
Klan had made upon them. In some cases the negroes played Ku Klux.
Outrages were committed by masked men in regions far remote from any
Ku Klux organizations. The parties engaged took pains to assert that
they were Ku Klux, _which the members of the Klan never did_. This was
evidence that these parties were simply aping Ku Klux disguises. The
proof on this point is ample and clear. After the passage of the Anti
Ku Klux Statute by the State of Tennessee, several instances occurred
of parties being arrested in Ku Klux disguises; but in every instance
they proved to be either negroes or "radical" Brownlow Republicans.
This occurred so often that the statute was allowed by the party in
power to become a dead letter before its repeal. It bore too hard on
"loyal" men when enforced.

The same thing occurred in Georgia and other States. (See testimony of
General Gordon and others before the Investigating Committee.)

_No single instance occurred of the arrest of a masked man who proved
to be--when stripped of his disguises--a Ku Klux._

But it came to pass that all the disorder done in the country was
charged upon the Ku Klux, because done under disguises which they had
invented and used. The Klan had no way in which to disprove or refute
the charges. They felt that it was hard to be charged with violence of
which they were innocent. At the same time they felt that it was
natural, and, under the circumstances, not wholly unjust that this
should be the case. They had assumed the office of Regulators. It was
therefore due society, due themselves, and due the Government, which,
so far, had not molested them, that they should, at least, not afford
the lawless classes facilities for the commission of excesses greater
than any they had hitherto indulged in, and above all, that they
should restrain their own members from lawlessness.

The Klan felt all this; and in its efforts to relieve itself of the
stigma thus incurred, it acted in some cases against the offending
parties with a severity well merited, no doubt, but unjustifiable.[49]
As is frequently the case they were carried beyond the limits of
prudence and right by a hot zeal for self-vindication against unjust
aspersions.

They felt that the charge of wrong was unfairly brought against them.
To clear themselves of the charge they did worse wrong than that
alleged against them.

The Klan from the first shrouded itself in deepest mystery; out of
this fact grew trouble not at first apprehended. They wished people
not to understand. They tried to keep them profoundly ignorant. The
result was that the Klan and its objects were wholly misunderstood and
misinterpreted. Many who joined the Klan and many who did not, were
certain it contemplated something far more important than its overt
acts gave evidence of. Some were sure it meant treason and revolution.
The negroes and the whites whose consciences made them the subjects of
guilty fears, were sure it boded no good to them.

When the first impressions of awe and terror which the Klan had
inspired, to some extent, wore off, a feeling of intense hostility
towards the Ku Klux followed. This feeling was the more bitter because
founded, not on overt acts which the Ku Klux had done, but on vague
fears and surmises as to what they intended to do. Those who
entertained such fears were in some cases impelled by them to become
the aggressors. They attacked the Ku Klux before receiving from them
any provocation. The negroes formed organizations of a military
character and drilled by night, and even appeared in the day armed and
threatening. The avowed purpose of these organizations was "to make
war upon and exterminate the Ku Klux." On several occasions the Klan
was fired into. The effect of such attacks was to provoke counter
hostility from the Klan, and so there was irritation and
counter-irritation, till, in some places, the state of things was
little short of open warfare. In some respects it was worse; the
parties wholly misunderstood each other. Each party felt that its
cause was the just one. Each justified its deed by the provocation.

The Ku Klux, intending wrong, as they believed, to no one, were
aggrieved that acts which they had not done should be charged to them;
and motives which they did not entertain imputed to them and outraged
that they should be molested and assaulted. The other party satisfied
that they were acting in self-defense felt fully justified in
assaulting them, and so each goaded the other on from one degree of
exasperation to another.

The following extracts from a general order of the Grand Dragon of the
Realm of Tennessee will illustrate the operation of both these causes.
It was issued in the fall of the year 1868. It shows what were the
principles and objects which the Klan still professed, and it also
shows how it was being forced away from them:

                                       HEADQUARTERS REALM NO. 1,}
                                      DREADFUL ERA, BLACK EPOCH,}

                                                  DREADFUL HOUR.}

    _General Order No. 1._

    WHEREAS, Information of an authentic character has reached these
    headquarters that the blacks in the counties of Marshall, Maury,
    Giles and Lawrence are organized into military companies, with
    the avowed purpose to make war upon and exterminate the Ku Klux
    Klan, said blacks are hereby solemnly warned and ordered to
    desist from further action in such organizations, if they exist.

    The G. D. [Grand Dragon] regrets the necessity of such an order.
    But this Klan shall not be outraged and interfered with by
    lawless negroes and meaner white men, who do not and never have
    understood our purposes.

    In the first place this Klan is not an institution of violence,
    lawlessness and cruelty; it is not lawless; it is not
    aggressive; it is not military; it is not revolutionary.

    It is, essentially, originally and inherently a protective
    organization. It proposes to execute law instead of resisting
    it; and to protect all good men, whether white or black, from
    the outrages and atrocities of bad men of both colors, who have
    been for the past three years a terror to society, and an injury
    to us all.

    The blacks seem to be impressed with the belief that this Klan
    is especially their enemy. We are not the enemy of the blacks,
    as long as they behave themselves, make no threats upon us, and
    do not attack or interfere with us.

    But if they make war upon us they must abide the awful
    retribution that will follow.

    This Klan, while in its peaceful movements, and disturbing no
    one, has been fired into three times. This will not be endured
    any longer; and if it occurs again, and the parties be
    discovered, a remorseless vengeance will be wreaked upon them.

    We reiterate that we are for peace and law and order. No man,
    white or black, shall be molested for his political sentiments.
    This Klan is not a political party; it is not a military party;
    it is a protective organization, and will never use violence
    except in resisting violence.

    Outrages have been perpetrated by irresponsible parties in the
    name of this Klan. Should such parties be apprehended, they will
    be dealt with in a manner to insure us future exemption from
    such imposition. These impostors have, in some instances,
    whipped negroes. This is wrong! wrong! It is denounced by this
    Klan as it must be by all good and humane men.

    The Klan now, as in the past, is prohibited from doing such
    things. We are striving to protect all good, peaceful,
    well-disposed and law-abiding men, whether white or black.

    The G. D. deems this order due to the public, due to the Klan,
    and due to those who are misguided and misinformed. We,
    therefore, request that all newspapers who are friendly to law,
    and peace, and the public welfare, will publish the same.

                              By order of the G. D., Realm No. 1.
                              By the Grand Scribe.

This order doubtless expresses the principles which the Klan, as a
body, was honestly trying to maintain. It also illustrates how they
were driven to violate them by the very earnestness and vehemence
with which they attempted to maintain them.

The question naturally arises, Why, under the embarrassing
circumstances, did not the Klan disband and close its operations?[50]
The answer is, that the members felt that there was now more reasons
than ever for the Klan's existence. They felt that they ought not to
abandon their important and needful work because they encountered
unforeseen difficulties in accomplishing it. It is an illustration of
the fatuity which sometimes marks the lives of men that they did not
perceive what seems perfectly clear and plain to others. Nothing is
more certain than that a part of the evils which the Klan was
combating at this period of its history grew out of their own methods,
and might be expected to continue as long as the Klan existed. Men are
not always wise. But even in cases where their conduct does not permit
of vindication and excuse, justice requires that a fair and truthful
statement be made of the temptations and embarrassments which
surrounded them. Placing all the circumstances before us fully, who of
us is prepared to say that we would have acted with more wisdom and
discretion than these men?

   [Illustration: CARPETBAGGERS LISTENING TO A KU KLUX REPORT
   Coon and Sibly of the Alabama Legislature. Cartoon from Screw's
   "Lost Legislature."
   FACING PAGE 113]

Matters grew worse and worse, till it was imperatively necessary that
there should be interference on the part of the Government. In
September, 1868, the Legislature of Tennessee, in obedience to the
call of Governor Brownlow, assembled in extra session and passed a
most stringent and bloody anti-Ku Klux statute.[51] This was the
culmination of a long series of the most infamous legislations which
ever disgraced a statute book.

It began in 1865, as we have seen, in the passage of the alien and
sedition act, and grew worse and worse till the passage of the anti-Ku
Klux statute in 1868. Sixteen years have passed since then, and many
into whose hands this book will come have never seen the "Anti-Ku
Klux Law." We quote it entire, to show the character of the
legislation of those times as well as for the sake of its bearing on
the matter in hand:

    SEC. 1. _Be it enacted, by the General Assembly of Tennessee_,
    That if any person or persons shall unite with, associate with,
    promote or encourage any secret organization of persons who
    shall prowl through the country or towns of this State, by day
    or by night, disguised or otherwise, for the purpose of
    disturbing the peace, or alarming the peaceable citizens of any
    portion of this State, on conviction by any tribunal of this
    State, shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars,
    imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than five years, and
    shall be rendered infamous.

    SEC. 2. _Be it further enacted_, That it shall be the duty of
    all the courts in this State, before the impaneling of any grand
    jury or petit jury in any cause whatever, to inquire of the
    juror, on oath, whether he shall be associated in any way
    obnoxious to the first section of this act; and if such juror
    shall decline to give a voluntary answer, or shall answer
    affirmatively, such persons shall be disqualified as a juror in
    any case in any court in this State.

    SEC. 3. _Be it further enacted_, That, for the purpose of
    facilitating the execution of the provisions of this act, it
    shall be the duty of the Prosecuting Attorneys of this State or
    grand jurors, or either of them, to summons or cause to be
    summoned, any persons he shall have a well-grounded belief has
    any knowledge of such organization as described by the first
    section of this act, and if any person shall fail or refuse to
    obey such summons, or shall appear and refuse to testify, such
    persons so summoned shall suffer the penalty imposed by the
    first section of this act; and if such witness shall avoid the
    service of said subpoena or summons, the sheriff, or other
    officer, shall return such fact on said process, when the court
    shall order a copy of said process to be left at the last place
    of residence of such persons sought to be summoned; and if such
    person shall fail to appear according to the command of said
    process, said court shall enter a judgment _nisi_ against such
    person for the sum of five hundred dollars, for which _sci. fa._
    shall issue, as in other cases of forfeiture of subpoena.

    SEC. 4. _Be it further enacted_, That no prosecutor shall be
    required on any indictment under the provisions of this act; and
    all the courts of the State shall give a remedial construction
    to the same; and that no presentment or indictment shall be
    quashed, or declared insufficient for want of form.

    SEC. 5. _Be it further enacted_, That it shall be the duty of
    all the courts of this State, at every term, for two years from
    and after the passage of this act, to call before it all the
    officers thereof, who shall be sworn, and have this act read or
    explained to them; and the court shall ask said officers if they
    shall have any knowledge of any person of the State, or out of
    it, that shall be guilty of any of the offenses contained in
    this act, and that, if at any time they shall come to such
    knowledge, or shall have a well-grounded belief that any person
    or persons shall be guilty of a violation of this act or any of
    its provisions, that they will immediately, inform the
    Prosecuting Attorney for the State thereof; and if such
    Prosecuting Attorney, upon being so informed, shall fail,
    refuse, or neglect to prosecute such person or persons so
    informed on, he shall be subject to the same penalties imposed
    by the first section of this act, and shall be stricken from the
    roll of attorneys in said court.

    SEC. 6. _Be it further enacted_, That if any officer, or other
    person, shall inform any other person that he or she is to be
    summoned as a witness under any of the provisions of this act,
    or any other statute or law of this State, with the intent and
    for the purpose of defeating any of the provisions of this act,
    or any criminal law of this State; or if any officer, clerk,
    sheriff or constable shall refuse or fail to perform any of the
    duties imposed by this act, upon conviction, shall suffer the
    penalties by the first section of this act, and shall be
    disqualified from holding office in this State for two years.

    SEC. 7. _Be it further enacted_, That if any person shall
    voluntarily inform on any person guilty of any of the provisions
    of this act, upon conviction such informant shall be entitled
    and receive one-half of the fine imposed; and if any officer,
    three-fourths.

    SEC. 8. _Be it further enacted_, That if any person, guilty of
    any of the provisions or offenses enumerated in this act, that
    shall appear before any jury or prosecuting officer of the
    State, and shall inform him or them of any offense committed by
    any person or persons against the criminal laws of this State,
    such person or witness shall not be bound to answer to any
    charge for the violation of any provisions of any law about
    which such person or witness shall be examined; and the court
    shall protect such witness from any prosecution whatever.

    SEC. 9. _Be it further enacted_, That where any process shall be
    issued against the person of any citizen in any county of this
    State, for any violation of the provisions of this act, and such
    shall be returned not executed, for any cause whatever, by the
    sheriff or other officer, to the court from which it was issued,
    with an affidavit appended thereto, plainly setting forth the
    reason for the non-execution of such process, then it shall be
    the duty of the clerk, without delay, to issue an _alias capias_
    to the same county, if the home of the defendant shall be in
    said county, either in part or in whole, when said sheriff or
    other officer shall give notice to the inhabitants of said
    county by posting such notice at the court-house of said county,
    of the existence of said capias; and if the inhabitants of such
    county shall permit such defendant to be or to live in said
    county, in part or in whole, the inhabitants shall be subject to
    an assessment of not less than five hundred dollars, nor more
    than five thousand dollars, at the discretion of the court,
    which said assessment shall be made in the following manner,
    to-wit: When the sheriff or other officer shall return his
    _alias capias_, showing that said defendant is an inhabitant of
    said county, in part or in whole, and that the citizens thereof
    have failed or refused to arrest said defendant, which every
    citizen is hereby authorized to do or perform. Said court shall
    order _sci. fa._ to issue to the proper officer to make known to
    the chairman, judge, or other presiding officer of the County
    Court, to appear and show cause why final judgment should not
    have been entered up accordingly; which, if any County Court
    fails or refuses to do and perform, any judge, in vacation,
    shall grant a _mandamus_ to compel said County Court to assess
    and collect said assessment, to be paid into the State treasury
    for the benefit of the school fund; provided, said assessment
    shall not be made of the sheriff or other officer, upon the
    return of the original, or _alias_ writs, show cause why the
    same cannot be executed, which may be done by his affidavit and
    two respectable witnesses known to the court as such.

    SEC. 10. _Be it further enacted_, That all the inhabitants in
    this State shall be authorized to arrest any person defendant,
    under the provisions of this act, in any county in this State
    without process.

    SEC. 11. _Be it further enacted_, That if any person or persons
    shall write, publish, advise, entreat or persuade, privately or
    publicly, any class of persons, or any individual, to resist any
    of the laws of this State calculated to molest or disturb the
    good people and peaceable citizens of the State, such persons
    shall be subject to the penalties of the first section of this
    act; and if an attorney at law, he shall be stricken from the
    roll of attorneys and be prevented from practicing in any court
    in this State.

    SEC. 12. _Be it further enacted_, That if any person shall make
    threats against any elector or person authorized to exercise the
    elective franchise, with the intention of intimidating or
    preventing such person or persons from attending any election in
    this State, they shall be subject to the penalties inflicted by
    the first section of this act.

    SEC. 13. _Be it further enacted_, That if any person or persons
    shall attempt to break up any election in this State, or advise
    the same to be done, with a view of preventing the lawful or
    qualified citizens of this State from voting, they shall be
    subject to the penalties prescribed by the first section of this
    act; and the attorney of the State in all convictions under the
    provisions of this act, shall be entitled to a tax fee of one
    hundred dollars, to be taxed in the bill of costs, and to be
    paid by the defendant. And the attorney prosecuting for the
    State shall keep all information given him a secret, unless it
    shall be necessary, in the opinion of the court, that the same
    should be made public.

    SEC. 14. _Be it further enacted_, That it shall be the duty of
    all the judges in this State to read this act to the grand
    juries, and give it especially in charge to said juries.

    SEC. 15. _Be it further enacted_, That the treasurer of this
    State shall not be authorized to pay any judge in this State any
    salary, or to any clerk, sheriff, or attorney, any fee or bill
    of costs that may accrue to such parties under the provisions of
    this act, until such judge or other officer shall have filed
    with the comptroller or treasurer an affidavit plainly setting
    forth that he has fully complied with the provisions of this
    act.

    SEC. 16. _Be it further enacted_, That if any person or citizen
    of this State shall voluntarily feed, or lodge, or entertain, or
    conceal in the woods, or elsewhere, any offender known to such
    person to be charged with any criminal offense under this act,
    such person shall suffer the penalty prescribed by the first
    section of this act; provided, that this section shall not apply
    to persons who, under the ancient law, might feed or conceal the
    party charged.

    SEC. 17. _Be it further enacted_, That if any person, guilty of
    any of the offenses enumerated in this act, shall have, own or
    possess any real estate held by deed, or grant, or entry, or by
    fee, or entail in law, or equity, the same shall be bound for
    costs, fines or penalties imposed by any of the provisions of
    this act; and a lien is hereby declared to attach to all estates
    in law or equity, as above, dating from the day or night of the
    commission of the offense, which fact may be found by the jury
    trying the cause, or any other jury impaneled for that purpose;
    and if in the opinion of the court the defendant has evaded the
    law, the jury shall find such fact, and the estate of the
    defendant shall be made liable for the costs of the State; and
    there shall be no limitation to the recovery of the same.

    SEC. 18. _Be it further enacted_, That if any person or persons
    shall be guilty of a violation of any of the provisions of this
    act, to the prejudice or injury of any individual, the jury
    trying the defendant shall, or may find such fact with the
    amount of injury sustained, which shall be paid to the injured
    party or person entitled to the same, by the laws of descent of
    this State, with all costs, and who shall have the same lien on
    the property of the defendant that is possessed or given to the
    State by this act.

    SEC. 19. _Be it further enacted_, That if any person shall
    knowingly make or cause to be made, any uniform or regalia, in
    part or in whole, by day or night, or shall be found in
    possession of the same, he, she or they shall be fined at the
    discretion of the court, and shall be rendered infamous.

    SEC. 20. _Be it further enacted_, That in addition to the oath
    prescribed by the constitution and oath of office, every public
    officer shall swear that he has never been a member of the
    organization known as the Ku Klux Klan, or other disguised body
    of men contrary to the laws of the State, and that he has
    neither directly nor indirectly aided, encouraged, supported, or
    in any manner countenanced said organization.

    SEC. 21. _Be it further enacted_, That the attorneys or
    prosecuting officers for the State, shall be entitled to and
    receive five per cent, on all forfeitures or assessments made by
    this act, on compensations to be paid by the defendant.

    SEC. 22. _Be it further enacted_, That the standard of damages
    for injuries to individuals shall be as follows: For disturbing
    any of the officers of the State or other person, by entering
    the house or houses, or place of residence of any such
    individual in the night, in a hostile manner, or against his
    will, the sum of ten thousand dollars; and it shall be lawful
    for the person so assailed to kill the assailant. For killing
    any individual in the night twenty thousand dollars; provided,
    such person killed was peaceable at that time. That all other
    injuries shall be assessed by the court and jury in proportion;
    and the court trying said causes may grant as many new trials as
    may, in his opinion, be necessary to attain the end of justice.

    SEC. 23. _Be it further enacted_, That all persons present, and
    not giving immediate information on the offenders, shall be
    regarded as guilty of a misdemeanor against the law, and shall
    be punished accordingly.

    SEC. 24. _Be it further enacted_, That it shall not be lawful
    for any persons to publish any proffered or pretended order of
    said secret, unlawful clans; and any person convicted under any
    of the provisions of this act, shall not claim, hold, or possess
    any property, real or personal, exempt from execution, fine,
    penalty or costs, under this act; provided, that nothing herein
    contained shall be so construed as to prevent or exempt any
    person heretofore guilty of any of the offenses herein contained
    from prosecution under the law as it now stands. This act to