Читать книгу Ku Klux Klan: Its Origin, Growth and Disbandment - John C. Lester - Страница 7

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 It attracted little notice then; and since that time it has not been given the attention it deserved as a historical document.[1] At the time of writing, sectional feeling was still inflamed; the Northern people were not ready to hear anything favorable about the Ku Klux Klan, which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]

Some KlansmenToList

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 (Κυκλοσ), 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.

General N.B. Forrest

Grand Wizard of Ku Klux Klan

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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.

General John B. Gordon

Head of Klan in Georgia

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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.