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Title: The Nation's Peril
Twelve Years' Experience in the South
Author: Anonymous
Release Date: March 15, 2011 [EBook #35579]
Language: English
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THE NATION'S PERIL.
TWELVE YEARS' EXPERIENCE IN THE SOUTH.
THEN AND NOW.
THE KU KLUX KLAN
A COMPLETE EXPOSITION OF THE ORDER:
ITS PURPOSE, PLANS, OPERATIONS, SOCIAL AND
POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE
THE NATION'S SALVATION.
WHEREFORE SAY UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL,
I AM THE LORD, AND I WILL BRING YOU OUT FROM
UNDER THE BURDENS OF THE EGYPTIANS, AND I WILL
RID YOU OUT OF THEIR BONDAGE, AND I WILL REDEEM
YOU WITH A STRETCHED-OUT ARM, AND WITH GREAT
JUDGMENTS.--_Exodus_, VI, 6.
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE FRIENDS OF THE COMPILER.
1872.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year
one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, by
E. A. IRELAND,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
INTRODUCTORY.
The facts contained in the succeeding pages, have been compiled from
authenticated sources, and with especial reference to their truthfulness.
That portion derived from the diary of a gentleman, twelve years a
resident of the South, was not originally intended for public circulation;
but this, with a variety of other matter obtained from official records,
formed the basis of a lecture delivered at Tremont Temple, in the city of
Boston, on the evening of March 27th, 1872, and excited a great degree of
interest among the people to learn more of the subject-matter treated
upon.
Communications relating thereto came in from all parts of the country, and
it was decided by the friends of the compiler to present all the facts in
convenient form for general circulation, as the best means of complying
with this demand.
They are here given with such additions to the original matter, as will
enable the general reader more fully to comprehend the origin, rise and
progress of the various orders of the Ku Klux Klans, their social and
political significance, and their general bearing upon the welfare of the
nation at large.
The thrilling stories of outrage and crime herein narrated, are
authenticated beyond the power of refutation.
"Against all such crimes, as well as against incompetency and corruption
in office, the power of an intelligent public sentiment and of the courts
of justice should be invoked and united; and appealing for patience and
forbearance in the North, while time and these powers are doing their
work, let us also appeal to the good sense of Southern men, if they
sincerely desire to accomplish political reforms through a change in the
negro vote. If their theory is true that he votes solidly now with the
republican party, and is kept there by his ignorance and by deception, all
that is necessary to keep him there is to keep up by their countenance,
the Ku Klux Organization. Having the rights of a citizen and a voter,
neither of those rights can be abrogated by whipping him. If his political
opinions are erroneous, he will not take kindly to the opposite creed when
its apostles come to inflict the scourge upon himself, and outrage upon
his wife and children. If he is ignorant, he will not be educated by
burning his school houses and exiling his teachers. If he is wicked, he
will not be made better by banishing to Liberia his religious teachers. If
the resuscitation of the State is desired by his labor, neither will be
secured by a persecution which depopulates townships, and prevents the
introduction of new labor and of capital."
That these pages may be received in the same spirit of charity and kindly
feeling in which they have been penned, is the sincere and earnest wish of
THE COMPILER.
THE NATION'S PERIL.
The transition of the social status of the colored classes in the South,
from a condition of abject servitude to one of the most enlarged freedom,
crowned with that dearest of all rights to the heart of the freeman, the
elective franchise, although gradual, and attended with difficulties that
have seemed at times almost insurmountable, goes steadily forward, under
the hand of a beneficent and all seeing God, who watcheth alike over the
just and the unjust, enjoining upon them, in return for his goodness, a
strict observance of his commands towards one another.
Human progress in this country, during the past ten years, has taken giant
strides, although met by obstacles of a character so formidable as to
impose a most extraordinary task upon those engaged in the great work of
social reform and the establishment of the rights of all to civil,
religious and political liberty, as guaranteed by the Constitution. The
spirit of the age is reformatory. Religion, politics, art and the sciences
have ever been the subjects of reformation and progression, and by these
have been lifted from comparative darkness in the past to the broad fields
of light in the more intelligent present. In the grand plan of an all-wise
Creator, nothing has been allowed to permanently obstruct the onward march
of the races and nations of the earth; and for the accomplishment of this
glorious purpose, no sacrifice, it appears, has been deemed too great that
would aid in its fulfillment. The travail and labor of nations, the
desolation and destruction of whole communities, and in some instances the
entire annihilation of races of men, have been the penalties demanded and
paid for their long persistence in the ways of sin and wickedness.
The American Republic has been no exception to the imperative rule. It
bore within its folds the crime and curse of slavery, a foul and corroding
ulcer that could only be burned out and destroyed by the terrible
visitations of fire and the sword, and in the eradication of which all the
wisdom of the nation's greatest counselors, all the terrible enginery of
modern warfare, and the skill and persistence of the chosen leaders of the
people were to be brought into requisition. A fierce and sanguinary
contest of four years' duration ended, under the hand of God, in the grand
triumph of the right; but the war of the rebellion left the South in a
state of social disintegration, in which the leading spirits who had
fomented the internecine contest assumed to control the masses, and
perpetuate under another form, and accomplish by other means, that which
had been lost to them in the surrender and disorganization of their
armies.
The condition of the South, during the past twelve years, is vividly
illustrated in a series of letters written by Mr. Justin Knight, a
gentleman of undoubted integrity, a resident of the South during the
period referred to, and which are here given in a narrative form for the
better convenience of the reader. Speaking of himself and the peculiar
circumstances that brought him to the Southern States, Mr. Knight says:
"Born in close proximity to the metropolis of New England, where I
received the advantages of a collegiate education, and the religious
instruction of parents who, without bigotry, were opposed to every
species of wrong, I early conceived a desire to enter upon the ministry,
which I did in 1857, almost immediately after the close of my collegiate
life.
My constitution, at no time robust, was entirely inadequate to the labors
imposed upon me by the duties of this new position. My health continued
gradually to give way until the winter of 1859, when my physician decided
that a change of climate was essentially necessary to my well-being, and
under his advice I proceeded to Charleston, S. C., and took up my
residence with a married sister, then living there in affluent
circumstances.
At this peculiar epoch in the history of the country the political
atmosphere of the South was literally pestilential. Under the manipulation
of skillful, but unscrupulous leaders, whole communities had become imbued
with a spirit hostile to the governing powers. They were led to believe
that the time for argument had past, and that nothing was now left them,
but to make a demand for what they were pleased to consider their inherent
rights;--that of keeping their fellow men in bondage--and if this were
refused, to declare themselves for war. The portentious clouds of the
impending crisis continued gathering thick and fast, and it required no
prophet's eye to discern, or voice to foretell that they must soon burst
upon the country in a deluge that could only be stayed by an enormous
waste of blood and treasure.
A sojourn of nearly eighteen months among the southern people, and the
facilities afforded me from the position occupied by my sister's family,
gave me an unusual opportunity to observe the passing pageant of events.
The masses had been gradually worked over to the interests of the more
intelligent leaders, until reason and argument ceased further to influence
them. They seemed wholly given up to the one idea of slavery, or war, and
they had been led to believe that the first demonstration of organized
resistance to the regularly constituted powers, would bring the North at
their feet in abject supplication for peace. I was anxious to know how the
defiant and belligerent attitude that was being assumed would be received
in the land of my birth, and as my health had sufficiently improved to
warrant my again returning there, I did so at the earliest opportunity,
only to realize that the people of the North were buckling on their armor,
with the deep seated purpose of going forth to battle for the right.
There was a significance in all "this busy note of preparation," that I
could fully understand and appreciate. I had seen enough to convince me
that nothing but the severest chastisement, administered by the hands of
the Lord through the instrumentality of his chosen people, could bring our
misguided brethren of the South to a just and proper sense of their duty
to God and their fellow-men. They had long "eaten of the bread of
wickedness; and drank the wine of violence," and they had utterly
forgotten that "righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to
any people."
An opportunity was speedily afforded me to accompany a regiment to the
field as chaplain, and I soon found myself marching southward with a body
of noble men who had been foremost in responding to the call of President
Lincoln, to defend the Union and preserve the integrity of the nation. The
incidents of the four years of bloody strife that ensued, need not be
alluded to here. They were passed by me, in the midst of danger, offering
consolation to the dying, caring tenderly for the dead, when circumstances
permitted, and coming out of all, through the hand of God, unscathed.
The results aimed at upon the part of the ruling powers, seemed to have
been accomplished. The Proclamation of Emancipation had gone forth from
the executive head of the nation, and solid rows of glittering steel had
followed it up, and compelled its enforcement. The foulest blot upon the
pages of our history as a Republic had been erased, and its down-trodden
children liberated from a thraldom more humiliating in design, and wicked
in purpose, than that which yoked the children of Israel under the hands
of the Egyptian task masters. In them the promise of the Great Jehovah had
been verified: "Wherefore:--say unto the Children of Israel, I am the
Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burden of the Egyptians."
The right had been vindicated; the shock of contending armies was over,
and the nation waited patiently to see in what condition the contest had
left the conquered.
It is my purpose, in these pages, to give the exact facts, "nothing
extenuate, nor set down aught in malice." I shall endeavor neither to
exaggerate the history, or conceal the truth. I am aware that the
revelations which follow are so terrible in their nature as to almost pass
the bounds of belief; that the agonizing scenes herein depicted, and which
have been the results of the same demoniac spirit which actuated and
prolonged the war, had they been told as occurring among the semi-barbaric
nations in the uttermost parts of the earth, might be the more readily
received by my countrymen as truthful relations; but which, transpiring at
our own doors, within the sound and under the shadow of the Gospel, appear
like the mythical creations of a distorted imagination rather than actual
revelations from real life.
In the interest of all progress, and for the sake of God and humanity, I
would it were so; but the contrary is the fact. Hundreds of living
witnesses stand ready to verify the statements under oath. Scores of the
unoffending skeletons of gibbeted negroes and whites attest the solemn
truth. The exact localities, the names and residences of the victims, the
hour and day, the month and year of their murderous whipping and
ignominious death, are given with a fidelity that challenges
contradiction, and forms an array of evidence at once incontrovertable and
overwhelming.
The ever changing current of events again called me to the South. My
sister's family had been almost destroyed by the death of her husband, who
had cast his fortunes with the cause of the rebellion and had paid the
penalty with his life, and it was necessary I should aid her in adjusting
the affairs of the estate which had been left in a very unsettled
condition, and required much time to properly arrange. I was glad of the
opportunity thus afforded me to observe the effects of the struggle that
had just closed; and prepared my mind to take a calm and dispassionate
view of the situation, as became a seeker for the truth who was desirous
of arriving at the hidden springs underlying the social crust, with a view
to the remedy of the impending evil, if such could be found. I believed in
the integrity of the great mass of the people, and could see that they had
been deceived and led on to destruction by the ingenious plans of men,
skilled in human diplomacy, and having a profound knowledge of the
character of the people whom they designed to move for their own wicked
purposes.
The spirits of these leaders chafed under the bitter disappointment of
defeat. It was apparent they would continue to foster seditions, organize
conspiracies against the powers that be, and use every effort to fan into
life the dying embers of the "lost cause." These men controlled certain
portions of the local press, and either threw obstacles in the way of the
dissemination of proper and just principles, or used the power in their
hands to sow the seeds of dissention broadcast throughout the States so
lately in insurrection.
All the misery that had accrued from the war, the families that had been
sundered; the blood of loved ones that had watered the various
battle-fields of the South, and the bones of beloved kindred that lay
whitening there; the numerous sacrifices of wealth, family, and social
position that had been made, the property lost and destroyed; the general
stagnation and prostration of business, and the feeling of dread and
insecurity that followed, were all attributed to the rule of the
republican North.
There were mutterings of revenge and breathings of threats and slaughter
against the race that had just been raised up out of bondage. Slavery, the
former bane and curse of this country, was already dead. Its putrid
carcass was no longer of the material things of earth, but its ghostly
spirit still stalked abroad among its mourners to keep alive the memory of
its wicked example in the minds of those who, born and reared in the folds
of its garments, and nurtured at its breast, could not cast aside their
early prejudices and banish from their hearts, its former evil influences.
They no longer remembered that "the way of the Lord is strength to the
upright," and that "destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity."
Thousands of misguided and misdirected men cherished in their bosoms a
spirit of animosity toward those who had aided with their blood and money
in the liberation of the slave; and it was this very spirit of hatred
which had in a manner demoralized the South and created a feeling of
uncertainty and insecurity among men of capital, that proved a serious
barrier to their investing in our railroads and factories, and the
improvement of our lands; and, as a natural sequence, retarded our social
and financial progress.
Society at this time was divided into several classes. Many who were
disposed to accept and abide by the new order of things, dared not express
their real sentiments from fear of social and political ostracism. Men of
intelligence and education, but who had allowed the thirst for power and
political preferment to absorb and swallow up the promptings of their
better nature, had begun the process of gaining over to their interests
the very worst elements in the social circle beneath them, with a view to
carrying out their unholy designs. This class in turn, and under the
management of the more intelligent, intimidated still another class and
compelled them to join in a crusade that had for its objects the most
infamous ends ever attempted to be gained by men. A complete connection
had thus been formed, reaching from the unscrupulous leaders, to the
masses, and embracing in its chain every class of society needed for the
success of the general plan.
The standard bearers of the devil himself, coming direct from the lowest
depths of the infernal regions, with seething vials of wrath and an
earnest intention to do the bidding of their master, could scarcely have
set on foot a conspiracy more damnable than this. Men, women and children
were to be included in the portending storm, religion and human decency
were to be outraged, the law of the land and its administrators defied,
and justice scoffed at in the pillory. The ordinary safe-guards to the
social well being of the community were to be swept away whenever they
became inimical to the designs and objects of the unholy alliance thus
formed. Men were to be banded together and bound by oaths that ignored all
others and made these supreme. Where the life or liberty of one of the
brotherhood was in jeopardy, he was to be saved at all hazards. Perjury
and subornation of perjury were to over-ride courts of justice and render
abortive, any attempt to bring these lawless bands to punishment through
their instrumentality. Nothing was to be too sacred for the vandal hands
of these marauders who, under the guidance of the more intelligent
leaders, were to go abroad like a consuming flame, until the land, that
God had made pre-eminently beautiful for the abode of peace and
contentment, had been smitten with a scourge of fire and blood, and their
own wicked purposes had been accomplished. It seemed as if the voice of
the Lord had again spoken through the prophet Ezekiel, "say to the forest
of the South, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I
will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee,
and every dry tree; the flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from
the South to the North shall be burned therein."
It was to be a dual struggle. The colored races were to be subjugated or
destroyed; and the humane efforts of the Government and the Administration
to restore peace and harmony, and commercial prosperity, and to give to
the citizens, of every creed and color, free and equal rights was
everywhere to be opposed, that the experiment of reconstruction might
become a hissing and a by-word, and go forth to the world an ignominious
failure.
The masses were kept in utter ignorance of these designs. They were in a
state bordering upon absolute frenzy at the losses they had incurred from
the fratricidal war that had left them bankrupt as individuals and
communities, and with the peculiar anxiety that seems to pervade the
hearts of all men, to endeavor to find some reasonable excuse for sins
committed, they accepted the theories that had been so ingeniously
prepared, and so carefully put before them, and became, like the clay in
the hands of the potter, ready to be fashioned in any manner of form that
might be decided upon by their wicked counselors.
There was an oppressive and an ominous calm in the atmosphere of the South
at this time (1866) that foreboded no good. Men viewed each other with
distrust. Those who seemed well-disposed at first, and who had been
casting about themselves and gathering up the fragments, with a view to
renewing their peaceful pursuits, suddenly abandoned their labors. Rumors
of outrages upon persons and property, vague at first and without apparent
authenticity, began to fill the air. Bands of armed and disguised men were
said to be travelling the highways, burning the dwellings, and robbing and
murdering inoffensive citizens under the most revolting circumstances. The
scriptural command to "devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing he
dwelleth securely by thee," had seemingly become obsolete among the
people. It was evident that the mysterious order, the existence of which
had so long been hinted at, had begun its fearful work, and under the then
complexion of affairs in the nation at large, none could divine the end.
The death of President Lincoln had left the Executive, in this the hour of
the nation's great peril, in the hands of one from whom the disorganizing
elements of the South had much to hope. The hand of justice was for the
time being paralyzed, and the occasion seemed most opportune for the
conspirators to perfect their terrible organization, and set in motion the
secret machinery by which it was hoped to accomplish their base purposes.
It was evident from such facts as could be gathered relative to these
outrages, that there was a distinction as to the classes of people who
were the sufferers. The negroes were, of course, the objects upon which
the wrath of the new order was vented; but there were numerous instances,
as will be observed in the succeeding pages, where whites were scourged
and murdered as well. The fact that certain citizens, who had committed no
offense against the laws, were selected from the various communities, and
subjected to the grossest indignities, led to inquiry as to the causes
that had brought these inflictions upon them.
It was ascertained that, in the preponderance of cases, warnings had been
sent to the victims demanding that they must retract their political
faith, cease to side with radicals, and abandon their interest in the
negro, or they must leave the country; failing in this, they were to be
scourged to death.
Negroes who approached the ballot-box to exercise the newly conferred
right of suffrage were watched as to how they voted, and warned that they
must not vote the "radical ticket." If they paid no heed to this warning,
and were detected in the independent exercise of the right of suffrage,
they received a visitation; their houses were pillaged, the persons of
their women violated, their children scattered, and themselves hung, shot
or whipped to death. The reader, in perusing the chapter of authenticated
outrages that follows will agree with the writer that there is no
exaggeration of language here, nor need of any. Nothing is stated that has
not been put to the severest test of truth; and nowhere are these
incidents recorded, in which the living witnesses have not been found, and
the facts obtained from them.
I was long in believing that such deeds, worthy alone of the incarnate
fiend himself, could be perpetrated in a civilized community. I made all
possible allowance for the political and social situation. I determined to
know whereof I affirmed, and resolved that when I obtained this knowledge,
I would give the information to the country. I was as free from political
bias as it was possible for a man to be who felt it to be a part of the
duty he owed to society to exercise the elective franchise. I had never
mingled in politics, but had uniformly cast my vote with either political
party which I deemed had the best interests of the nation, and the welfare
and advancement of the people, at heart, and could not bring my mind to
believe, at first, that there was a deep political significance
underlying this movement, and that it had its ramifications from State to
State, all leading to one great center, with one common head who, in the
interest of any political party, governed and directed the dreadful
machine, and that it meant nothing less than the subversion of the popular
government.
The facts and figures gradually undeceived me. I could see that there was
a mysterious something at work that had closed men's mouths most
effectually, and that disaffection, consternation and terror gained ground
daily. Even, my brethren of the pulpit, with whom I was associated in the
different places I visited, were affected to such a degree that they no
longer dared to preach the free sentiments of their hearts.
No one but an actual resident of the South, at this time, can form
anything like an adequate idea of the reign of terror, that this condition
of affairs had inaugurated during the succeeding two years and more, of
President Johnson's administration. Everywhere throughout the South that I
travelled, the hydra headed monster met me. I tried to believe in all
charity that the movement sprung from the ignorant and uneducated masses
who saw, or thought they saw, the origin and cause of all their
misfortunes in the negro, and the liberal minded whites of the South who
had countenanced and urged his enfranchisement in the interest of human
progress; but the facts were everywhere against the theory.
It was evident that a formidable organization, the result of intelligent
men counseling together, and devising wicked plans for the accomplishment
of wicked purposes, existed in all the Southern States; that it had its
ritual, its oaths, its signs, tokens and passwords, its constitution,
by-laws and governing rules, its edicts, warnings, disguises, secret modes
of communication, intelligent concert of action, and all framed and
planned in a manner that showed the authors to be men of education and
superior minds. In North and South Carolina, in Georgia, Alabama and
Tennessee, in Florida, Mississippi and Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana and
Texas, it existed in a greater or less degree, and its advent was
everywhere marked with the most brutal outrages.
The intelligence of these wrongs was not spread from one community to
another by the newspapers. These, when not in the interest of the order
itself, were intimidated into silence. When the outrages were so flagrant
as to compel some show of attention, such as necessitated the action of a
coroner, juries were selected, the members of which were members of this
mysterious order, and the verdict usually was that the victim came to his
death by injuries inflicted by himself or by negroes.
The disaffection spread daily. The seeds of the order, and their fruits
everywhere manifested, were sown in the courts and grand juries. Under
such a condition of affairs there was no longer security for life or
property. The idea of obtaining justice for any of the wrongs perpetrated,
passed out of the minds of the sufferers entirely. The effect was
generally demoralizing. Official incompetency and corruption aided rather
than stemmed the rushing torrent that was bearing this section of the
Republic to anarchy and financial ruin.
A large class of persons not heretofore alluded to, but who formed a very
important part of society, looked on without apparent interest. These were
men of wealth and education, who neither sought to justify the wrongs
being done, or made any attempt to oppose them, but by their very silence
gave a tacit consent to the wicked plans of the conspirators. They were a
class "who rejoice to do evil and delight in the forwardness of the
wicked."
A system arose exactly in counterpart with that of the old Spanish
Inquisition. Personal hatred toward a citizen, black or white, was
sufficient warrant for reporting his name and residence to the members of
the order as a "radical republican" and a "negro worshiper," and he was
forthwith warned to leave the place on penalty of being whipped, or
suffering a worse fate. Hundreds of young men with whom the writer has
conferred, pointed to men of maturer age, property holders and men of
influence, and confessed that they had been induced to enter the general
conspiracy, because they were told these men were at its head and after
joining it learned that they had not been deceived in this respect, and
yet they found the order so arranged that they could discover nothing, and
were allowed to know nothing, of its workings, beyond the circle to which
they had been admitted, and however revolting the practices of their
associates were to them, the oath they had taken, and the feeling of
terror inspired by the initiation and the penalty attached to recanting
members, compelled them to continue their allegiance, and acquiesce and
aid in the outrages.
Even the women seemed to have caught the general infection, and sought to
justify the dreadful events transpiring about them upon the ground that
this was the only way in which the rights and liberties of the South could
be preserved.
That men holding high official positions, and moving in the most
respectable circles, organized these outrages, selected the victims and
accompanied the rabble in the execution of their designs, is indisputable.
Inoffensive women seeing their husbands, fathers, and brothers torn from
their sides and scourged in their presence, became infuriated at the
indecent spectacle, and in their agonized frenzy, rushed upon the
assailants and wrenched off the masks behind which they skulked, only to
behold the faces of men who, up to that hour, they had deemed the ones to
whom, from their superior intelligence, they should have looked for
counsel.
Traveling from place to place and directing the general movement, were men
who had held positions as generals in the armies of the rebellion.
Disappointed political tricksters aiming to elevate to power a party whom
they claimed had been in sympathy with the rebel cause North and South;
and determined to do this though the land of their birth should go to
ruin. Anarchy and confusion usurp the places of law and order, and the
blood of the outraged ones reach up to heaven in cries for vengence.
These men overlooked the fact that they were setting in motion a power
that was destined to pass from their control, and make them as a people of
whom it was written: "I will even give them unto the hand of their
enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their dead
bodies shall be as meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of
the earth." They desired to heed no note of warning regarding the future
so that the ends of the present were accomplished; and under their
guidance, lust and rapine and murder stalked abroad, and the land seemed
to be wholly given up to the machinations of the evil one and the
unbridled license of his chosen servants.
Nowhere upon the dial plate of the nineteenth century did the index finger
of the hand of God point with such unerring and terrible certainty. It
seemed as if the Lord had spoken once more as he spake in the days of the
Prophet Isaiah:
"What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in
it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it
forth wild grapes? And now go to. I will tell you what I will do to my
vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up;
and break down the walls thereof, and it shall be trodden down. And I will
lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there shall come up
briers and thorns * * * for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house
of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant; and he looked for
judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry."
Good men bowed their heads in anguish. They had lifted their eyes to the
far North, from whence should come their help, and they had looked in
vain. The body corporate was too fatally diseased to cure itself
Rottenness and corruption hung upon its borders, and were slowly sapping
the foundations of its life. Its energies were prostrated, its internal
recuperative power destroyed. Help must come from without; and the earnest
prayers of the devoted and doomed went up to the throne of God in
heartfelt supplication, that wisdom might dwell in the hearts of the
counsellors to whom the destinies of the nation had been confided; but it
seemed as if the heavens were as adamant that could not be pierced, and
that no answer would be vouchsafed to the sincere appeal."
Such was the situation at the close of President Johnson's term of office,
and the elevation of General Grant to the presidential chair. It remained
to be seen whether the incoming administration would turn the deaf ear to
the suffering and disorganized South as its predecessor had done, or
whether, under the guidance of its new Executive head, order should be
brought out of chaos, the crooked paths made straight, and the prophecy
fulfilled: "Behold, I will redeem them with an outstretched arm."
The recitals that follow give answer to this query more conclusively than
the most elaborate of arguments. They show, from statistics gathered under
the most favorable circumstances by the writer in person, the existence of
a numerous and formidable organization of armed men, working in secret,
disguising themselves beyond all hope of recognition, committing
depredations upon persons and property, frequently resulting in the total
destruction of both, and instituting the most bitter and inhuman
persecutions, for opinion's sake, that ever disgraced the history of a
nation.
The facts are beyond all hope of successful denial. They are born out by
the records of the local and federal courts, by the testimony of the
surviving sufferers and by the voluntary confession of recanting members
of the organization.
A full expose of the order, its origin and secrets, its designs and
purposes, its operations and results, are related with an unswerving
fidelity to the truth, and with all charity to the people with whom it had
its rise, and among whom, by the grace of God, and under the firm but
humane course pursued by the present administration in the enforcement of
the law, and the establishment of the right, it must have its fall. The
information came to the knowledge of the writer through those who had been
active members of the order, and who had abandoned it the moment the
strong arm of the Government had been felt in the vigorous enforcement of
the laws, through its secret agents, thus rendering it safe for them to do
so.
The revelations that follow, speak in tones that must reverberate
throughout the length and breadth of the continent, and are submitted as
terrible evidences of the fearful condition to which communities may be
reduced, when, ignoring the cardinal principles of right and justice, they
abandon themselves to the control of unscrupulous men, whose overweening
ambition destroy every other sentiment, and who esteem no measures too
vile or inhuman that will lead to the accomplishment of their own base
ends.
ORDERS OF THE KU KLUX KLANS.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL UNION GUARDS.--KNIGHTS OF THE WHITE CAMELIA.--ORDER OF
INVISIBLE EMPIRE.--THE WHITE BROTHERHOOD.--UNION AND YOUNG MEN'S
DEMOCRACY.
ORIGIN, ORGANIZATION, INITIATION, OATHS, OBJECTS AND OPERATIONS.
_He discovereth deep things out of darkness;
And bringeth out to light the shadow of death._
JOB. XII., 22.
In the early part of 1866, or nearly a year after the close of the war of
the rebellion, there was organized in the Southern States, a secret order,
known as the "Constitutional Union Guards," having a constitution,
by-laws, oaths of allegiance, modes of recognition and approach, and a
ritual, all of which were legendary and unwritten. Its places of meetings
were styled Camps. Its officers were: a "Commander," "South Commander,"
"Grand Commander," "Chief of Dominion," and "Grand Cyclops," or supreme
head of the order.
The Commander is the chief officer of a local Camp. He issues the call
for, and presides over, all its meetings. Initiates members; administers
the oath; invests them with the signs, grips, and passwords necessary in
making themselves known as members of the Order; and imparts to them the
signal code of sounds by which they are governed in their excursions, and
at times when, for obvious reasons, it is not expedient to utter words of
command.
The South Commander is, to all appearances, a lay member of the Camp. His
power, however, when he chooses to exercise it, is superior to that of the
Commander. He is an officer without apparent function, and yet it is a
portion of the oath attached to the second, or supreme degree, that he
shall be obeyed in preference to any other known or constituted authority.
He can prorogue the Camp, or dissolve it altogether, whenever he deems
fit, and is amenable to no one inside of the Camp of which he is a member.
The office of this functionary is not an elective one. Whenever a Camp is
formed, the authority under which it works assigns to it a South
Commander, and he is the only person through whom communications can be
received from, or made to, that authority. All the doings of the Camp, the
number and names of its members, the warnings issued, the persons visited,
and all other proceedings, are carefully noted by the South Commander, and
reported by him to the Grand Commander of the District in which the Camp
is located, and he is the only member of the Camp who has knowledge of
that officer. The South Commander is not permitted to know any Grand
Commander save the one to whom he reports, nor does he know to whom his
superior is amenable.
The Grand Commander has charge of a District comprising a certain number
of Camps (usually seven), from the South Commanders of which he receives
reports as above stated. It is his duty to condense these reports into
cypher, which he transmits to the officer above him, known as the Chief of
Dominion, and from whom he receives the general instructions and orders to
be transmitted to the various Camps of his District through the South
Commander. He in turn is not permitted to know any Chief of Dominion save
the one to whom he reports; and, like his inferiors, is in utter ignorance
as to whom his superior is amenable.
The Chief of Dominion has charge of all the operations of the Order in
some State assigned to his care. He receives reports from the Grand
Commanders thereof; and transmits the same to the "Grand Cyclops," or
supreme head of the Order, and President ex-officio of the "Supreme Grand
Council." This Supreme Grand Council is composed of the Chiefs of
Dominions, and from them emanate the instructions which, being decided
upon in the conclave of the Council, are promulgated to the rank and file
through the Grand Commanders, South Commanders, and Commanders of Camps.
By this peculiar system of organization the moving spirits of the Order
are conversant with all that transpires below them, while their own
identity is carefully concealed from the masses whom they design to move
for their own vile purposes. The objects of the Order are somewhat
covertly set forth in the oaths administered to the members, but previous
to this time the grand designs intended to be accomplished were known only
to the members of the Supreme Grand Council. The initiation is comprised
in two degrees, the first or probationary degree being intended to test
the members, and the second or supreme degree for those of the first who
have been found worthy of advancement. The signs, grips, &c., are the same
in both degrees, with the exception of one test word, and a supplementary
ritual hereafter to be explained.
ORDER OF INITIATION.
FIRST, OR PROBATIONARY DEGREE.
The first or probationary degree of the Order is intended for the masses.
The candidate for initiation is selected, so far as possible, with
reference to his political proclivities, if he has any. He must be known
to the member proposing him to be opposed to the Radical party; to be or
to have been in sympathy with the cause of the rebellion; to be opposed to
the elevation of the negro to a social and political equality with the
whites; and to have a hatred of negro worshipers, carpet-baggers, and
scallawags, as those terms are interpreted in the Order.
These points being satisfactorily settled, he is notified to proceed to a
secluded place on a designated night. There he is met by three Conductors,
who blindfold and lead him to the vicinity of the Camp, which, in order
the more effectually to guard against surprise, rarely assembles twice in
the same place. On the way he and his Conductors are encountered by a
guard or sentinel, who challenges the party with:
"Who comes here?"
His Conductors reply: "A friend."
The guard asks: "A friend to what?"
He is answered: "My country."
The candidate is then allowed to pass into the Camp, and is conducted to
the center of the assembled members, when the following oath is
administered to him by the Commander:
INITIATORY OATH.
"You solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God and these
witnesses, that you will never reveal the secrets that are about to
be imparted to you, and that you will be true to the principles of
this brotherhood and its members; that you are not now a member of
the Grand Army of the Republic, the Red String Order, the Union
League, Heroes of America, or any other organization whose aim and
intention is to destroy the rights of the South, or to elevate the
negro to a political equality with yourself; and that you will never
assist at the initiation into this Order of any member of the Grand
Army of the Republic, the Red String Order, the Union League, Heroes
of America, or any one holding Radical views or opinions. You
furthermore swear that you will oppose all Radicals and negroes in
all of their political designs, and that, should any Radical or negro
impose on or abuse or injure any member of this brotherhood, you will
assist in punishing him in any manner the Camp may direct; and you
furthermore swear that you will never reveal any of the orders, acts,
or edicts of this brotherhood, and that you will obey all calls and
summonses from the Chief of your Camp or brotherhood, should it be in
your power to do so; and that, should any member of the brotherhood
or his family be in jeopardy, you will inform them of their danger,
and go to their assistance. You further swear that you will never
give the word of distress unless you are in great need of assistance;
and should you hear it given by any brother, you will go to his or
their assistance; and should any member of this brotherhood reveal
any of its secrets, acts, orders, or edicts, you will assist in
punishing him in any way the Camp may direct or approve, so help you
God."
During the administration of this oath, the members surround the initiate,
dressed in long, white gowns, high, conical shaped, white hats, and their
faces shrouded in white masks. At the conclusion of the oath, the
candidate is made to kiss the book. The bandage is then removed from his
eyes. The Commander approaches, and proceeds to instruct him in the
SIGNS, GRIPS, AND PASSWORD.
Signs of recognition and approach:
_First._--Strike the fingers of the right hand briskly upon the hair over
the right ear, bringing the hand forward and partially around the ear, as
if describing a half moon.
_Answer._--Same sign made with left hand over left ear.
_Second._--Thrust the right hand into the pant's pocket, with the
exception of the thumb, at the same time bringing the right heel into the
hollow of the left foot.
_Answer._--Same sign with the left hand, bringing the left heel into the
hollow of the right foot.
As a farther precaution search is made by the hailing party as if for a
pin in the right lappel of the coat.
_Answer._--A similar search in the left lappel of the coat.
The GRIP is given by placing the forefinger on the pulse of the person you
shake hands with.
_Countersign._--If halted by a camp or picket on the public highway at
night, the following colloquy ensues:
"Who comes there?"
"A friend!"
"A friend of what?"
"My country!"
"What country?"
"I, S, A, Y." (Repeating each letter slowly.)
"N, O, T, H, I, N, G." (Repeating each letter slowly.)
"The word?"
"Retribution!"
These countersigns are issued every three months. The one here given was
in vogue at the time of the discovery of the order.
A member of any order of the Ku Klux Klan of the first or probationary
degree, in distress, and requiring speedy aid, will use a word signal, or
cry of distress: "SHILOH!"
In expeditions conducted under direction of the Commander, or any of the
brethren detailed by him to act as head, a code of signals by sounds, made
with whistles, is used, in order that the members may not be recognized by
their voices.
DIVISIONS OF THE ORDER.
There are several divisions of the order of the KU KLUX KLANS, all working
under the same ritual and oaths, and having the same signs, grips,
passwords, modes of approach, and general conduct of raids and midnight
excursions. These are known under the names of "Knights of the White
Camelia," "The Invisible Empire," "The White Brotherhood," "The Unknown
Multitude," "The Union and Young Men's Democracy." All work in disguise,
with the exception of the latter, who work openly as well as in disguise,
and are all under the instructions of the "Grand Cyclops" and the Supreme
Grand Council. They all have one and the same object, which is as plainly
set forth in the oath as it well can be in an obligation of that
character.
The difference in names and styles has been adopted for a two-fold
purpose. First, to conceal the origin, object, and design of the order,
and its founders and directors; secondly, to conceal its extent and
numbers, and make it appear a mere local affair that has cropped out in
different places without reference to any organized combination with one
grand center.
The workings of the Klans over all the Southern country show more
conclusively than any amount of subterfuge on the part of the leaders,
that one common tie binds them all; that one common interest actuates
them; that one common end is to be accomplished. The oath differs slightly
in phraseology in different localities, to accommodate the varied
circumstances under which it is administered, and with a view to greater
concealment--the words "Unknown Multitude," "Invisible Empire," and "White
Brotherhood" being substituted in North and South Carolina; the words
"Union and Young Men's Democracy," in Georgia and Mississippi; and the
words "Knights of the White Camelia," in Louisiana and Texas and other
States.
THE SECOND OR SUPREME DEGREE.
This degree differs from the first or probationary degree in the fact that
those upon whom it is conferred are of the better class of the masses, and
take upon themselves a more binding oath, administered under circumstances
intended to be more impressive in character. The candidate for this degree
is brought blind-folded into the center of the Camp, and caused to kneel
at an altar erected for the occasion, his right hand placed upon a Bible,
and his left upon a human skull. The Commander then says:
"Brethren, _must_ it be done?"
The members respond, "_It must!_" and this in a tone intended to strike
terror to the heart of the novitiate.
The candidate, of course, has no knowledge of what is meant by the ominous
"_Must it be done?_" and there is a mournful groaning in the response "_It
must!_" indicating that a terrible experience awaits him, which the
Brotherhood would gladly spare him if they could.
A death-like silence ensues for a few moments, which seem ages to the
candidate, and affords ample opportunity for his imagination to picture
the unheard-of horrors through which he may possibly be called to pass.
The silence is finally broken by the Commander, who says:
"BRETHREN, this brother _now_ kneels at the altar of our faith, and asks
to be bound to our fortunes by the more solemn and mysterious provisions
of our Order. Fortunately for him in this hour of peril, he has been found
worthy, and in commemoration of his being made one of the great 'Unknown
Multitude,' I again ask, '_Must it be done?_'"
The brethren, in solemn tones, again respond, "_It must!_"
The Commander then says, in a stentorian tone of voice, "_Let the blood of
the traitor be spilled: bring the victim forth._"
The members here make a rustling noise, to resemble a struggle, a heavy
blow is struck upon some appropriate substance, and a few drops of blood
are trickled over the hand of the initiate that rests upon the skull. The
brethren then surround him with knives and pistols presented in a circle
about his head and neck, when the Commander then says:
"Must I swear him by the oath that shall forever bind, and never be
broken?"
The brethren, placing their hands upon their left breasts, respond
sepulchrally as before, "_Swear him!_"
The Commander now addresses the candidate as follows:
"_My Brother_, kneeling at the solemn altar of our faith, as one who
desires that no government but the white man's shall live in this country;
and as one who will fight to the death all schisms, and factions, and
parties, coming from whatsoever source they may, which have for their
design the elevation of the negro to an equality with the white man, I am
now about to administer to you the oath of this, the supreme degree, of
our Order--that oath which shall forever bind, and never be broken; at the
same time informing you that this oath, being taken in a cause which has
for its object the deliverance of your country and the land of your birth
from the rule of the negro-worshiper and the fanatic, is paramount to
every other oath which you have taken, or may hereafter take, outside of
this Order. You will now repeat after me, pronouncing your name in full,
and your words aloud, on pain of instant death:
_Oath of the Second or Supreme Degree._
"I, A. B., in the presence of Almighty God, and these my friends here
assembled, kneeling at this altar, with my right hand upon the holy
Bible, and my left washed in the blood of a traitor, and resting upon
the skull of his brother in iniquity, and being fully impressed with
the sacredness of this act, do solemnly swear that I will uphold and
defend the Constitution of the United States, as it was handed down
by our forefathers, in its original purity; that I will reject and
oppose the principles of the Radical party in all its forms, and
forever maintain and contend that intelligent white men shall govern
this country. And I furthermore swear that I will bear true faith and
allegiance to the Order of the Constitutional Union Guards, and will
never make known, by sign, word, or deed, any of its secrets now
about to be, or that may hereafter be confided to me; that I will
obey all its precepts, mandates, orders, instructions, and directions
issued through the Commander, and aid and assist the brethren in
carrying out and enforcing the same; and that I will keep secret,
even unto death, the plans and movements of this society. I
furthermore swear to obey the South Commander in the Camp, in
preference to any known law, precept, or authority whatever, and to
defend the brethren, if need be, with the sacrifice of my life. I
swear that the enemies of the white man's race, and the white man's
government, and the friends of negro equality shall be my enemies,
and that I will uphold and defend the white man's government against
all comers, whether in the name of Radicals, Negro-worshipers,
Carpet-baggers, Scallawags, or spies in the land. I swear to forever
oppose the social and political elevation of the negro to an equality
with the whites, and that I will come at every hour of the moon to
execute the trust confided to me by the Commander and the brethren. I
furthermore swear that, in case of our being interrupted in the
establishment of the principles for which we are contending, that I
will regard no oath that will convict one of the members of this
Order, but under all circumstances will stand by the Order in blood
and death. I furthermore swear that I will not give the signal cry of
distress, only when in real distress, and that I will yield my life,
if necessary, in aid of a brother giving the double cry of this
degree. Lastly, I swear by this Bible, and this skull, and this
blood, that should I ever prove unfaithful in any particular to the
obligation I have now assumed, I hope to meet with the fearful and
just penalty of the traitor, which is _death_, DEATH, DEATH, at the
hands of the brethren. So help me God."
The candidate having kissed the book, the bandage is removed from his
eyes. He sees before him a human skull upon one side of the Bible, and a
small chalice or cup filled with blood upon the other. The brethren are
all disguised in long black gowns, covering them completely from neck to
heels. Black masks and black conical shaped hats of enormous height,
decorated with representations of death's head and cross bones, complete
the costume.
Some of the members bear pine torches, which throw a wierd and unearthly
glare upon the unholy scene, and render it a fit counterpart to the abode
of the demons who seem to have instigated the proceedings. When the
bandage is removed, these torches are swung violently to and fro, and the
brethren simultaneously utter a loud cry.
The candidate is now informed that the signs, grips, and passwords of the
preceding degree are used in this, with the exception that the signal cry
of distress in this is composed of two words: "SHILOH, AVALANCHE."
OPERATIONS OF THE KU KLUX KLAN.
AN AUTHENTICATED ACCOUNT OF OUTRAGES COMMITTED IN THE SOUTH.--THE
PERPETRATORS AND THEIR VICTIMS.
THE MURDER OF EDWARD THOMPSON.
From the close of the war, up to the fall of 1870, there resided in
Lowndes county, Georgia, an exceedingly intelligent colored man, named
Edward Thompson. He was noted for his piety, and the peculiar influence he
exerted over the members of his race who resided in Lowndes county, and
Hamilton county, Florida; and being thoroughly imbued with Republican
principles, lost no opportunity in disseminating them among those of his
race with whom he associated. Through his exertion, and by the force of
his example, the negroes voted the ticket of the Republican party at every
election, always seeking his advice before going to the polls to deposit
their ballots.
Thompson's case was brought before the Camp of Hamilton county,
Florida--at that time, presided over by one Elihu Horn, Commander of the
Camp--as one requiring energetic action upon the part of the Order. A
warning was issued to Thompson, the import of which could hardly be
mistaken. The following is a verbatim copy of the same taken from the
original.
"K. K. K.
"_His Supreme Highness of Hamilton to Edward Thompson._
"His Supreme and Mighty Highness has heard of your seditious
practices in leading others astray, and encouraging them in
opposition to the white man's government. Time is given you to repent
and submit as your fathers have done. Now this is to warn you, and
all such as you, on pain of punishment and death, to abandon your
vicious harangues, and abide by our orders. The moon is yet bright;
it may turn to blood.
"By order,
"K. K. K."
Thompson paid no heed to this warning, but continued to pursue the even
tenor of his way. He had resided so long in the place, and been so
favorably known there, both among the whites and blacks, that he scouted
the idea that this meant anything more than a threat intended to
intimidate him, and he continued exerting his influence in the Republican
cause with his brethren, as had been his custom. Several warnings were
subsequently sent to him with no better effect, and it was finally decided
in the solemn conclave of the Camp, that he should receive the long
threatened "visitation."
On the 19th of September, 1870, Thompson retired to his bed between nine
and ten o'clock, as was his usual custom. His family consisted of his wife
and two children, all of whom occupied the same sleeping apartment.
Between eleven and twelve o'clock they were aroused from their slumbers by
the door being broken in with a tremendous crash, and before Thompson had
time to collect himself, he was rudely seized and dragged from his bed by
a number of men, armed and disguised, two of whom fired their revolvers
into the roof of the cabin, as a menace, and assured Thompson they would
turn the weapons upon him, if he offered the slightest resistance. His
wife and children were also dragged from their beds, being at the same
time severely struck by some members of the band, and told to remain
quiet.
"In the name of the Lord, what is this?" asked Thompson, as soon as he
could command his voice.
The response was a blow upon the head from the butt of a pistol, delivered
with a brutality that convinced him that he was in the hands of those to
whose hearts mercy was a stranger. He was then told to ask no questions,
and make no noise, but to dress himself and go with the band.
His wife was subjected to the most revolting indecencies. The last garment
that covered her nakedness was wrenched from her person and torn into
shreds, leaving her utterly exposed to the malicious and lecherous eyes of
the intruders. She was then told "to get her rags on," and go with the
party. The children terrified at seeing their parents thus brutally
assailed, uttered the most piercing screams, but were ordered to remain
behind and not leave the house, or they would be killed. The band started
out with their captives in the direction of the house of John and Samuel
Hogan, two white men who were known to be Republicans, and had thus
rendered themselves obnoxious to the Camp. They compelled the Hogans to
accompany them, and started for the woods, nearly a mile from Thompson's
house.
One Micajah Amerson, a colored man living near the scene of this outrage,
hearing the report of the fire arms, arose, and dressed himself, and
taking a shot gun, started for his son's house on the Joseph Howell
plantation. Amerson was just in time to meet the band having Thompson and
his wife and the two Hogans in custody, and was at once seized and
compelled to go with the party. Amerson seems to be the only one of the
captives able or willing to give an intelligent account of what
subsequently transpired, which he did to the writer as follows:
"I saw the company in the road, and knew they were the Ku Klux from their
disguises. I saw it was no use to try and get away from them, and one of
them told me to go along, at the same time striking me with a club. Edward
Thompson and his wife (colored), and John and Samuel Hogan, two white men,
were with them. Thompson said nothing but his wife moaned all the way on
the road to the woods. We went about a quarter of a mile into the woods,
and were then ordered to halt. When the halt was made, one of the band
gave a peculiar whistle, which was answered almost directly by a similar
sound. This proved to be the signal for the appearance of a party who was
addressed as the Captain, and who at once took charge of the proceedings.
"I and the two white men were ordered to sit down, a pistol being placed
at our heads to enforce obedience. The colored man (Thompson) was then
told to strip himself naked. This he commenced very reluctantly to do,
begging for mercy, and asking what he was going to be whipped for. The
members of the band seemed to be enraged at this, and taking out their
knives, commenced cutting his clothes off, wounding him in several places.
The Captain then struck him a powerful blow with a gun, shattering the
stock and knocking Thompson senseless.
"No one paid any attention to him as he lay upon the ground,--the Captain
and two or three of the band holding a consultation. The Captain then
asked for the "executioners." Two men came forward and said: "Where are
the warrants?" At this another of the party produced two long leather
straps, and handing them to the two men, said: "Here they are."
"These two then commenced to beat Thompson and his wife in a dreadful
manner. The punishment on the wife was brief though cruel. That upon
Thompson was continued until the "executioner" was thoroughly exhausted.
He then handed the strap to another member of the band, who renewed the
assault with great fury. Thompson, at first, made no exclamations, but on
being struck in the more delicate parts of his body, screeched fearfully.
He was brought to his feet several times while the punishment was being
inflicted, only to be knocked down by the strap, and kicked by those who
were standing around him. The members of the band laughed at his agony and
said to the executioners: "Give it to the damned radical; learn the son of
a b...h to keep his piety and politics to himself; we'll teach him how to
lead the niggers."
"Thompson finally ceased to scream. His body was a mass of blood, and he
appeared to be unconscious long before the beating was through with. I
thought he must be dead, but dared not say anything. When the executioners
had ceased, he lay perfectly still. One of the members said: "The d....d
skunk is playing possum." He then jumped at Thompson, kicked him several
times in the side and back with great violence, and turning him over,
ground his boot heel in his face. He lay for a long time unconscious, and
was several times raised to his feet, but could not stand. His wife
continued to pray during a portion of the time, asking God to bring her
husband to life, and begging the Captain to spare him for the sake of his
family, and let her try and get him home.
"The Captain finally said, she might do what she liked. It was easy to see
that Thompson could not live, but some of the band were not satisfied.
One of them called out:
"'Captain Smart, can I shoot the dirty radical?' to which the Captain
replied:
"'No! the black son of a b....h is dead enough.' The Captain then said to
me and the two white men:
"'Now, you take this for a warning, and if we ever hear of you divulging
anything about this, you may expect the same treatment.'
"The white men and myself were then taken to the road, where we were met
by another party, also in disguise, making about forty in all. I was then
told to go to the Joseph Howell plantation, and remain there two hours, or
the rest of the band would take me and put me up the spout.
"I done as directed, and returned to my own house about 6 o'clock in the
morning; I then went over to Thompson's house, and found him dead. How he
came there, I do not know; I heard that his wife got him home, and that he
was not entirely dead, when he got there."
In addition to the testimony of Amerson, as to the terrible details of
this brutal murder, we have that of Mrs. Thompson and the two Hogans. Dr.
Mapp, a physician residing near Thompson, was called to see him, and at
the earnest entreaty of the wife dressed his wounds, although he saw that
the poor victim could not live possibly. He was literally beaten to a
jelly. One of his eyes had been forced completely out of its socket, and
he was otherwise almost totally unrecognizable.
Elihu Horn, _alias_ Capt. Smart, was known at the time as a respectable
member of society in Hamilton county, Fla., and a leader in the democratic
ranks in that vicinity, and violently opposed to the present
administration. He was determined that no one should preach what he was
pleased to term "the heresy of radicalism" in that county, and live, and
his threat was fully carried out upon the body of the unfortunate
Thompson.
In the light of such an outrage, can any one, of whatever creed or faith,
question the policy of the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and the
proclamation of martial law in such a community, or doubt the wisdom of
the executive head of the nation, in his efforts to suppress the unlawful
assemblages, who aspired to hold the life and liberty of our citizens in
the hollow of their hands, and annihilate the hopes of newly-made freemen,
by imposing upon them a bondage infinitely worse than that from which the
nation, through the blood of her sons, had but so recently released them?
BRUTAL WHIPPING OF A WHITE MAN FOR OPINION'S SAKE.
Shortly after the outrage which resulted in the death of Edward Thompson,
a Mr. Driggers, residing in the county of Echols, and not far from where
Thompson had been murdered, received a warning from the Ku Klux Klan, that
he must change his political opinions, or leave the State.
Mr. Driggers was a prominent republican, and had made no secret of his
political faith. He had freely expressed his opinions in that regard
whenever he desired to do so, and had steadily voted the republican, or
what was known to the Ku Klux as the radical, ticket. He was generally
esteemed among his fellows, and especially among the colored people, in
whose welfare he took a great interest, and this latter fact was deemed an
offense not to be tolerated by the defenders of the white man's
government.
Warning after warning was sent to him, and he was thus duly reminded,
that, unless he recanted, the fate of Thompson would surely be his; but,
he still regarded the matter as merely an idle threat, and time passed on
until the night of the 25th of August, 1871, when a party of five men,
armed, and disguised in black gowns and masks, visited his residence.
Mr. Driggers at once divined the object of this visitation, and was
expostulating with the leader, when he was quickly overpowered and
stripped in the presence of his family, and beaten with straps similar to
those used upon Thompson.
He was dreadfully punished about the head, face, and back, and was
informed by the Klan, that for the present they would accord him the mercy
to live, but, unless he left the county, they would return and kill him,
and destroy his property.
From similar outrages that had been perpetrated in the vicinity, Mr.
Driggers was fully satisfied that this threat would be carried out to the
letter. He was familiar with the brutal details of Thompson's death, and
was now convinced that the members of this terrible brotherhood would
respect neither color, social standing, or respectability, and at once
made hasty preparations, and abandoned his once happy home to become a
wanderer. The visitation upon him was made solely for political reasons.
He was a man that stood above reproach in the community, and no person
could be found in Echol county that could impugn his character as a man, a
gentleman, and an upright citizen. It was not contended that he had
committed any other offense than that of being a radical republican, who,
being too obstinate to change his politics, must be whipped into
renouncing a faith that he could not be argued out of.
Is it any wonder that men who substitute brute force for argument, should
so strenuously object to the efforts of the executive officers to enforce
the law and bring order out of the chaos, into which their wild and
licentious acts have plunged the respective communities in which they
live? Thinking men will say "nay," and will ask and demand that the policy
now being pursued by the administration shall be continued until the
supremacy of the law is fully established, and men of all shades of color
and political faith may "sit under their own vine and fig tree, with none
to molest or make them afraid."
Allen Wicker, William Smith, Butcher Smith, James King, and Lewis Kinsey,
all residents of Echol county, Ga., and members of the Camp that had
decided that Mr. Drigger must surrender his political opinions, leave his
home, or die, were the persons upon whom the officers of the United States
Secret Service fastened the guilt of this outrage.
AN APPALLING TRAGEDY.
TERRIBLE DEATH OF A WHITE MAN IN WILKINSON COUNTY, GEORGIA.
One of the most appalling tragedies ever resulting from the free
expression of political opinions, was that enacted at Irwinton, Wilkinson
county, Georgia, on the night of the 31st of August, 1871.
For more than a year previous to this date, a white man, familiarly known
throughout the county as Sheriff Deason, had taken a very active part in
politics, having espoused the republican cause, as one might say, in the
very den of the lion himself, and standing almost alone, in what he
considered a contest for the right.
Deason was a large, powerfully built, and muscular man, inured to hardship
from his youth, resolute in his purpose, tenacious of his principles, and
ready under all circumstances to expound them, whenever it seemed good to
him to do so. He was a man whose good nature was proverbial. He delighted
to get into the country grocery, and there, surrounded by an admiring
audience of colored men, and such of the whites as sympathized with him,
although secretly, express his opinion, that the principles of the
republican party were the only ones upon which a righteous government
could be founded, and which would eventually bring the ship of State
safely to a secure anchorage.
Among his hearers were many of those who had sworn to uphold the "white
man's government," and who believed that Deason's arguments were
calculated to damage their labors in this respect, but, bold as they were,
when in bands of twenty, armed and disguised, they assailed defenseless
men and helpless women, they dare not single handed to make even so much
as an utterance against his outspoken logic, and they writhed and twisted
under it in silence. They comprehended, however, that seeds were being
sown that would take root in the minds of thinking men, and produce
results which they did not desire to see accomplished.
A formal presentation of Deason's case was made to the Irwinton Camp of
the C. U. G., to which Order, at that time, two-thirds of the white
population of Wilkinson county belonged. As was usual in such cases, it
was decided to issue a warning to the intended victim, which was forthwith
done. Deason replied to it by pasting the warning upon the door of his
house, where it remained an ever present witness to the contempt in which
he held its authors, until it was washed away by the fall rains.
This was regarded as an act of defiance upon Deason's part, that could not
be overlooked. To add to this, he continued uttering his political views
with the same freedom as before, and it was resolved that he must be
stopped. This, however, was easier said than done; Deason was known to be
thoroughly armed, a man of undoubted courage, and a terrible opponent
when thoroughly aroused, although very quietly disposed when left to
himself.
The Camp saw they had a serious subject to deal with, and for nearly a
year after the first warning, he was little less than a thorn in their
side. His example worked steadily upon thinking minds, and it was evident
that he must be put out of the way, as the only measure whereby the spread
of the peculiar political principles advocated by him could be stayed.
A final warning was sent to him, the substance of which was, that he "must
leave the country, change his politics, or make up his mind to become
Buzzard Bait." In the Conclave of the Klan, when this warning was directed
to be issued, it was announced that this was positively the last
opportunity that would be given Deason to repent of his ways, and that in
the event of its failure to bring him to a change of his views, or his
location, the full penalty attached to the "negro worshiper" would be
enforced. This, however, had no more effect than the previous warnings,
and his death was resolved upon.
On the night of the 31st of August, 1871, twenty-five of the Klan who had
been selected by the Commander, armed and disguised themselves for the
purpose, and proceeded to Deason's house on the outskirts of the place.
Deason had retired for the night, having carefully locked and barred his
doors and windows as usual. It was about midnight when he was aroused by a
heavy knock at his door. He arose from his bed and requested to know who
was there. The reply was a demand for him to come out and surrender
himself to the Klan.
Deason responded to this with a defiant remark, telling them if they
wanted him, they must come and take him. The band then commenced battering
at the door, when Deason, placing his gun at a loop-hole which he had
previously prepared, discharged both barrels. It appears, however, from
some great misfortune to him, that neither of the shots produced any
damaging effect upon the assailing party. The band were somewhat
disconcerted at this, however, and withdrew a short distance from the
house and held a consultation.
At the time of this visitation, Deason's wife was away upon a visit, and
the only other person in the house was a colored woman who was a servant
in the family. She had already arisen and expressed her determination to
assist Deason in the fight, to the extent of her ability. The latter had
reloaded his gun and had just set it down when a sudden rushing noise, as
of men running, drew his attention, and in a second afterwards, the door
was crushed in by a joist, which the band, using as a battering ram, had
forced against it.
The Klan poured in at once, and in full force. A terrible hand to hand
fight ensued. Deason fought with great desperation, as did the colored
woman. One after another of the Klan were stretched out upon the floor of
the cabin, but the odds were too great, and Deason's immense strength
became exhausted under his tremendous exertions and the loss of blood
which he sustained. He finally sank down pierced with over-twenty bullet
and knife wounds, and died fighting to the last in the maintenance of the
principles he had so long and so earnestly advocated.
The woman was soon dispatched, and the Klan then retired, taking their
wounded with them. Deason's mutilated body was found the next morning on
the floor of the room in which he had met his dreadful fate, while that of
the woman was found doubled up in one corner of the apartment, as if she
had been thrown there like a bundle of worthless rags. The frontal bone of
the dead man's head had been broken, and the base of his skull crushed
in, apparently by a club. The body had been shot and stabbed in more than
twenty different places, and presented a most revolting spectacle.
The facts of the double murder soon spread abroad, and were reported to a
Mr. Bush, coroner of Irwinton, and that gentleman, being a member of the
Camp that had ordered Deason's death, empanelled a jury of his
fellow-brethren, and, according to his own confession, made since that
time, went through the form of an inquest, the result of which was a
verdict that the man Deason and the colored woman had met their death at
the hands of certain _colored_ persons, to the jury unknown.
The death of this noble martyr to the cause of truth, effected important
changes. There were signs of dissatisfaction among some portions of the
community, to whom the details of the awful tragedy had become known, and
it was necessary that some measures should be taken to appease the feeling
of indignation that was beginning to gain ground.
The Grand Jury of the county was summoned to sit for the purpose of taking
some measures to suppress crime. Every member of the jury was a member of
the C. U. G., or Ku Klux Klan. Their first step was to issue an address to
the people of the county, stating that evidence had been brought before
them to show that certain negroes had been guilty of gross outrages in the
county, which all good men should deprecate, and calling upon the citizens
to look out for the evil doers. This had but little effect, however, other
than to confirm the few well-meaning ones in their former belief that
Wilkinson county was in the hands of men who would leave no measures
unturned, to drive out of it, every one known to differ from them
politically.
Deason is not the first nor the last in the long procession of
illustrious martyrs who, in all ages of the world have forfeited their
lives in the maintenance of their principles. Unlettered, uncouth,
uncultivated in life, resolute and unyielding even in death, he stands
recorded upon the pages of this brief history, a noble and brilliant
example of the lineal descendants of those who came from the shores of a
distant continent, more than an hundred years ago, to seek that freedom of
thought, that civil and religious liberty that had been denied them at
home.
Many such as he, now live and suffer in the deluded and misguided land of
his birth, and like him, have for years carried their lives in their
hands, for opinion's sake. In the good Providence of an all-seeing
God--who has indeed imbued the present heads of the nation with the wisdom
necessary to appreciate the situation, and devise the appropriate
remedy--light begins to appear in the dark places, verifying the saying
that, "sooner or later, insulted virtue avenges itself on states as well
as on private individuals."
THE MURDER OF BRINTON PORTER.
While the Grand Jury were holding their sessions as previously stated, and
only a short time after Deason's death, a band of twenty armed and
disguised men rode into Irwinton and murdered one Brinton Porter, an
intelligent citizen whose offense consisted like Deason's in his having
disseminated Republican principles and voted the Republican ticket.
Porter had received a warning similar to that sent to Deason, but had said
nothing about it, even to the members of his own family. After receiving
the warning he had neither openly expressed his radical views, nor made
recantation of his political faith, but as he had not left the country, as
the warning stated he must do, his doom was pronounced in the conclave of
the Camp, and it was ordered that he should die.
On the 8th of September, 1871, after concluding the business of the day,
and taking tea with his family, Mr. Porter left the family table, and,
taking a chair, went out to his door stoop. His only child, a daughter of
tender years, accompanied him and sat at his feet. He saw the band of
disguised men approaching the house, and deeming himself in danger,
immediately arose and was in the act of entering the house when he fell
across the threshold pierced by half a dozen bullets, which had been
discharged at him by the Klan. The child escaped unhurt. The Klan seeing
they had accomplished their purpose, wheeled around and with derisive
yells passed out of the town at a sharp trot.
The agony of Porter's family beggars description. A wife widowed, and a
child orphaned in a moment, because their natural protector had assumed
the right guaranteed to him by the Constitution and the laws, to exercise
the elective franchise according to his own opinion, and the dictates of
his own conscience. Can one believe, that in the civilization of the 19th
century, and upon the American continent, the boasted refuge for the
down-trodden, and the oppressed of all nations, such a scene as that above
related could be enacted in the broad light of day, and the whole
community not rise up against it? Alas, for the degradation to which
political bigotry and a disregard of law, reduces a people, it is only too
true.
The data upon which this truthful narration of the murder of Brinton
Porter is founded, is a matter of record in the archives of the
Government. The facts can neither be gainsaid nor palliated. It is to be
hoped that the firm policy of the present administration may bring the
people of the community in which Porter lived to such a sense of the great
injustice done among them, that they will rally to aid the Government, in
bursting the bands thrown about them by the subtletry of their own
unprincipled leaders, and stand shoulder to shoulder with those who are
doing all that human wisdom can devise to restore order and harmony, and
promote prosperity and happiness among the people.
EXTERMINATING THE NEGRO RACE.
_Fiendish Designs of the Ku Klux of Wilkinson County._
THE EMASCULATION OF HENRY LOWTHER.
In some parts of Wilkinson County, there seemed to be a disposition to
destroy every member of the colored race who should be found voting the
radical ticket.
It was contended that scourgings and general maltreatment had not produced
satisfactory results; and, on the other hand, blood was accumulating on
the heads of the Klan, too fast even for their blunted consciences. Still
the war must go on in some way, and something must be done to destroy the
little leaven that bid fair to "leaven the whole lump." The subject was
discussed in the conclave of the Camp, and it was finally decided that a
more effectual way could be devised to accomplish the extermination of the
colored race than either by whipping or murder. This was the fiendish
resolve to castrate every negro who was guilty of radical proclivities,
and who voted the radical ticket, a design worthy alone of the men who
originated it.
In that county, and at that particular time, there were many colored men
known as Republicans; and an opportunity was speedily afforded the Klan,
to carry out this terrible species of cruelty; a greater crime against
nature than all the others since it looked to the entire destruction of
the species.
There had been, for sometime previous to September, 1871, a colored man in
Wilkinson County, by the name of Henry Lowther. This person was favorably
known among the negroes of the county, and expended a good deal of his
leisure time in going from place to place, and talking Republican
sentiments to members of his race, and urging them to vote the Republican
ticket, as the only means of maintaining their right to freedom.
Previous to the dreadful visitation which subsequently came upon him, he
had voted the Republican ticket upon two occasions, and had expressed his
intentions to continue on in his political course in the future.
This had roused the indignation of the Ku Klux Camp at Irwinton beyond
measure. A meeting of the Klan was called in which the edict was
promulgated, that since Lowther would not abandon the propagation of his
political opinions, he should be deprived of the power to propagate his
race, and further, that he should receive no "warning" in the matter, but
be proceeded against summarily, and "at once" was the time fixed for this
outrage. Lowther had been followed all the day previous, and just after
dusk was seized and thrown into a carriage, and driven rapidly away to the
woods near Irwinton, by four men armed and disguised. While in the
carriage, he was told that if he moved or made any resistance, his life
would pay the forfeit; but that, otherwise, it would be spared.
Upon arriving at the woods, he was taken out of the carriage, and found
himself in the midst of nearly one hundred persons. Notwithstanding the
promise made by his first captors, he supposed his time had arrived and
begged for his life. He was then told that he would not be killed, if he
did not make too much resistance; that he had been preaching too much
politics, and they intended to fix all the d--d radical breeders in the
country; and had made up their minds to begin on him. Lowther did not
fully comprehend them at first, but soon learned the awful significance
of the words.
His arms were then firmly pinioned, and he was thrown upon the ground
where he was tightly held by several of the band, and castrated in a most
rude and brutal manner, begging piteously and writhing under the pains
inflicted by his tormentors. After the operation had been performed, he
was unpinioned and asked if he knew the residence of any doctors and on
his replying that he did, he was told to go for one as he valued his life;
and further, that if he ever voted the radical ticket again, or influenced
any one else to do so, he should suffer death. Although shockingly
mutilated and bleeding from the dreadful manner in which he had been
treated, Lowther started to find a physician. Three different surgeons
were applied to before he found one sufficiently humane to afford him
assistance in dressing his wounds.
It was several weeks before the unfortunate negro was in a condition to
walk about. The facts coming to the ears of the officers of the U. S.
secret service, they made diligent search for Lowther, whom they learned
dared not complain of his treatment for fear of death; and having found
and assured him of protection, he made affidavit to the facts as above set
forth, affirming that, with other parties who instigated and consummated
this outrage, were Eli Cummings, the Mayor of Irwinton, Lewis Peacock,
then Sheriff of Wilkinson County, and others of equal prominence. Shall it
be said after this that only the ignorant and uninfluential whites are
engaged in the gross outrages charged upon the Southern community? and
that there is no need there of the rigorous enforcement of the laws to
secure to the well-meaning citizen, black and white, the security for life
and property denied them under the rule of the lawless mob?
OUTRAGES BY THE KU KLUX KLAN.
PERSECUTION OF THE FURGUSON FAMILY FOR OPINION'S SAKE.--AGED WOMEN AND
YOUNG GIRLS STRIPPED NAKED, AND BRUTALLY WHIPPED.--AN AWFUL HISTORY.
_For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you,
I will put more to your yoke:
My father chastised you with whips,
But I will chastise you with scorpions._
II CHRONICLES, X, 11.
The terrible narration that here ensues shows more conclusively, perhaps,
than any that has preceded it, the extent of the moral degradation to
which the community in which it was enacted was so surely and steadily
drifting. It would seem that the authors of the outrage had forgotten that
they were born of mothers, who had nursed them tenderly in infancy, or
that there were any longer left in the bosoms of women those feelings of
virtue and modesty usually ascribed to and found in the sex, and the
writer will here premise that the facts herein contained, dreadful though
they are in their disgusting details, have been verified beyond cavil or
the hope of questioning.
Just previous to the breaking out of the rebellion, Dennis Furguson, an
intelligent and hard-working white man, resided with his family in Chatham
county, North Carolina. The family consisted of himself, his wife
Catherine, a daughter, Susan J. Furguson, and three sons, John, Henry and
Daniel. The head of the household was one of the few devoted Unionists who
were thoroughly opposed to the principles then being disseminated by those
who were endeavoring to plunge the country into a civil war, and exerted
all his influence to avoid the great catastrophe.
Mr. Furguson was known as being favorable to the Republicans, and had
voted in the interest of the principles of the party of that name,
whenever opportunity had offered. He had educated his children in a love
of the Union, and taught them the blessings of civil and religious liberty
with their evening prayers, and had succeeded in imbuing them with his own
opinions to such an extent that the family became noted throughout Chatham
county as Unionists and Radicals.
At the breaking out of the war, Furguson determined to remain a
non-combatant, seeking as far as possible not to render himself obnoxious
to his neighbors, but resolving at the same time to maintain a neutral
position. In this, however, he was doomed to a bitter disappointment,
being conscripted into the rebel army and sent to the front. He was taken
prisoner at Fort Caswell, N. C., and was sent to Elmira, N. Y., where he
died, never having seen his family from the night he was so rudely torn
from their embrace, and compelled to serve in the army of the rebellion.
Neither this great calamity, nor the numerous other hardships suffered by
this family for opinion's sake, could shake their firm adherence to the
Union cause. The daughter was a beautiful girl, of great natural
intelligence, but who had been wholly without the advantages of an
education. She was attached to her father with a rare devotion, and
believed it to be a filial duty, which she owed to his memory, to continue
to enunciate the principles in which he had so thoroughly instructed her.
His conscription had strengthened rather than weakened these sentiments,
and she publicly spoke of his death as chargeable to the wicked designs of
the men who had endeavored to overturn and destroy the country.
At the time of the organization of the first Camp of the "Constitutional
Union Guards," or Ku Klux Klan, in Chatham county, Susan Furguson was in
her eighteenth year. Her case was the first one brought to the
consideration of the Camp; but no special action was taken thereon until
it was observed that the sons were following in the footsteps of the
father, and were advocating the same principles of Unionism and
Republicanism that he had taught them. They also learned that Miss
Furguson lost no opportunity to express her convictions to the colored
people with whom she came in contact, and in their eyes her course became
intolerable.
During the October of 1870, the case of the Furguson family was again
brought before the Camp as a flagrant violation of the principles of the
white man's government, and it was resolved that an example should be made
of them. A warning was sent to the family to renounce their political
faith, and cease the promulgation of their opinions, or leave the country.
To this, and subsequent warnings of a similar character, no attention was
paid, and an edict was finally issued by the Commander of the Camp, to
have some, if not all the members of the family, scourged.
On the night of the 10th of November, 1870, the Furgusons retired to bed
at about 10 o'clock. The family was then composed of the widow, Mrs.
Catherine Furguson, the daughter Susan, and the three sons. Between eleven
and twelve o'clock, the attention of the daughter was called to a noise
outside the house, resembling the tramp of horses' feet, and the running
of men. In a moment afterwards, a voice shouted, "Open the door." The
daughter arose hastily, threw a wrapper over her person, and went to the
door and asked, "Who is there?"
The response to this was another command, delivered in more peremptory
tones than at first--"Open the door!" and on her refusing to comply
therewith, the frail structure was broken in, and a man, disguised beyond
all hope of recognition, sprang into the apartment, confronting the girl
with a most terrible oath.
In the dim glare of the candle which Miss Furguson had lighted, and now
held above her head, this hideous looking object presented an appearance
well calculated to terrify a stouter heart. A long black gown hung over
his person to his knees, and his legs were encased in huge army boots,
ornamented with a brace of iron spurs. Over his face was a black mask,
with apertures for the eyes, nose, and mouth, and around these were drawn
ghastly circles of white and red, rendering the face of the figure
exceedingly repulsive. On his breast was the representation of a human
skull worked in white, on a black ground, and surrounded with grotesque
figures worked in red. His head was surmounted with a high conical-shaped
black hat, on which were curious figures worked in white, and edged with
red and yellow.
He commenced his interrogations by asking Miss Furguson if she had ever
seen a KU KLUX; to which the brave girl replied she never had, nor did she
wish to, unless it were more comely than he. This seemed to enrage him,
and turning to the door, he shouted, "Come in!" A horde of twenty men,
similarly disguised, rushed into the room, and the indecent orgies
commenced.
The mother and the three brothers had remained in bed, at the earnest
request of the sister, but were speedily dragged from their resting place.
Daniel was the first one assailed. His night clothes were torn from him in
myriads of pieces, leaving him in an entirely nude state. He was then
thrown down upon the floor, and stretched out at full length; four of the
band seizing and holding him fast while two others came forward and
administered to him upwards of an hundred lashes on the naked person,
drawing the blood at every blow, and raising the quivering flesh in great
ridges upon his back and limbs. The boy fainted under the terrible
punishment, and was then thrown aside to make room for his brothers, Henry
and John, who were each castigated in an equally severe manner.
John Furguson, who was more delicate than his brothers, uttered such
piercing shrieks, as the heavy gum switches descended upon his back and
loins, that his sister became almost insane. In her terrible agony she
sprang upon the leader, and before she could be prevented, tore off his
mask, and, to her horror and amazement, disclosed the face of Richard
Taylor, one of her nearest neighbors, to whom she had often, since the
death of her father, gone for advice and counsel. Taylor threw her rudely
to the floor and replaced his mask as quickly as possible. The girl was
severely stunned by the fall, but as soon as she recovered, cried out, "I
know you, Dick Taylor, and I will have you punished for what you have done
this night."
Taylor immediately discharged his revolver at her, but, in the dim light
shed over the room by the candle, and the excitement of the moment, shot
wide of the object. He then exclaimed, with an oath, "If you move again, I
will kill you dead; and if I ever hear of your telling anybody of this
affair, we will come back and kill you all."
Turning to Mrs. Furguson, he said, "Now, you take your folks and leave
this country. If you are not gone in ten days, we will be here again and
you shall all die."
During the entire time of this whipping the three sons, two of them men
grown, were completely naked, and when the mother and daughter sought to
avert their heads from the shameful spectacle, they were ordered to turn
them back again on pain of instant death, the command being enforced with
pistols presented at their heads, by the hands of men whom they now felt
assured would not hesitate to use them if ordered.
Having issued the edict for the family to leave the country or suffer
death, the gallant defenders of the "white man's government" and the
protectors of the "white man's race" departed.
For more than three weeks succeeding this visitation, the Furguson
brothers were confined to their beds, and the mother and daughter nursed
their wounds, and labored for their support with untiring energy. During
these three weeks Susan Furguson had spread the news of the outrage to all
parts of Chatham County, characterizing the attack upon them as brutal and
savage--a crime that, if left unpunished by men, would surely be punished
by the hand of the Lord. She applied to the Justices of the Peace for
relief, stated that she recognized Dick Taylor, and George and Joseph
Blaylock, citizens of the place, as being present on the night of the
assault, and participating therein, and would make her affidavit to the
facts, and support it with undeniable testimony.
She was everywhere laughed to scorn. The few who sympathized with her and
her family, dared not give expression to their thoughts for fear of a
similar fate. Chatham County was in the hands of the Ku Klux; a reign of
terror had been inaugurated there; the mob had made laws for themselves,
and justice was not to be had.
AN AGED WOMAN WHIPPED UPON HER NAKED PERSON.
On the fourth week after the visitation above recorded, and just when the
Furguson brothers had about recovered from the effects of the brutal
whipping, and were able to attend to their ordinary duties, the family
were subjected to a second raid, far more revolting and indecent in its
character than the first, and such as the sensitive mind naturally recoils
from the contemplation of. The details are given here with a strict
adherence to the truth, all the facts herein set forth having been
personally verified to the writer by the sufferers themselves.
On the night of the 11th of December, 1870, Susan Furguson, and a young
man named Eli Phillips, who had long known, and loved, and sympathized
with her, were sitting before the fire in the room which had been the
scene of the former outrage; the other members of the family, with the
exception of John Furguson, had retired to bed.
Mrs. Furguson, the mother, was in very delicate health, caused by the
shock produced by the visitation of the Klan four weeks previous, and the
labor consequent upon nursing and caring for her sons. One of the
brothers, Daniel, lay stricken with a fever that had prostrated him two
days before, and was in an almost helpless condition.
About ten o'clock in the evening, the doors upon both sides of the house
were broken in simultaneously, without previous warning, and a band of
men, armed and disguised as before, and much larger in numbers, rushed
into the room, uttering the most demoniac yells. A portion of the number
proceeded directly to the bed where the mother was lying, terror-stricken
and paralyzed from fear at their approach, and after first charging her
with having exposed their former visit, dragged her from the bed and threw
her violently to the floor. They then stood her up, and ordered her to
remove her night dress and chemise. This she refused to do, pointing to
her gray hairs and imploring mercy in the name of God, and for the sake of
the mothers who had borne them.
Her appeals were made in vain. At the order of the Commander, the members
commenced tearing off the only garments that concealed her nakedness, and
this with the most shocking brutality. The daughter, maddened by the
sight, rushed upon the assailants, but was anticipated by other members of
the band, with whom she had a severe struggle, displacing the masks of
four of them enough to enable her to recognize their faces.
She was quickly overpowered, and then beheld her mother completely naked,
her brother John bleeding profusely from the blow of a club, and her
brother Henry and the young man Phillips firmly secured.
The mother was then thrown upon the floor and there securely held, while
two of the band beat her with twisted sticks, administering upwards of one
hundred blows upon various parts of her person, and bandying the most
obscene remarks and jests in relation to her. The daughter plead for her
mother most eloquently, she informed them that she was in delicate health,
and might die under the punishment, but this had no effect upon the
executioners. The interest of the "white man's race" was at stake, and
they had sworn to uphold the "white man's government," and would not stay
their hands.
Having chastised the mother until there seemed but little life left, they
commanded John and Henry, and the young man Phillips, to remove their
clothes, and upon their refusing to do so, tore them off until not a
vestige was left upon their persons. They were then whipped one after
another, with great severity, the beating of John being so terrible that
his life was despaired of for several days afterwards. The bed upon which
the helpless and fever-stricken Daniel lay, was knocked down from under
him, and his already infirm body bruised and lacerated without stint. It
was indeed "a chastisement with scorpions;" but the most indecent
spectacle was reserved to the last.
OUTRAGE UPON A YOUNG GIRL.
SHE IS WHIPPED IN A NUDE STATE IN THE PRESENCE OF THIRTY MEN.
The girl Susan, whose bravery and devotion to her family should have
challenged the admiration of these lawless marauders, instead of drawing
upon her their contempt, was next ordered to disrobe. Overwhelmed and
confused at the merest thought, even, of such indignity, she could hardly
command herself sufficiently to speak her denials; as soon as she did, she
utterly refused to comply with the order.
The more lecherous and brutal of the band sprang upon and threw her to the
floor, with no more regard for her person than if she had been a brute,
whom they were leading to slaughter. They stretched her out at full
length, and took her measure, as an intimation that they were going to dig
her grave.
"We will put her and her radical lies where she can't enjoy their good
company, without further trouble," said one. This was responded to by
another, who, with a coarse oath, ejaculated, "Six foot under ground makes
a good place for solitary confinement, by ----."
The work of "taking the measure" having been completed, Miss Furguson,
already suffering from the indelicate treatment she had received, was then
allowed to rise, and again ordered to divest herself of her clothes. "Is
it possible," she asked, "that you will submit _me_ to such an outrage?"
She had never conceived it possible these men, depraved as they were,
would really carry out a threat against which her whole nature revolted.
The reply was a sardonic laugh. The band had learned where the punishment
would sting the most, and they meant to apply it and spare not.
For the first time in all her hated experience with these desperate men,
she faltered and felt her courage failing her. To the high-toned and
sensitive spirit of this brave and beautiful girl, there was something in
this contemplated exposure of her person far more torturing than any
number of lashes, however mercilessly inflicted. Death itself were a
thousand times preferable, and, for the first moment in all her life, she
felt like supplicating for mercy. Her hands dropped nervously and
motionless at her side, and the stout-hearted heroine of the previous
hour, stood in the presence of her persecutors almost stricken dumb with
shame and confusion.
There was no sympathy in the glaring eyes that peered with lustful and
revengeful fires from behind the hideous masks of their tormentors; no
sentiment of pity, no hope, no help. She was given but little time to
decide. They fell upon her like hungry wolves famishing for their prey,
tearing one garment off after another, she resisting with all the strength
she could command, and entreating them to take her life, if they must, but
to spare her this last indignity.
Neither her piteous appeals nor her stubborn resistance availed her, and
she lay upon the hard floor at last, naked as when born into the world,
ashamed, degraded, broken in spirit, and her maidenly feelings outraged
beyond any power of description. Four of the defenders of the "white man's
race" seized her limbs and arms; stretched them to their fullest tension,
and placing their knees thereon, held her brutally and forcibly to the
floor. Her punishment was to be terrible.
The "executioners" were called, and five of the band came forward.
"Number one!" shouted the leader, and a stalwart member of the Klan that
had sworn to uphold the "white man's government," raising his knotted
strap in the air, brought it down upon the naked person of the helpless
girl with the terrible force of his muscular arm, cutting through the
delicate white skin and causing the blood to spurt at every stroke. He
administered thirty lashes, and was succeeded by "number two" and "number
three," until, as the witnesses state, one hundred and fifty lashes had
been administered, and her shoulders, loins, and limbs, were literally cut
into mince meat.
Her screams had ceased, and her unoffending body lay still and motionless
long before the punishment had ended. There was something in her young
heart far beyond the dread cruelty of this infliction, and she inwardly
prayed to God for death, to end her mental and bodily suffering. Lying
under this great mountain of sorrow and shame, she heeded not the rude and
obscene observations of her tormentors; and the unconsciousness produced
by the punishment, soon placed her beyond the power to listen to them.
Leaving her as one dead, and issuing the edict that if the family did not
leave the country, it would be "_death!_ DEATH! DEATH!" to all, the band
departed.
Thousands of honest hearts of all shades of political opinions, upon
perusing this truthful narration, will feel to wish that they could have
been present with power at this time to have utterly destroyed this band
of midnight raiders; but, let them remember the words of holy writ,
"Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I will repay".... "Neither their
silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the
Lord's wrath: but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his
jealousy, for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell
in the land."
It was an hour after the departure of the band, before any of the party
exhibited evidences of life or animation. Henry Furguson, and the young
man Phillips, were the first to come to a realizing consciousness of the
awful scenes through which they had just passed. Wounded and bleeding as
they were, they felt the necessity for immediate action. The mother and
daughter still lay upon the floor, naked, lacerated and motionless. John
Furguson had fainted from the loss of blood he had sustained, and was
still unconscious, while Daniel was lying amid the debris of the bed,
groaning in the agony of the fever, and the wounds upon his body.
Hastily gathering up the dresses of the women, and throwing them over
their nude bodies, the young men lifted them tenderly to the bed, and gave
them such attention as they felt able to bestow. The remaining members of
the family were cared for as well as the circumstances permitted. Not a
doctor could be had in the vicinity, who was not in sympathy with the
Klan, and not a neighbor came to their assistance, although fully aware of
their distressed condition. The neglect of the neighbors was in no way
attributable to their indifference or their inhumanity. It was one of the
legitimate results of the feeling of terror that then pervaded the
community. A show of sympathy towards these unfortunates, they feared,
would place them under the ban, and subject them to a visitation, and they
dared not incur the risk.
In ten days another warning came to the Furgusons, that they must leave
the country within twenty-four hours, or the penalty of death would surely
be inflicted. They knew this warning must be heeded, and with broken
hearts and crushed spirits, they crawled out into the woods, under cover
of the darkness, and secreted themselves as they best could.
In an interview held with the writer, subsequent to this last outrage,
Miss Furguson stated that the weather, at this time, was cold and
disagreeable, sometimes frosting and sometimes raining; that they had to
lie out without a shelter, and suffered with the cold and hunger,
sometimes going twenty-four hours without food. Occasionally the neighbors
gave them something to eat, and finally the unfortunate wanderers sold to
them the right to what furniture they had left behind in the house, and
thus procured something upon which to subsist.
She stated further, that they were in the woods nearly a month, and that
as soon as they were able to travel they left the vicinity and procured a
home with a Mr. Dixon, on the lower edge of Chatham county.
An affidavit, based upon the statements of this young lady, was made
before the Hon. A. W. Schaffer, U. S. Commissioner at Raleigh, N. C., on
the 8th day of September, 1871. It charged the men, recognized by this
girl, as being present and concerned in the outrages above related.
Warrants were issued, and the officers of the U. S. Secret Service went to
Chatham county and arrested the parties and brought them before the
Commissioner. The more wealthy and influential members of the Klan rallied
to their rescue, became their bondsmen, and they were released to await
trial.
Miss Furguson's description of the dreadful indignities to which she and
the other members of the family were subjected, was of the most graphic
and thrilling character, and aroused the sympathies of many who heard it.
The defenders of the "white man's government" were alone amazed and
enraged at the persistency and courage of this young girl of the "white
man's race," and they determined to ferret her out and punish her again.
In this they were successful, although for greater safety, the family had
broken up, and the mother and daughter had secreted themselves, as they
supposed, beyond the knowledge of their persecutors.
On the night of the 20th of September, 1871, three men, armed and
disguised, and who had been detailed by the Camp for the purpose, appeared
suddenly before the miserable hut in which these unfortunates had taken
refuge. An entrance was easily effected, and the women were told that
their doom was sealed, and they were to be whipped to death.
These three protectors of the "white man's race," then fell upon the
women, beating them brutally. Susan recognized one of them, by his voice,
as a man named Jesse Dixon, whom she knew. The moment she called his name,
the three ran away, leaving their victims, who passed the remnant of the
night in the woods.
On the following day, the mother and daughter made their way to Raleigh,
where fresh complaints were entered, and the Secret Service officers,
armed with warrants, went out and succeeded in capturing two of the
murderous assailants, who were brought in and held for trial. Mrs.
Furguson and her daughter were then retained in the city as witnesses, at
the expense of the government, and to protect them from further outrages.
Susan J. Furguson, the heroine of the terrible experiences above related,
is now twenty-one years of age. She is a girl of commanding presence, is
endowed with a powerful constitution, great energy and force of character,
and an indomitable spirit. Her P. O. address is "Snow Camp Foundry,
Chatham Co., N. C.," where herself and other members of the family can be
found, in verification of the facts above related.
There are few narrations in the annals of "persecutions for opinion's
sake," more shocking in their inhuman details than the foregoing;
certainly, none that cry with a louder and more earnest voice to the
government, and the right-minded people of the country, for help for
those who have been the subjects thereof.
No amount of retributive justice can erase one solitary scar from the
knout-welted bodies of the Furgusons, or remove from their spirits the
dreadful memory of their disgrace; but to those who went forth to battle
in the days of "The Nation's Peril," who stood shoulder to shoulder amid
the roar of cannon, and, in vindication of the right, successfully
withstood the shock of rebellious armies, it must ever remain a matter of
profound gratification that the victories _then_ achieved in the field are
_now_ being perpetuated in such a firm and vigorous enforcement of the
laws as will have a tendency to make them substantial ones in the
repression of any and all such outrages in the future.
GEORGE W. ASHBURN.
SHOT TO DEATH FOR OPINION'S SAKE.
The shocking murder of this gentleman is still fresh in the minds of most
readers of the daily journals, North and South. Mr. Ashburn was a sterling
patriot, who entertained radical opinions, and through his fluency and
ability, as well as his outspoken friendliness towards the colored race,
had gained their confidence and support alike, with that of the Republican
whites of the vicinity.
He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Georgia which met at
Columbus, in the winter of 1867-8, and during his stay there, was refused
admittance as a guest at the principal hotels of the place on account of
the political prejudice existing against him. He occupied private rooms
upon one of the main streets of the city, where he lived in an
unostentatious and unpretending manner.
He was a man of extraordinary natural talents, a good speaker, of fair
educational qualifications, and a most earnest defender and supporter of
true Republican principles. On all occasions, and wherever he appeared, to
discuss the political situation of the trying times he moved in, he spoke
his sentiments unreservedly. He was far from ever having been a huckster
or trickster in politics, but he was fearless and able, and his enemies
doomed him!
At midnight, on the 31st day of March, 1868, a band of about forty men,
who were armed and thoroughly disguised, made their appearance in an open
lot of ground near his residence, and just opposite his private quarters.
He had gone to bed in his room, and the door was just closed, when a
summons from without called the servant, who opened it, and the Klan burst
into the hall. Mr. Ashburn heard the noise, sprang out of bed, struck a
light, and opened the door of his sleeping apartment. He did not fear
death at the hands of these intruders, but he was alarmed at the rude
demonstrations they made, and demanded to know what was their purpose.
With an oath and a brief exclamation of unwarrantable abuse, the foremost
members of the Klan immediately fired upon and shot him down in his tracks
like a dog. A white and colored woman in the house recognized three or
four of the leading assailants, whom they subsequently identified, and
these were among the first residents of the city of Columbus. The names of
these parties, whose identity was sworn to, and who were afterwards placed
on trial, are as follows:
Elisha J. Kirksey, Columbus C. Bedell, James W. Barber, William A. Duke,
Robert Hudson, William D. Chipley, Alva C. Roper, James L. Wiggins, Robert
A. Wood, Henry Hennis, Herbert W. Blair, and Milton Malone.
The morning after the assassination, a coroner's jury was summoned, and,
as was usual in such cases, the verdict of these men--who were all members
of the Ku Klux Klan--was, that Mr. Ashburn came to his death "from wounds
received from parties to the jury unknown." The local authorities made a
faint show of investigating the matter, but really did nothing towards
actually ferreting out and bringing to justice the murderers.
This outrage was so revolting in its inception and consummation, that the
military authorities considered it right that they should undertake to do
what the local police and citizens of Columbus had apparently been so
indifferent in performing.
In the then condition of affairs nobody dared to appear against the
suspected parties, and consequently witnesses could not be had in the
ordinary way.
At this juncture General Geo. G. Meade, then in command of the Military
Department there--for the State of Georgia was at this time under martial
law--telegraphed to Gen. Grant, in Washington, that he desired the
services of a competent and able detective to assist in bringing the
guilty parties to justice. A second dispatch was sent by Gen. Meade,
requesting that Col. H. C. Whitley, of the United States Internal Revenue
service (then absent under Department orders in Kansas), should be
directed to report to him in person for the duty indicated. In pursuance
of this request Col. Whitley went to Columbus and commenced his labors,
which resulted in the arrest of the parties above named.
A military commission was at once convened to try the accused. The
witnesses for the Government gave their testimony in a straightforward
manner, their evidence being fully corroborated by that of the people in
the house where the deed had been consummated, and the conviction of the
parties seemed inevitable.
The citizens of Columbus raised a hue and cry; the local newspapers
sharply criticized the proceedings; a furore of excitement was engendered;
the ablest legal counsel to be had for the defence, with Alexander H.
Stephens at the head, were engaged, and large sums of money were expended
in behalf of the prisoners.
All parties were astounded, however, at the evidence which was produced
against the accused. Its preparation showed a skill and ingenuity such as
had never before been exhibited in working up a case before the courts of
the district, and it was necessary that some measures should be devised to
save the participants in the fearful tragedy from their justly merited
punishment.
This could only be accomplished in one way--by the adoption of the 14th
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, it being a clause in
the law that, upon the adoption of this amendment by the legislature of
any State, all cases of civilians pending before military tribunals
organized in said State, should be taken cognizance of by the civil courts
therein.
The Democratic members of the Georgia Legislature were between two fires;
the 14th Amendment was a bitter pill, but the necks of their confreres
were in danger, and they were compelled to vote solid with the
Republicans, and thus end the proceedings before the military tribunal. By
this means, the trials of the Ashburn murderers were taken out of the
hands of the military authorities, the prisoners put under bail, the
witnesses compelled to flee for their lives, and there the matter rests.
To the unobserving mind the murder of George W. Ashburn would seem totally
unavenged; but to him who sees in every great event the hand of an
over-ruling Providence, evolving good from evil, a different conclusion
must be arrived at. In his life, he fought manfully for the establishment
of civil rights, and the political equality of the oppressed race of which
he was the chosen champion. In his death that result was consummated, in
the State of Georgia, sooner perhaps by years than it would otherwise have
been without this sacrifice. "Wherever a few great minds have made a stand
against violence and fraud in the cause of liberty and reason," there
shall we find just such sacrifices as this, and there, too, "in the
eternal fitness of things" and the onward march of law and the
establishment of order, shall we find the triumphal vindication of those
principles for which the republic has labored and travailed, and George W.
Ashburn died.
A THRILLING NARRATIVE.
DESPERATE ENCOUNTER AND DEFEAT OF A BAND OF KU KLUX.
As an instance of what the courage of one man can do in a righteous cause,
against a multitude of those who are actuated by wicked and unlawful
motives, the case of Mr. J. K. Halliday, a resident of Jackson County,
near Jefferson, Ga., is perhaps one of the most extraordinary on record.
Mr. Halliday is a native of Jackson County, Ga., where he has always lived
and done business. He was opposed to secession and rebellion from the
first; was continually counselling peaceful measures, and openly avowed
himself a Unionist. During the war, he utterly refused to take up arms
against the Government, and being a man of great influence and large
means, was enabled to avoid conscription into the rebel ranks.
He was a thriving business man, the proprietor of two plantations and a
mill, and kept a large number of hands engaged at work. After the close of
the rebellion and as a measure of concession to the turbulent spirits by
whom he was surrounded, he employed white men to do his labor.
Mr. Halliday soon found, to his inconvenient cost, that these men demanded
exorbitant wages; that they were indisposed to perform a fair day's work,
sometimes not working at all, and then but for a half day, but always
charging him for full time--and he finally became disgusted with, and
discharged them altogether. This was sufficient to bring him into contempt
with the Klan, who charged him with being a "negro lover," as well as a
Union sympathizer, and an open-mouthed Radical.
Threats of his assassination and the destruction of his mill and other
buildings were freely uttered. He was formally "warned" by the K. K. K.'s,
that he must change his course, politically, or he would certainly suffer
death. Halliday's reply to this threat and warning was simply to proceed
to Jefferson, and procure some of the best modern weapons, for defense,
that he could find. With these he returned to his dwelling, awaited
results, pursuing his usual course, advocating such political principles
as he please, and employing colored men as before.
During the spring of 1871, at a meeting of the Ku Klux Camp of Jefferson
County, it was solemnly resolved that Halliday should be killed, and his
property destroyed. The night for the "visitation" was duly decided on;
and through an anonymous note this information was conveyed to Halliday,
the writer begging him as he valued his life, to leave the place, and thus
save himself.
To less resolute men this would have appeared a serious matter, but upon
Halliday the threatened danger had an entirely different effect. It nerved
rather than weakened his brave spirit, and he resolved to "stick." He was
a man full six feet in stature, and well proportioned; he had been long
accustomed to out-of-door life, and was considered one of the most
powerful men, physically, in the county; he knew his strength, and relying
upon that and an unswerving faith in God, he determined to defend himself
and his family to the last.
On the night of the anticipated visit, he placed his wife and his two
children in the upper room of the house, and barricaded the passage way
leading thereto, as best he could.
Mrs. Halliday well knew the desperate character and murderous designs of
the Klan. She clung to her husband, to whom she was devotedly attached,
and expressed her fears as he passed down the stairway, that she would
never see him again, alive! To this Mr. Halliday responded:
"You forget that the GREAT MASTER is with me! Trust HIM as _I_ do," and
kissing her and the little ones, he descended to the ground floor, where
he intended to remain and await the advent of the party.
Some of the more faithful of the negroes observing the unusual care with
which Mr. H. adjusted the fastenings upon the doors and shutters, that
night, hinted to him that they "reck'nd he 'spected trouble," and they
would like to be near him.
"No," said he, "go to your own places and don't come out; if they come in
here, I had rather be alone, for then I can shoot and cut at random and be
sure not to hit any of my own friends. Every man I strike will surely be
one who ought to be stricken."
Mr. Halliday was armed with two rifles, two revolvers, and a long bowie
knife. Shortly before midnight, the Klan made their appearance in front of
the house, to the number of about twenty. Halliday saw them through a
small half-moon shaped aperture at the top of the shutter.
They were all masked, and appeared each to wear a long rubber cape,
falling from the shoulders to the waist. They came straight to the door,
and, without saying a word, commenced to batter it in. The door gave way
in a few moments, and as they rushed in, Halliday discharged his firearms
with such fatal effect, that three of the Klan dropped dead upon the
floor.
The room was intensely dark, and a desperate fight ensued, in which the
assailants more frequently encountered each other than the victim for whom
they were in search.
Halliday was finally grappled by one of the foremost of the party. He
speedily freed himself through his superior strength and the prompt use of
his bowie knife, thrusting it into his assailant's bowels, and throwing
him violently back on to the crowd. The wounded man exclaimed:
"He's got a knife! I'm murdered!"
This caused a panic among the marauders, and the entire crowd left the
house, taking their dead and wounded with them. After making certain that
all of their own number were out, they discharged their firearms through
the open doorway, and beat a retreat, taking a circuitous route, to avoid
being traced by the blood that oozed from the wounds of several of the
number, two of whom died soon after reaching their homes, thus making five
in all who had paid the forfeit of their lives in the unholy cause.
During all the time of this desperate encounter, the feelings of the
wretched wife and frightened children in the upper room, may only be
imagined. The father and husband, single handed, fighting against a horde
of ruffians bent upon his murder; their own fate depending upon his, and
not daring to cry out lest they should be discovered, and thus bring
destruction upon their own heads, their situation was agonizing in the
extreme.
Mrs. Halliday did not forget the last words of her husband, so full of the
strong faith that characterized the man: "_You forget that the Great
Master is with me. Trust Him as I do!_" And sinking upon her knees, she
poured her spirit out in silent and earnest prayer to God for help.
The dead calm that had ensued after the uproarious tumult of the firearms,
and the fierce struggle of the combatants in the room below, alarmed Mrs.
Halliday more than all else. Whether her husband had been overpowered at
last and taken away, or had been left dead upon the floor, with some of
the murderous crew watching to see who would come for the body, she knew
not. Possibly he might be lying there alone, wounded and insensible, with
the life-blood ebbing away, and no friendly hand to stay the crimson tide,
and the thought was terrible and agonizing.
An hour went by. An hour into which years of misery were crowded to the
forlorn woman, and yet no sound of life, no ray of light gleaming through
the impenetrable darkness, to relieve the awful gloom and suspense, or
give her one faint shadow of hope.
Halliday was indeed lying there, exhausted and unconscious from the
numerous wounds and contusions he had received. In his right hand he still
held the bowie knife firmly grasped, as if awaiting the further onslaught
of the foe, while his left was clenched with the determination of his iron
will. The cool wind blowing off the mill-stream and coming in through the
open doorway, aroused him at length to consciousness.
The remembrance of the fight, his successful resistance, the retreat of
the assailing party, and, above all, his wife and children, saved--and by
his own right arm!--came back to his recollection and nerved him to
action. He roused himself from his lethargy, and groping his way to the
stairs, he called out:
"Are you there, mother! and our darlings!"
Who shall tell the feelings of that wife-mother's heart, bowed in its
terrible anguish, and now so suddenly raised to the highest pinnacle of
happiness as she responded, "Here! and safe, thank God, and our husband
and father."
Who shall describe the music that will compare, in Halliday's bosom, to
the pattering feet of his darlings, as they rushed to meet his strong and
loving embraces, and shouted, "Papa, papa!" amid their fast falling tears.
Halliday's wounds, though not fatal, were still serious enough to alarm
his wife, and as early in the morning as she dared, she sent one of the
negroes for a doctor; but it appeared that every doctor in the vicinity
was busy with patients who had been "taken suddenly ill during the night."
One of these was the only son of a widow, the nearest neighbor to the
Hallidays. He had received a "severe fall" the night previous, they said,
upon a sharp instrument that had pierced his bowels and caused his death.
This proved to be the man Halliday had cut. Five funerals attested the
energy and strength of the hero's arm, and the dead bodies of the victims
remained as lasting "warnings" to the "defenders of the white man's
government," and that it was not always wise to attack the members of the
"white man's race."
It is almost needless to add that Mr. Halliday was left free from that
time forth to pursue his own course, politically and otherwise as he
deemed best, and that his persecutors came to realize with him that "the
race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong," and that
in the struggle of the right for supremacy over the wrong, "God and one
constitute a majority."
SLAUGHTER OF AN UNITED STATES OFFICIAL.
John Springfield, a Deputy United States Marshal, residing in St. Clair
County, Alabama, had drawn upon himself the odium of the Ku Klux of that
county by accepting a position under the United States Government, the
duties of which he endeavored faithfully to discharge.
He had been approached on several occasions by members of the Klan, who
had made propositions to him to pervert his office, and shield certain
parties who were engaged in the illicit distillation of whiskey; but had
utterly refused to listen to any of these overtures, and was bold enough
to proclaim the fact that he should use his best endeavors to bring to
punishment the violators of the law wherever he found them.
The customary warning was sent to this intrepid officer, informing him
that "St. Clair County was getting hot for him," but that if he kept on in
his course he would "be sent to a hotter place in a hurry."
He was somewhat alarmed at this threat and moved about with great caution,
but was unremitting in his attention to his duties until the spring of
1871, when the Klan decided that he must be stopped. An edict was issued,
sealing Springfield's doom, and the second night thereafter he was
followed by three members of the Klan, disguised in black gowns and with
their faces blackened, and was shot dead within a few feet of his house.
This murder was charged upon the negroes, and up to the present writing,
the instigators and perpetrators have escaped punishment.
THE ASSAULT UPON ASA THOMPSON.
_Singular Conduct of the Klan._
In the latter part of the year 1870, there resided in Clinch County,
Georgia, a gentleman by the name of Asa Thompson, who, although a
Southerner by birth and education, was an outspoken Radical Unionist, and
had directly identified himself with the Republican party.
In his intercourse with the people he was frank and free in the expression
of his sentiments, and always exercised the right of suffrage, conducting
himself in an orderly and acceptable manner, at all times, as a good
citizen should do. He was proprietor of a thrifty plantation, upon which
he employed a large number of hands, and stood well generally in the
community.
These essential requisites to a good citizen were altogether insufficient,
in the eyes of the Ku Klux Klan in that vicinity, to balance the bad
points (in their esteem) which characterized him, inasmuch as he was a
Radical in principle. This fault was considered good cause for forwarding
to Thompson a sharp "warning" from the camp, which was sent him in the
customary form, and he was ordered to restrain himself in the utterance of
his Radicalism, or quit the country.
If he failed to obey, then he would receive a visitation from the K. K.
K.'s, and that meant death. To this notice he gave no attention, but
laughed at the threat and awaited events. A second warning was then sent
him, couched in the following terms:--
"One of three things will happen to you, very shortly. You will leave
the country, so that we can never find you--change your politics--or
be turned into Buzzard Bait.
K. K. K."
To this expressive, but not over polite missive, Thompson returned a
somewhat defiant reply, proceeded at once to fortify his cotton
gin-house, in which he remained at night, and dared the Klan to come for
him.
During the month of September, 1871, matters had assumed such a position
in this man's case, that the Klan felt that Thompson must be annihilated,
or the "reign of terror," which they had inaugurated in the county, would
be broken--and a reaction take place among the people, inimical to
themselves.
Numbers of the band were accordingly detailed by the Commander of the Camp
of Clinch County, to put Thompson out of the way. They were headed by
Shimmie Timmerson, formerly sheriff of that county; a man notable for his
unusual brute force and personal resolution.
The Klan approached Thompson's gin-house on the night of the assault,
cautiously, and as they supposed, unobserved. Each one of them was well
armed, and disguised in black gowns, masks and hats.
Thompson, who had been constantly on the watch, discovered them upon their
first appearance. He relied upon the solid door of the gin-house, which he
supposed would withstand a much heavier shock than it did. It gave way
upon the first assault, which was made with a heavy piece of timber,
battered against it by the assailants; and which shivered it to splinters.
As the door crashed in, Thompson opened such a rapid fire upon the
marauders, as to lead them to suppose that the gin-house was full of armed
men. This belief had been strengthened, from the fact that its only
occupant shouted simultaneously with the discharge of his weapons: "Give
it to 'em, boys! Don't spare a man."
Timmerman (the ex-sheriff), who led this gang, fell at the first fire,
seriously though not mortally wounded. Several others of the party bit the
dust, and the entire band at once beat an ignominous retreat--bearing
with them their wounded; and leaving their single-handed and brave
opponent master of the situation.
The most singular and unexpected result of this was, that the band were so
thoroughly chagrined at their failure, that they had a quarrel among
themselves after leaving the place, and charged their defeat upon
Timmerman, who led the van--and whom they adjudged guilty of death on the
spot, on the ground that their defeat was due to his bad management.
This sentence would actually have been executed upon him, but for the
interposition of some of the Klan, who declared their belief that
Timmerman could not recover from the wounds he had already received, and
that he might as well be left to die in the woods; that they did not think
he was a traitor, and hence ought not to suffer a traitor's doom.
The ex-sheriff was greatly weakened from the loss of blood, caused by
these wounds, and was so thoroughly panic-stricken at the idea that he
might possibly be murdered by his associates, that he swooned, and his
body was carried nearly a mile into the wood, where his "brethren" of the
Camp threw it down, and left him.
On the following day Mrs. Timmerman, having missed her husband, employed a
gang of negroes to go in search of him. The hunt was successful, and the
wounded man was removed to his house; where, after the most careful
nursing, he was partially restored to health, but was so badly crippled as
to be unable ever again to perform manual labor.
The treachery and inhumanity of these men towards one of their own number
so enraged Timmerman that he declared himself ready to expose their whole
operations, their modes of working, and their secrets; and it was from him
and Mr. Thompson that the writer obtained the facts, as herein set forth.
This raid ended the operations of the Clinch County Ku Klux Klan, for
sometime, so far as the influential whites were concerned.
Outrages upon negroes were continued, however, but with less severity--the
subsequent vigorous action of the Government in enforcing the laws, in
other parts of the country, being felt to some degree in that place.
BRUTAL WHIPPING OF WOMEN.
The outrages committed by members of the Klans, upon both individuals and
property, in the county of Chatham, and in Moore county, N. C., were so
numerous and oppressive, during the spring of 1871, and finally became so
brutal in their character as to occasion the direst consternation among
the whole negro population, as well as among such of the whites as dared
to exercise the right of suffrage in accordance with their own
convictions, which were not in accord with the tenets maintained by the Ku
Klux or democracy of the place.
About this period, the more intelligent of the colored people were in the
habit of gathering together at stated times, for consultation in company
with the friendly whites, as to the course it was deemed best for them to
pursue for the protection and security of their lives.
A favorite place for holding these meetings, was at the dwelling of Mrs.
Sallie Gilmore--a woman then residing with her family in Moore county.
These frequent assemblages were soon brought to the notice of the Camp in
Moore county, and it was decided that such an example should be made of
the parties as would deter others from pursuing a similar course; and
compel these to abandon their radical views, or quit the country.
The house occupied by Mrs. Gilmore, was rather of the better class, and
Mrs. G. was known as an intelligent woman, who, in her sympathy with the
colored race, was anxious for the day when the rights and privileges
guaranteed them by the Constitution and the laws, could be enjoyed without
molestation.
The opinions and teachings of Mrs. Gilmore becoming known, the heresy was
sufficient for the Klan to commence a crusade upon her and her family, and
an edict was issued that she, and all the others found upon her premises,
should be scourged.
Thirty men of the Klan were, accordingly, detailed to carry out the order,
and the "visitation" was fixed for the night of April 15th, 1871. The Klan
were disguised, as usual, and were under the leadership of Roderick J.
Bryan, a prominent citizen of Moore county, who was violently opposed to
Republican principles. They met and organized in a field about a mile from
Mrs. Gilmore's house, where they held a counsel, and finally completed
arrangements for making the proposed raid.
Saturday night (the night in question) was the favorite time when the
negroes met there, but, on this particular evening there chanced to be but
three present, besides Mrs. Gilmore, her son and daughter, and a young
woman named Mary Godfrey.
For greater security, no lights were used when these meetings were held,
and when the Klan arrived, the place was found to be entirely darkened.
The doors were at once broken in, and Murkerson McLane, one of the
negroes, taking advantage of the darkness, crept through the doorway
stealthily, and darted towards the woods; but he was observed by some of
the Klan, who pursued and soon came up with him.
They had fired upon him as he ran, and when overtaken, he had sank down
exhausted, and begged hard for his life. Roderick Bryan and Garner Watson
replied to his earnest supplications for life by discharging their
revolvers at him a second time. Both shots took effect. McLane gave a
spasmodic leap into the air, and dropped motionless by the roadside.
Supposing him dead the band left him there, where he lingered through the
night in great agony, and died next morning.
Having murdered McLane, his pursuers returned to Mrs. Gilmore's house,
where the rest of their party were awaiting them before commencing their
inhuman indecencies. A light had been struck, and Mrs. Gilmore, her son
and daughter, the negroes, and Mary Godfrey, were found fastened to the
bed, in the most indecent positions. The negroes were first released, and
were fearfully beaten with clubs and twisted switches, until they became
utterly unconscious, when they were rudely dragged to the doorway, and
their bleeding bodies tumbled, unceremoniously, into the mud.
Mrs. Gilmore's son and daughter were then stripped of their clothing and
compelled, in this condition, to _dance_, for the edification of their
tormentors; the music of this wretched exhibition being provided by the
switches in the hands of the Klan, who applied them to the naked bodies of
their victims with terrible severity, mocking them wickedly, meantime, as
they were forced through the unwilling and miserable antics they
performed!
The son was entirely nude, but the daughter was allowed to retain her
chemise. Both became exhausted, and sank down under the terrible
punishment inflicted upon them, and the vigorous switching kept up, failed
to revive them into further action. The attentions of the Klan were then
directed towards Mrs. Gilmore.
One of the band said, "Let's make the old she radical dance now!"
"We can do better than that," said another; "we can lick the d--
nigger-loving blood out of her."
Mrs. Gilmore, now upwards of fifty years old, was then seized and thrown
violently upon the floor. Her clothes were drawn up over her head, and the
cotton under garments covering her limbs were rudely torn off, exposing
her naked person to the demons in human form who surrounded her. The
switches were then applied with all the vigor of which the executioners
were capable. The old lady uttered a few heart-rending shrieks, but
speedily fainted, and continued unconscious during the remainder of the
infliction.
The punishment of the young woman, Mary Godfrey, was reserved to the last.
She was stripped of every thread of clothing, and was thus compelled to
experience the shame of indecent exposure, added to her other tortures.
During the process of scourging this young woman the vilest and most
obscene epithets were bandied about by the Klan, and she was subjected to
many other indignities.
She sank under the treatment at last, and lie upon the floor, her life
apparently extinct. Cold water was dashed over the faces and bodies of
these unfortunate women, who, by this means, were rallied sufficiently to
render them conscious enough to listen to the final edict of the Klan,
which was, "To cease indulging in and promulgating their heresies, from
that hour forward, and abandon the country, on pain of certain death!"
With this admonition the defenders of the white man's government left the
house.
Of a truth, "all cruelty springs from wickedness." But the weakness which
could prompt the brutality--exhibited in such cases as those above
recorded--is utterly inexcusable in any being wearing the shape of man.
The brutal whipping of these inoffensive women, and the murder of the
negro McLane, add one more to the many evidences of the degradation to
which the members of the Ku Klux Klan had reduced themselves, in their
endeavors to crush out freedom of thought and expression, and compel
adherence to their own peculiar tenets. Thank God, and the wisdom that now
guides and controls the destinies of the nation, these dark hours of the
Republic, fruitful with scenes like those described above, are passing
away. A gleam of light appears in the horizon, as a glad harbinger of the
dawn that shall usher in the day when
"All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail;
Returning justice lift aloft her scale;
Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
And white robed innocence from heaven descend."
MISCELLANEOUS OUTRAGES.
WHIPPING OF STANFORD AND NASH.
On the night of the 16th of June, 1871, two negroes, named John Stanford
and Edward Nash, were proceeding to their homes, near Oltewah, Hamilton
County, Tennessee, when they were met in the road by some fifteen men
armed and disguised, who ordered them to stop. They were then interrogated
by the leader of the band as to why they had voted the Radical ticket at
the previous election. Stanford replied that they had done it because it
was right. One of the band said:
"There's a sting in that ticket, and you may as well have the whole of
it," at the same time striking at Stanford with a wooden club.
The latter is a very powerful negro, and having some spirit, resented the
attempted injury, dodged the blow, and instantly seizing his assailant,
threw him heavily to the earth. Nash showed fight also, but being a much
weaker man, was soon overpowered and pinioned fast. Several of the band
seized Stanford, who, from his superior strength, dashed them one side,
and darted away, followed by half a dozen of the Klan.
As he ran, he managed to pick up a piece of board in the road with which
he turned on his pursuers with the intention of defending himself, when a
well-directed shot struck his elbow, shattering the bone, and compelling
him to drop the board, and again attempt to save himself by flight. A
second shot struck him in the ankle, and impeded his further progress. His
pursuers again came up with and secured him, and conveyed him back to
where Nash was pleading for his life.
A council was held by the Klan, in which it was decided that the negroes
should be severely whipped, and if ever known to again vote the radical
ticket, they should die.
Stanford was tied to a tree, his immense strength still being feared by
the band, and was beaten until entirely insensible. Nash received a
similar castigation. Both the negroes were then untied and placed across
the driveway of the road so that a wagon in passing would be likely to run
over them, unless they should in the mean time become conscious, and get
out of the way.
In his desperate struggle with the band, Stanford had displaced one of the
masks, which enabled him to recognize a man named Goal Martin, who lived
in the vicinity. Upon the statement of these negroes, and from evidence
furnished by other corroborating circumstances, several of the members of
the band committing these outrages were arrested and brought to
appropriate punishment.
OUTRAGE UPON WILLIAM FLETCHER.
On the night of the 23d of November, 1871, there assembled in the woods
near Cross Plains, Alabama, a band of men armed and disguised as the White
Brotherhood. Their persons were enveloped in long white gowns, white masks
covered their faces, high white conical hats surmounted their heads, their
hands were encased in white gloves, and white stockings were drawn over
and completely covered their boots.
The object of this gathering was the punishment of one William Fletcher, a
white Unionist and Radical, who had the temerity to vote the Republican
ticket, advocate the supremacy of the Government, and aid the officers
thereof in the enforcement of the laws. These were crimes in the eyes of
the Ku Klux Klan sufficient to warrant their taking the offender in hand.
The customary warning was not sent in this case, but a friendly hand
penned a note to Fletcher, informing him of the danger, but this,
unfortunately, never reached him.
At the time of the assembling of the band, as above stated, the "Night
Hawks"[1] of the Camp came up with the intelligence that Fletcher was then
in a grocery store kept by a man named Flanders, and that it would be
better to decoy him out of there, and get him on the road towards the
woods, where he could be the more easily mastered.
Fletcher was a cool, resolute and brave man, was supposed to be well
armed, and the members of the Klan knew that unless some strategy was used
with him, some of their number must suffer the consequences. One of the
Klan, named N. G. Scott, was accordingly detailed to decoy Fletcher away.
Scott removed his disguise, and started for the store, followed at a
convenient distance by several members of the band. He was successful in
his undertaking, and in about twenty minutes he and his intended victim
were walking down the road, in the direction of the ambuscade.
In a moment more, the Klan sprang upon and overpowered Fletcher. Pistols
were presented at his head, threatenings of death were made if he uttered
a cry; a towel was tied tightly across his eyes as a bandage, and he was
led away to the woods on the north side of Cross Plains. Upon reaching the
woods, his coat and vest were removed, and he was stood up with his face
pressed hard against a tree. His arms were drawn around the trunk of the
tree, and tied together, and his legs were firmly secured by ropes.
John Yeateman, who had charge of the proceedings of the Klan that night,
then stepped forward, and told Fletcher to say his prayers, as he had but
a short time to live; that it had first been the intention to give him a
whipping and let him go, but that they had now decided to whip him to
death.
Fletcher replied by asking if there was no mercy to be accorded him, and
inquired to know for what he was to be killed. The only answer to this was
that they never gave mercy to the "infernal radicals, who wanted niggers
to rule the country." This remark was followed by his shirt being torn
completely off his back.
Meantime the "executioners," who had gone for the "rods," returned, and
upon the order of their leader fell to their work, cutting the back of the
poor victim most dreadfully, and causing him to lose all his stoicism at
last, and shriek from the effects of the blows. The "executioners"
becoming exhausted, Yeateman himself seized a knife, and cutting away the
garments that encased Fletcher's lower limbs, took a "rod," and commenced
beating him about the loins with great ferocity.
Fletcher fainted under the punishment, and as his screams had ceased,
Yeateman desisted, remarking, "There's one Radical vote less, by ----."
The band continued consulting together for some time, when, Fletcher being
heard to groan, one of the Klan, named James Bierd, said: "He ain't
finished yet; I reckon he'd better have the whole of it."
Yeateman then approached the miserable victim, and having succeeded in
arousing him to consciousness, asked: "Have you anything to say before you
die?"
Fletcher responded faintly, saying: "Write to my mother, Mrs. William
Fletcher, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and say how and why I died." In a
moment afterwards he asked: "Is there no chance to live?"
The band consulted together again, when Yeateman said: "There is just one
chance for you, and that is that you agree to leave the State in three
hours, and never come back."
Fletcher gladly gave the required promise. He was then untied, and two of
the band supporting him upon either side, led him to the railroad track.
The bandage was then taken from his eyes, and he was told he must walk on,
and that if he looked back, he would be shot. A row of revolvers pointed
at him gave evidence that he was not being trifled with, and summoning all
the resolution and strength which he could command, he slowly hobbled
away.
William Fletcher is no mythical creation. He lives to-day, a scarred and
maimed monument of the demoniac brutality that instigated his scourging
for opinion's sake; his property destroyed, his health ruined for life,
his spirit crushed and broken. The naturally indignant reader will ask if
justice has overtaken the miscreants who committed this outrage, and will
be gratified to know that it has; and that the principal offenders have
felt the weight of the strong arm of the law, now being vigorously
enforced throughout the South against the execrable Klan to which they
belonged, and in whose interest, and that of bigotry and persecution, they
committed this dreadful outrage.
A SIGNIFICANT CONVERSATION.
The preceding stories of wrongs and outrages committed by the Ku Klux
Klan, and those that follow, serve in a degree to show the extent to which
persecutions for opinion's sake were carried. It was the intention of the
leaders to intimidate the masses, that further opposition to the
principles promulgated by the Ku Klux Klan, or Southern Democracy, should
cease altogether. They were wiley enough to see, however, that silence,
while it may often give assent, can rarely be construed as an endorsement
of that which is utterly repugnant to the human heart.
Hence, plans were adopted for the dissemination of principles in violent
antagonism to the Government and the Administration. It was not only
hinted at that a change of Administration would effect the ends desired by
the Ku Klux Orders; but it was openly declared by the bolder ones that
such an event would give the South more than it had ever hoped to obtain,
even had the war been a success to them instead of to the nation at large.
As an illustration of the feeling of some of these leaders, who were men
of property and influence, and owned plantations in the interior, the
following conversation is given. This conversation actually occurred upon
the Moore plantation, situated upon the Tuscaloosa and Lexington Turnpike.
Moore had been a most uncompromising rebel, and was one of the first to
join the Ku Klux Camp in his vicinity. He was continually haranguing his
laborers in the interest of Ku Kluxism and democracy, cursing the
Government and the Administration, and swearing death to all who upheld
them. One of his hands, whom he had but recently employed (September,
1871), said to him:
"What shall we do to break up this cursed Government, and have things as
we want them?"
Moore replied: "There is a movement on foot all over the South that will
drive every d----d Yankee out of it before long, and give us things all
our own way."
"Good," said the laborer, "I'd like to know the programme, and get posted
in that thing; I'd take a big hand in it!"
Moore being now convinced that he had the right kind of a tool for the
intended work, then said:
"We've got the right thing now to fix all the niggers and Yankees with
that don't go as we want them to; we don't care a d---- for the general
government. It can go to ----, where it ought to. They may pass an hundred
more Ku Klux bills, and it won't do them a bit of good. The Ku Klux are
resting just now; but they are not asleep. They have got the niggers and
radicals in pretty good train, so they don't dare say anything. All we
want is a Democratic President, and that must come sure the next election,
and then we can run things to suit ourselves."
If Mr. Moore ever sees this faithful transcript of his disloyal speech,
delivered upon his own plantation, on the 12th of September, 1871, he may
begin to get some idea that the farm hands by whom he was surrounded were
not all as badly poisoned with hatred to the radicals as he was, and that
one of them at least had the temerity to treasure up and repeat the above
conversation. It is here produced as an evidence of the sentiments that
pervaded the minds of the leaders; and to set all doubt at rest as to its
authenticity, it may be added that it is a matter of record, to be seen
and read of all men.
OUTRAGE UPON PERSONS IN TEXAS.
As an evidence that neither color or nationality formed any protection
against the evil machinations of the Ku Klux Klan, the case of Henry
Kaufmann, a well-to-do German residing in Bell County, Texas, may be
cited.
Kaufmann had come to this country after the war of the Rebellion, and,
having some means and an extensive knowledge as a stock raiser, made his
way South, finally locating in Texas, as the place best adapted for the
business of raising stock, which was one he intended to pursue. His family
consisted of his wife and two children, a boy and girl, aged respectively
nine and eleven years.
Texas at this time was the scene of many outrages, but the good-natured
German was for a long time unable to comprehend their significance. Like
most of his countrymen, he entertained republican sentiments; they were
the sentiments of his heart, while at home, in the land of his fathers,
and he had supposed, that in America, the asylum of the oppressed of all
nations, he would find them in all their purity, upheld and expressed
without fear, and honored by all.
In this respect, he was doomed to bitter disappointment. The nearest
neighbor to Kaufmann, was a man named McPherson, originally from the
North, but who had for some years resided in Texas, and was a
thorough-going Unionist. He did not hesitate, even among all the tumult
and disorder, by which he was surrounded, to express his union sentiments,
and had been repeatedly warned by the Ku Klux that he must change his
course.
As he paid no heed to these threats, he received a visitation during the
Spring of 1871, which utterly ruined him, and from which he escaped with
his life, only by the aid of Kaufmann. It appears that the Klan having
beat McPherson almost to death, gave him twenty-four hours in which to
leave the country, threatening to kill him if he did not do so. Suffering
terribly from the dreadful scourging, McPherson was just able to get as
far as Kaufmann's house, where he sought protection until such time as he
might be able to travel and get away from the place.
The good-natured German, filled with the humane instincts, natural to his
people, at once took the refugee into his house, and cared for him for
several days, without dreaming that he would incur the displeasure of
anyone for such an act. He nursed McPherson tenderly for some four days,
when the latter, dreading that the Klan might discover, and destroy, not
only him, but his generous benefactor, left the house at night, and
removed himself as far as possible from his persecutors.
The fact of his having been harbored by Kaufmann, became known to the
Klan, however, by some means, and they forthwith classed the latter as a
radical. On the third night after McPherson's departure, about eight
o'clock in the evening, the unsuspecting German was sitting with his wife
and children before a log-fire--as the weather was still chilly--when the
door was unceremoniously burst in and a score of the Klan filled the room.
Kaufmann was rudely seized and a demand made upon him to know what he had
done with that d--d radical McPherson.
To this he made reply that he "didn't know such mans." Upon this, one of
the band struck him a severe blow, telling him they meant to learn him not
to interfere with their business. Mrs. Kaufmann implored them in broken
English, not to hurt her husband; he had done nothing, and they had made a
mistake.
"He's done enough," said Butch Williams, the leader of the crowd, "You
can't make any mistake on these dutchmen, they are all d--d radicals
anyhow. Its born in 'em, but by ---- they shan't spit it out here."
Kaufmann was then securely pinioned and whipped until he became
unconscious. When the castigation was ended, the leader turning to Mrs.
Kaufmann, and pointing to the bruised and bleeding body of her husband, as
it lie upon the floor, said:--
"Now if that dirty, dutch scallawag ever comes to himself, you tell him to
sell out and get away from here, or we'll be the death of the whole of you
and burn the house over your heads. We'll give him just ten days to do it
in."
Kaufmann did revive at last, and when he learned the dread message which
the Klan had left behind, saw with sorrow that he must relinquish his
pleasant home, and become a wanderer; but the necessities of the case
admitted of no other course. His property was disposed of at a ruinous
sacrifice, and with his wife and little ones, he made his way to Illinois,
where he now is.
It would seem that the nationality of Kaufmann, and his probable ignorance
of what constituted an offence in the eyes of the Ku Klux, should have
saved him from this terrible visitation, so fraught with physical
chastisement and financial ruin; but to the vision of men who regarded no
law, who only saw the attainment of their despicable ends, through fraud
and violence, he appeared a "radical by nature."--One, who being a German,
must necessarily be a Republican, and hence they could make no mistake in
scourging him.
A SLAVE'S FORMER EXPERIENCE REVIVED.
In the month of May, 1871, an intelligent mulatto--in whose veins flowed
the blood of some ardent advocate of the _white_ man's race,
unquestionably judging from his light color--whose name was William
Washington, resided in a small shanty or cabin, about two miles and a-half
from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Washington had been a slave in the early part of
his life, and was one of those unfortunates who chafed under the abuses
and the yoke that held him in servitude to a "master."
He was high-spirited, and had learned to read and write before the
Emancipation Proclamation had given him freedom, to act upon his own
volition, untrammelled by his nominal "owner." Upon becoming a freeman, he
left Montgomery County, Ala., near which place he had been reared, and
settled in the vicinity of Tuscaloosa.
He was quiet in his deportment, orderly and well disposed. He had given
general satisfaction to all who had employed him. But in the early part of
the year 1870, it began to be observed that Washington was actively
exerting an influence over the negroes in the vicinity, to such an extent
as to cause the Ku Klux Camp organized under Philip J. Brady, as Commander
to take the alarm.
The mulatto Washington was charged with being a Republican, of the radical
sort, with presuming to teach the negroes to read, (shocking offence?) and
of instructing them in Northern principles. This wouldn't answer, surely.
And so William was "warned" by the Camp that he must cease this kind of
practice, and leave the country at once.
He paid no heed to this warning, and a second one came, notifying him that
unless he departed within the succeeding thirty days, he should suffer
death--for "though the moon was then bright, it would turn to blood--K.
K. K." Instead of seeing this fearful summons in the light it was intended
he should, the mulatto industriously circulated the story that he went
well armed always, and was ready to die, if he must, in defence of his
principles. But that "he wouldn't run away--no how."
Matters went on thus for nearly a year. On the night of the 15th of May,
1871, Washington shut and barred his cabin door, as was his custom upon
retiring, placed his gun and a single barrelled pistol by his bedside, and
turned in, to sleep. About eleven o'clock, he was suddenly awaked by a
thumping upon the closed shutter of the only window in the hut, and upon
inquiring who was there, he recognized the voice of a friendly negro,
outside, who answered--
"Day's a pow'r o' men a comin' up der road, yender--an' yer muss look out
for yar se'f Wash'n't'n, dass a fack."
This timely and kindly warning from his friend was very gratefully
listened to by Washington, who replied that his informer must try to get
help to him, if possible. And quickly dressing himself, the former slave
awaited the assault which he now anticipated, from the look of affairs
outside, so near his hut.
The mounted band rode up very soon afterwards, and having been refused
admittance, some of them dashed in the door. Washington was a powerful
man, well built and very muscular--while his self-possession was always
remarkable, when in peril. The interior of the shanty being quite dark, he
crouched down in one corner, and fired upon his assailants with the pistol
first and then immediately discharged the gun. Both shots took effect, and
two of the Klan fell heavily to the floor.
Clubbing his musket, he then desperately rushed upon the enemy,
determined, if he must die, that he would sell his life as dearly as
possible; but the odds were altogether too heavy against him. The
gun-stock in his brawny hands, was shattered at the first blow struck by
his powerful arm, and then the band sprang forward and secured him, though
not without a furious struggle. He was at once taken out of the cabin, a
rope was placed about his neck, and thrown over the projecting limb of the
nearest convenient tree, from which his body was quickly dangling, a
lifeless corpse. They hung him without accusation, judge or jury, until he
was dead, dead, dead--in accordance with the terms of the bitter oath of
the Ku Klux Klan, whose victims are doomed "for opinion's sake!"
One of the gang had been mortally wounded by Washington's first shots, and
died on the following day. Two others had been seriously hurt, and one of
them was crippled for life. The body of Washington was left hanging
beneath the tree for several days after this conflict, and until the
negroes in the neighborhood gathered courage sufficient to cut it down,
and give it decent burial; which they did at night, secretly and
mournfully, for their late friend's sudden and violent death, proved an
affliction indeed to the poor creatures, towards whom he had been so kind
and clever an instructor and companion.
And thus this poor negro paid the penalty of his offence in being a
radical, and like many a one before him who had been similarly sacrificed,
"his soul goes marching on."
SCOURGING RADICAL TEACHERS AND BANISHING MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL.
Judging from information gathered from the most available sources, it
appears that all measures, whether of a political, a religious or
educational character, looking to the elevation of the negro, were
strenuously opposed by the Ku Klux Klans, as they had sworn they should
be.
The education of the negro was regarded as an especial heresy, not to be
tolerated under any circumstances. It was an offence second in magnitude
only to that of his voting the Radical ticket, and the face of the Klan
was set against it with a resolution that made it a dangerous avocation
for any one to engage in. School houses, erected for the purpose of
teaching colored children, were burned to the ground, and the teachers
scourged, banished or whipped to death.
The testimony of Col. A. P. Huggins, formerly of the Union Army, and
subsequently of Monroe County, Mississippi, is pertinent to the point.
Col. Huggins, is known as a brave and gallant officer, a man of great
physical and moral courage, and of unquestioned veracity. During the month
of May, 1870, he became County Superintendent of Schools, for Monroe
County, and on the 8th of March following, went into the interior, some
eight or ten miles from Aberdeen, the County seat, on business connected
with the School Department. He was at this time an Assistant Assessor of
Internal Revenue, and improved the opportunity to make several assessments
of revenue in the vicinity, staying, by invitation, at the house of a Mr.
Ross.
On the night of the day after his arrival at the house of Mr. Ross, (the
9th of March) a band of the Ku Klux, armed and disguised, and numbering
about one hundred and twenty, came to the house and compelled Col. Huggins
to come out. The chief of the Klan then informed him that they had come to
warn him that he must quit the country within ten days that it had been
decreed in the camp that he should first be warned, that the warning
should be enforced by whipping, and if that did not produce the desired
effect, he should be killed by the Klan, and if circumstances were such
that he could not be killed by the Klan in a body, then they were sworn
to assassinate him publicly or privately.
Col. Huggins asked them what his offense consisted of, and was answered by
the chief, who said:--"You are collecting obnoxious taxes from Southern
Gentlemen, to keep damned old Radicals in office. Now I want you to
understand that no laws can be enforced in this country, that we do not
make ourselves. We don't like your Radical ways, and we want you to
understand it."
Col. Huggins then asked them if their operations were against the Radical
party, and the Chief replied that they were; that they had stood the
radicals just as long as they intended to, and they meant to banish or
kill every one of them. The Chief then said, "will you leave the country
in ten days." The Colonel replied that he would leave the country when he
got ready, and not before. He was then taken about a quarter of a mile
from the residence of Mr. Ross, where they halted. He was then ordered to
take off his coat, which he refused to do, and it was removed by force.
Twenty-five lashes were then given Col. Huggins, when he was asked if he
would leave the country. To this he replied that he would not, that now
that they had commenced, they might go on as far as they pleased, as he
had just as soon die, as take what he had already received. The whipping
was resumed. Col. Huggins remembered hearing the executioners count the
number of lashes up to seventy-five, when he fainted. The Klan left him in
charge of Mr. Ross, and rode away. The main reason assigned for the
punishment of Col. Huggins was that he was a Radical and in favor of
educating the negroes.
The case of Cornelius McBride, a young Scotchman who taught a colored
school near Sparta, Chickasaw County, is one of unusual cruelty. Being
teacher of a colored school, McBride was classed as a Radical, and beside
this, he had come from the North. He was accordingly doomed by the Klan
for a visitation.
Between twelve and one o'clock of the Thursday night of the last week in
March, 1870, a number of the Klan came to his house, and presenting rifles
through the window, ordered McBride to come out. He asked what was wanted,
when one of them replied, "come out you d--d yankee." McBride saw that
nothing less than taking his life was intended, and determined to make an
effort to escape. He gave a sudden spring through the window, landing
directly between the two men who were pointing their rifles, dashed past
them and ran to the house of a colored man whom he knew, and where he
thought he could get a gun. While he was running, the members of the Klan
commenced firing upon him, ordering him to stop, or they would blow his
brains out. None of the shots took effect upon him, and he entered the
cabin, but before he could get the gun, of which he was in search, the
Klan were upon him and secured him.
McBride was then taken about a mile away from the place, having nothing on
but his night dress. This was rudely torn from his person, and the
executioners were about to commence their work, when he asked them what he
was to be whipped for. The leader said, "you want to make the niggers
equal to a white man. This is a white man's country."
The whipping was then commenced with black gum switches, that stung the
flesh and raised it in great ridges at every blow. The torture was so
great that the poor victim begged them in God's name to kill him at once
and put him out of misery. The leader said "shooting is too good for this
fellow, we'll hang him when we get through whipping him." Another one
said, "Do you want to be shot?" To which McBride replied, "Yes, I can't
stand this torture, it is horrible." He then partially raised himself
upon his knees and determined to make one more effort for his life.
Standing directly in front of him was one of the Klan, the only one who
stood directly in his way, if he should attempt to run.
Stung by the terrible pain of the switch, McBride sprang to his feet,
dealt the man in the front of him a tremendous blow, and darting past him
scaled a fence, and ran across the open field. The Klan discharged their
fire-arms after him, but in a few moments gave up the pursuit. McBride
reached the house of a Mr. Walser, and there found protection through the
remainder of the night.
Other teachers of colored schools received similar visitations, and
colored schools were burned there and in the adjoining counties.
The crusade against Ministers of the Gospel who preached to the freedmen,
was then commenced. The Rev. John Avery, of Winston County, was notified
that he must appear at a meeting of the Ku Klux; that he must join in with
the Klan, and cease his interest in free schools, and upon his refusal,
his house was burned over his head. Mr. Avery was a southern man, and a
pastor in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Rev. Mr. Galloway, a Congregationalist Minister, of Monroe County, was in
the habit occasionally of preaching to the freedmen. During April, 1870, a
band of the Ku Klux called upon him at night, and notified him that he
must not preach to these people. He continued doing so, however, and
received a second warning, accompanied by an intimation, which he did not
dare disregard, and he was compelled to relinquish his good work, on pain
of banishment or death.
The Rev. Mr. McLachlin, a Methodist Episcopal Preacher, of Oktibbeha
County, received various warnings to the same effect, but persisted in his
course until he was finally driven from that county, and dared not return
to it.
Scores of similar cases might be cited, all of which are matters of public
record, but those above given, serve to show, that the Order of the Ku
Klux Klan, is inimical to religion and education, as well as to the
politics of those differing with them in their avowed opposition to
Republicanism, and their adherence to the Democratic party. These gallant
defenders of the white man's race were determined that no Government but
the white man's should live in the country, and these results they hoped
to obtain through the banishment, scourging and killing of negroes,
Radicals and Republicans, by which means also, with the aid of their
sympathizers at the North, they expected to have a Democratic
Administration.
WARNINGS AND EDICTS OF THE KLAN.
It would seem to have been the design of the leaders of the Ku Klux Klans,
in issuing their warnings, to play as much as possible upon the
superstitions of the people. These documents were written in a disguised
hand, sometimes in coarse language, and contained sentiments intended to
inspire terror in the minds of the recipients.
They were usually bordered with designs, representing daggers piercing
bleeding hearts, death's heads and cross bones, and various grotesque
devices. Some of them had a spice of grim humor, which, although fun to
the Klan who issued these missives, meant banishment, scourging or death
to those who received them. Specimens of these, the originals of which
fell into the hands of the United States Officials during their attempts
to break up the Ku Klux organization are here given _verbatim et
literatim_.
Five persons residing in White County, Georgia, having made themselves
politically obnoxious to the Klan, received the following:--
"READ THE CONTENTS, K. K. K.
O ye, horsemen of Manassas. Bounce, ye dead men that is now living on
earth. We are the men that I am talking about. We are of K. K. K. Now
Sandy Holcumb, Green Holcumb, Daniel McCollum, and E. Dickson, your
days are numbered. We shot the old Belt weather[2] a little too low.
We aimed to shoot him through the heart; and if you don't all get
away from this country very soon, your Radical hearts will be shot
out of you, and we had just as leave shoot you as for you to get
away.
K. K. K."
The parties named in the above warning did not leave, as the United States
Officials came into the county about that time and arrested nearly one
hundred members of the Camp from which the document was issued.
At Irwington, Ga., the colored people determined upon holding a
"protracted meeting," and colored preachers assembled there from all
quarters. The meetings are described as having been most orderly, but they
were deemed inimical to the interests of the Ku Klux, and the following
warning was issued and posted near the place of meeting.
"K. K. K.
The devil is getting up a new team, and wants some nigger preachers
to work in the lead. If you stay here until we come again, the devil
will be certain to have his team completed.
K. K. K."
The consternation of the freedmen was so great upon the receipt of the
above warning that not a colored preacher dared to show himself in the
vicinity for months afterwards.
The Klan oppressed everyone not members of or in sympathy with their
organization, and sought to over-ride all law and equity, upon the
principle that might made right. To this end they issued warnings to
business men who had come into their vicinity from the North, and who were
disposed to invest capital and establish trade, but who were not of the
right stripe politically--and this meant who were not sound Democrats.
Numerous instances of this kind are on record.
Two enterprising business men--Messrs. Gottschalk and Hughes--purchased a
mill property in Atalla, Ala., belonging to one J. B. Spitzer, and made
their arrangements to get out lumber. Messrs. Gottschalk and Hughes were
under suspicion of not sympathizing with the Klan, politically, and a
pretence was made that Mr. Spitzer, from whom they had purchased the saw
mill, was indebted to persons, whom the new firm were politely requested
to accept as their creditors. This they refused to do, and the following
warning was sent them.
"DEN OF THE GREAT GRAND HIGH CYCLOPS OF ETOWAH COUNTY, ALA.
To Messrs. Gottschalk & Hughes:
His royal highness, your great, grand high worthy master, notices
with much pleasure that you have purchased and become the owners of
the saw mill, lately owned by Mr. J. B. Spitzer. He understands very
well, everything connected with that mill transaction, and it is his
great pleasure that you call on the creditors of J. B. Spitzer in the
morning, and approve of the debts of Mr. Spitzer. He wishes an
answer to-night what you will do in the matter.
By order of his royal highness,
_The Great grand Cyclops of Etowah County, Ala._"
Messrs. Gottschalk & Hughes paid no heed to this missive, and on the night
of the 13th of November, 1871, the Klan assembled and set fire to the
mill, destroying it entirely, and compelling its new proprietors to leave
the place.
Mr. William Gober, residing in Dade County, Georgia, was an avowed
Unionist and Republican. He was active in politics and expressed his
sentiments with great freedom, and was consequently classed by the Ku Klux
as a carpet-bagger and a scallawag, and warned to leave the country, in
the following terms:--
"DEATH. K. K. K. DEATH.
Take heed for the pale horse is coming. His step is terrible;
lightning is in his nostrils. He looks for a rider. Now this is to
warn you William Gober, that carpet-baggers and scallawags cannot
live in this country. If you are not gone in ten days, we shall come
to you, and the pale horse shall have his rider.
By order. K. K. K."
Mr Gober smiled at this document, but the sequel shew that it meant
something more than a threat. At midnight on the 13th of September, 1871,
his house was surrounded by about twenty of the Klan, armed and disguised.
He was then dragged out and whipped with great severity. Previous to the
infliction of the punishment he fought desperately with his assailants,
and succeeded in displacing several of their masks, and recognizing them.
He was left for dead by the Klan, but recovered his consciousness, and
secretly made his way to Atlanta, where he made an affidavit, upon which
six of the parties were arrested and held for trial.
Thousands of warnings, similar to the above, many of them obscene and
blasphemous, were sent to as many persons in various parts of the South.
One more is herewith appended, as showing one of the extremes to which the
Ku Klux went in their crusade against Radicals. It was found hanging to a
small dagger, stuck into one of the doors of the University, at
Tuscaloosa, Ala., with several others of similar import, addressed to some
of the students of the University, and read as follows:--
"K. K. K.
STUDENT'S UNIVERSITY.
DAVID SMITH.--You have received one notice from us and this shall be
our last. You, nor no other d--d son of a d--d Radical traitor, shall
stay at our University. Leave here in less than ten days, for in that
time we will visit the place, and it will not be well for you to be
found out there. The State is ours and so shall the University be.
Written by the Secretary.
By order of the Klan."
THE MURDER OF WM. C. LUKE AND FIVE NEGROES.
One of the most brutal outrages to be found, even among the dark and
bloody records of the Ku Klux Klan, was enacted on the night of the 10th
of April, 1870, at the village of Cross Plains, near Paytona, Ala. The
details of this occurrence here given, have been collated from various
sources, a portion of them having been obtained from eye witnesses to the
affair.
William C. Luke, a Canadian by birth, and a gentleman of education, had
come to Paytona, and taken charge of the day school there. He was a
prominent worker in the cause of religion, entertained and advocated
Republican principles and took an earnest interest in the welfare of the
colored people, by whom he was surrounded. This drew down upon him the
malice of the Klan, and he was doomed to death. Luke had preached to the
negroes at times, and had taken occasion in his sermons to express his
opinion that negroes were now entitled to the same rights and privileges
under the Constitution of the United States as the whites.
This course could not be tolerated by the K. K. K., and they only awaited
a favorable opportunity for carrying out the Edict of the Camp.
On the 10th of April, Mr. Luke had preached at Paytona, and on the evening
of that day had returned to Cross Plains. He was there informed that the
Ku Klux had determined to come for him that night, and at once returned to
Paytona, accompanied by several negroes, who seemed fearful that he might
meet with violence. Up to ten o'clock nothing had transpired to cause
alarm, and Mr. Luke retired.
Between twelve and one o'clock he was aroused from his slumbers by three
armed and disguised men, who informed him there had been a fracas in the
village of Cross Plains, about which it was thought he knew something, and
he was requested to go with them to the latter place. He signified his
willingness to do so, dressed himself and went out with the party. Upon
getting out of the house he was surprised at seeing a large number of men
similarly disguised, and who had in custody the five negroes who had
accompanied him to Paytona.
One of the negroes named Jacob Moore, endeavored to break loose from his
captors, and had a severe fight with them. Being a very powerful man he
succeeded in breaking away and run down the road. The Klan fired several
shots after him, two of which took effect, and he dropped by the road
side. Mr. Luke and the remaining negroes were then taken to the northern
border of Paytona, on the Cross Plains line, where the band halted. The
intended victim was now convinced that his death was meditated, and he
said to the leader of the Klan, one Clem Reid, "Am I about to die."
"Yes, you have preached your d--d heresies long enough," was the answer.
"If you've got any prayers to say, you had better be about it."
Mr. Luke replied calmly, "I am not afraid to die, nor for such a cause. It
is hard to die in such a way."
Leave having been granted him to pray he uttered a most fervent appeal to
God, soliciting mercy for himself and the negroes, and forgiveness for
those who were persecuting them and him for righteousness and opinion's
sake. His prayers were rudely cut short, a rope was placed about his neck,
the end thrown over the limb of a tree and his body suspended in the air.
The four negroes were next dispatched.
John Goff, an eye witness to the proceedings states that the Klan tried to
hang two of the negroes, named Cæsar Fredericks and William Hall, at once,
but not being able to make the bodies balance, Pat Craig, a member of the
Klan, shot Fredericks in the mouth, while Clay Keith murdered Hall in a
similar manner. The other negroes were then hung singly, their bodies
being drawn up slowly to increase their torture.
The defenders of the "white man's race" then separated, fully satisfied
with having performed one more service in support of the "White Man's
Government." This outrage was so flagrant that the farce of an
investigation was gone through with, and the suspected parties arrested.
An examination resulted in their being discharged. The witnesses were all
members of the Ku Klux Klan, and had sworn to regard no oath that would
injure one of the brotherhood, and the murderers of William C. Luke still
go unwhipt of justice. And these are the people who talk of their rights,
of the oppression of Radical rule, of their determination to establish a
Democratic Administration.
PROSCRIPTION.
It seemed to be the intent of the orders of the Ku Klux Klan everywhere
throughout the South, to impress upon the people, the fallacy of
attempting to entertain any opinion inimical to those put forth by the
Klan. The attacks of the Klan were first directed to such of the people as
were bold enough to declare themselves unionists and republicans.
Scourging, banishment or murder were the measures adopted to enforce
silence, and these terrible agents proved fully potent to accomplish the
end.
This enforced silence, however, appeared to be dangerous, and was
certainly more ominous to the order, than the freest utterances of the
most radical views. "Those not with the order, must certainly be against
it," said the leaders, and a new crusade was forthwith inaugurated. The
object of the new movement was to compel every able-bodied white man to
join the Order and become bound to it by oaths, administered in the Camp.
Notices were accordingly issued by the respective Chiefs of Dominion from
every Camp, requiring the presence of parties, for initiation into the
Order. When these were not heeded, they were followed by warnings. If the
parties were still refractory, then they received a visitation.
The two first cases arising under this new arrangement, were those of
Paul Myers and John Chapman, of Jefferson County, Ala. These gentlemen
were joint proprietors of a small store, and while inwardly opposed to the
principles of the Ku Klux, had outwardly conducted themselves in such a
manner as to give no cause of offence to the Klan. They were surprised in
common with many others, upon receiving a notice to appear for initiation
into the Jefferson County Camp of the K. K., and they resolutely refused
to comply with the request.
They were then warned, that they would be "Ku Kluxed" if they did not
come, and the threat was carried out, both of them being severely whipped,
and their store pillaged. A second warning was sent to them, and this was
succeeded by a second visitation, more terrible than the first. They were
so badly beaten at this time, that their lives were despaired of, and as
soon as they were able, they closed their store and left the place.
They then placed themselves in communication with the United States
Officials, and under their advice returned, signified their willingness to
join the order, and did so. By this means they were enabled to arrive at
the names of parties engaged in various raids, and obtain all information
necessary to the arrest and conviction of the leaders. This was one of the
first steps that led to the breaking up of the Klan in Jefferson County.
Messrs. Myers and Chapman managed to impart information to the United
States Officers, upon which several of the prominent members of the order
were arrested and lodged in jail, and the visitations ceased.
In White County, Georgia, Mr. William Carson received a notice from the Ku
Klux of that County, that he must join the order. Carson was the head of
an intelligent family, a Republican in principle, but who avoided
expressing his opinions as much as possible.
He paid no heed to the notices and warnings sent him, but pursued the even
tenor of his way, remaining home as much of the time as his business would
admit, and being especially careful about going abroad at night.
During November, 1871, he received the long promised visitation. The
evening meal was through with, the early evening prayers of the children
had been said, the latter were about retiring, when a number of the Klan,
armed, mounted and disguised dashed up to the door.
Mr. Carson opened the door and mildly asked to know the object of their
visit. The reply was a rifle shot, which was immediately followed by a
second, and Mr. Carson fell dead across the door step. The Klan
disappeared as suddenly as they had come. The grief stricken family raised
up the inanimate form of the beloved husband and father, only to realize
that the voice which had so long been the comfort and consolation of the
little household would never be heard by them again.
This in a christian land! Within the sound of the sabbath bells, and
almost under the shadow of the sanctuary of the living God. A christian
gentleman refusing to bind himself with those who had sworn to overthrow
the Government, and scourge and kill the negro and the radical; shot down
within his own door, in sight of his wife and little ones, because,
forsooth, he had the temerity to think and act, politically, as his
conscience seemed to dictate.
Thinking men throughout the nation will stand for many years to come with
William Carson, on the spot where he met his awful and untimely fate, and
they will stand there in the power of consolidated right, beating back the
onslaughts of the powers of darkness, and raising a monument to the
justice of that course, which by the vigorous action of the nation's
counsellors, and under the provident rule of a beneficent God, is fast
being established on a solid foundation.
SHOCKING FATE OF A QUADROON FAMILY.
Gaston County, N. C., in the lower part of that State, adjoins York
County, South Carolina, the State line dividing these two districts. In
the north-easterly part of Gaston County, in the outskirts of Hoylestown,
there came to live a family of mulatto people--or quadroons--in 1870, who
were refugees from oppression, brutality and abuse of the Ku Klux Klan in
Moore County, N. C., whence they had been banished after the husband had
been shockingly scourged, and the lives of himself, wife, and three
children threatened, unless he left Moore County within a fortnight from
the night he was whipped.
At the earnest entreaties of his wife, who feared the next threatened
visitation of the Klan, her husband consented to quit the place he had
dwelt in some years, but where he had rendered himself obnoxious to the
Democratic party around him, through his persistent advocacy of Republican
sentiments, which he promulgated among his own race, causing them to cast
their votes for the Radical ticket. And for this offence he was terribly
whipped and ruthlessly driven from his home.
The name of this family was Noye, Aleck and Elfie, the father and mother
had both been slaves, belonging originally to the Noye estate, in Moore
County. Aleck was an ingenious fellow, and his brother Felix, had, twenty
years previously, invented a peculiar reclining chair for the use of
invalids; which to this day is manufactured largely in New England, upon
the identical principle, originated by Felix, for which his old master
took out a patent, and from the royalty of which he has realized a fortune
first and last.
Aleck was a first rate mechanic and earned a good living. After the war,
when he became free to exercise his natural talent for his own benefit,
and had the right to vote, he became an ardent Radical, and proved a
damaging subject among his brethren in the estimation of the Southern
Democrats.
He was a brave fellow, and only at the urgent solicitation of Elfie, did
he decide to quit his former residence, after the scourging above alluded
to. But he went to Gaston County, found occupation readily and pursued his
labor faithfully. The old love of "freedom of opinion" went with him, and
his zeal for his colored fellow brethren soon cropped out, in his new
location. He was "warned" to leave Hoylestown, just as he had been
compelled by the mandate of the Klan to flee from Moore County, but
refused to go.
On the night of February 7, 1871, Aleck was sitting with his family before
the fire in his little cabin, after a hard day's work; and the children
were about the room, one of the little girls being at the moment beside
his knee. The mother was busy getting the homely evening meal ready, and
was just in the act of removing from before the glowing fire the pone and
hoe cakes for supper, when the door of the hut flew open, suddenly, a
musket shot rang out, and _she_ fell head-foremost in upon the blazing
logs, with a bullet through her brain!
Aleck sprang from his stool, caught his wife in his arms, and drew her out
of the flames upon the floor. She never spoke from that instant, and, amid
the screams of the terrified children, Aleck found himself in the gripe of
two or three disguised ruffians, who entered in advance of half a dozen
others of the Klan, who quickly pinioned him, and informed him that "his
time had come."
His wife, whom he tenderly loved, lay dead before his startled and
dumfounded gaze, and he could not command himself to speak for a moment.
Then he commenced to struggle with the brutes, the screams of his little
ones bringing him back to himself. "What is this for," he exclaimed. "Come
along!" was the sharp reply of the leader of the gang, "You're played out,
and now you're _our_ meat!" And they swiftly bore the wretched father out
of the hut, and away from his slaughtered wife and horrified crying babes.
Aleck was taken to the woods, half a mile distant, where the gang tore and
cut his clothes off of him, and then proceeded to flay him, in accordance
with the decision of the Camp in that county; the members of which had
first been put upon his track by members of the Moore County Klan. Upon
this second visitation, the edict was to "whip the nigger to death." And
they did the bidding of their leader, as the sequel proved, to the letter.
He was cut and slashed, and beaten until the breath of life was almost
gone out of his poor defenceless body, and then their victim was hurled
into the chapparal, and left to the night wolves of the forest to devour.
It sometimes occurs that our strength increases in proportion to the
strain that is imposed upon it. Wounds and rough hardship enure the
sturdy, and provoke their courage, oftentimes, and there is a natural
instinct in the heart of man, which, under the severest trials and abuses,
steels his very nerves _not_ to yield to the heaviest blows of calamity or
adversity--mental or physical.
Aleck was brave-hearted to a fault. He was likewise physically courageous,
and could bear the worst kind of punishment, ordinarily, without
flinching. He was now vanquished, for hours he lay like one who had "given
up the ghost," beyond conjecture. Still he did not die until the following
night. He was providentially discovered by some negroes, in the woods,
taken to his cabin, and brought to consciousness.
Before he expired he told his dreadful story to four witnesses, who gave
it in substance to the United States authorities, as we have now stated
the details; but unfortunately--on account of the disguises of his
heartless tormenters and murderers--he could give no description that
pointed to the personal identity of the offenders.
He learned that his wife was dead, before his own lamp of life went out,
and simply asking of the colored friends who gathered about his
death-bed-side, that the humble pair might be laid in the same grave, poor
Aleck Noye sank to his final rest, and yielded up his spirit to the God
who gave it. The children were taken away by some of the poor neighbors
who esteemed the quadroon family for their virtues, and universal kindness
towards them, and thus closed another awful tragedy in North Carolina--of
which over six hundred came under the knowledge of the United States
District Attorney, in a single county, (not all of them fatal, to be
sure), and which have been duly reported by him, officially, within a
comparatively limited period, since the close of the war.
Is there no "combination of purpose or design" in all these instances of
wrong? Does there exist "no organization among these men" for evil? And
have these terrible doings no "political significance" as is asserted in
the minority Report of the Congressional Committee upon the Ku Klux Klan
outrages? In the face of this accumulated, overwhelming, damning
evidence--will _any_ one believe that the Honorable gentlemen (who have
put forth this paper in opposition to the majority Report of that
Committee), are not themselves convinced that all this is true; and that
not one half of the shocking story of the infamy of this wretched Klan has
been told?
Will it be impressed upon the minds of the public of this enlighted
nation, North or South, through any sophistry, argument or theorising,
that all these living witnesses and victims are liars, and perjurors? Have
not these events occurred? And if so, what is the _cause_ of the wrong
doing? It happens, unfortunately, for the "Union Democracy," who flout at
these accounts of the doings of the Klans, that none _but_ Radicals or
negroes are assailed. And also that _never_ has a Radical been found
associating with these Ku Klux midnight marauders and, butchers, in an
attack upon one of their victims! Is there "no political significance" in
this fact?
It is simply idle to propose such a fallacious and utterly groundless
doctrine. The fact is patent, and the matter is clear as that the sun
shines over the earth at mid-day--to the mind of every intelligent being
who can see or read--that the opponents of the Republican party, in the
guise of Ku Klux Klans, supported unblushingly by the "Union Democracy" of
the country, and their Democratic allies, are the combined movers,
operators, sustainers and abettors of this crusade, and that their first
and last and continuous aim and hope is to weaken or destroy the Radical
sentiment in the land.
Thus far, however, thanks be to God! the American people have not been
deceived by the theories or the assertions of those who would tear down
the fabric of our wholesome Republican Government. And far distant be the
day when such attempts to overturn that government may succeed. "There is
a right way for us and for our children, and the hand of God is upon all
them for good, that seek him; but his wrath is against all them that
forsake him."... And it is written, that "he who shunneth iniquity and
oppression, and followeth after righteousness, alone findeth life,
righteousness and honor."
THEN AND NOW.
THE NATION'S SALVATION!
The outrages narrated in the preceding pages are ample for the purposes of
this work, in giving such authenticated facts as show the existence of a
deep-seated conspiracy against law, and the well-being of society.
They have been selected at random, from hundreds of similar instances that
have come under the personal observation of the writer, and that bear with
them the same irrefutable evidences of the truth, and serve to enable the
general reader to comprehend the awful scenes that have been enacted in
various parts of the South since the close of the war of the Rebellion.
In the light of these outrages, and the positive manner in which the
responsibility of their authorship has been fixed upon those who had
determined to ride into power, even though fraud and violence were
necessary to that end, who shall say that the unfortunate South has not
suffered vastly more from its pretended friends than from those whom, by
corrupt means, its people had been led to suppose were their worst
enemies.
Under the pernicious rule of Andrew Johnson, the disturbing elements of
the South gathered renewed hope for the final success of the ambitious
aspirations which had been dissipated by a long and bloody war. That
which had been lost to them through the unswerving integrity of our great
captains in the field, they thought would be secured through the treason
of the traitor in the Cabinet, and they marshalled their forces with that
end in view, and initiated a reign of terror, such as had hitherto been
unknown even in the darkest hours of adversity within the history of the
Republic.
The accession of General Grant to the presidency, caused a halt in this
wild and mad career, and there was a momentary lull in the operations of
the conspirators. It remained to be seen whether one, coming so fresh from
the people--a plain and unassuming man, although laden with honors second
to that of no military chieftain of ancient or modern time--would be
indifferent to the cry for help which was coming up from all parts of the
then famished land, and fail to apply the appropriate remedy, or whether
he would appreciate the true situation of affairs there, and would be able
to say to the disturbing elements of the South, in language which they
could not well mistake: LET US HAVE PEACE.
Time, which gives the just solution to the most intricate of social and
political problems, has informed the nation that it had not long to remain
in doubt. The results thus far attained, show the elaboration of a plan,
conceived in wisdom, founded upon reason and righteousness, and prosecuted
with an even regard for the rights of all, that has commended itself to
civilization everywhere.
The writer has taken especial pains to ascertain, from persons well versed
in the political situation at this juncture, the policy to be pursued by
this Administration, and the wisdom of which seems to have been amply
verified by what followed. The plan to be adopted, they state, was decided
upon only after the most mature deliberations into which the counsels of
the best minds of the country were called. It was necessary that the
condition of affairs in the South should be arrived at with an accuracy
that would place the information sought to be obtained beyond all doubt as
to its genuineness and reliability, as the only means by which such an
intelligent and comprehensive understanding of the evil could be obtained
as would enable President Grant to inforce the laws applicable to the
case, or, in the absence of such, to recommend to Congress the enactment
of those commensurate with the magnitude of the subject. This was
accordingly done.
Agents for the work were selected, with no reference whatever to their
political principles. They were placed under the general charge of a
competent officer, in whose judgment great confidence was reposed, and
were instructed to get at the facts regardless of political bias.
Each one of these agents supposed that he had been sent on a special
mission to ascertain if a certain condition of affairs, said to exist in a
certain locality, did so exist, and had not the remotest idea that several
others had been sent on similar missions to sections of the Southern
country remote from his field of operations.
The evidence of the existence of an armed organization, pernicious in its
policy and its tendencies, and looking to the disruption of society and
the compelling of the adoption of political principles obnoxious to the
people upon whom they were attempted to be forced, came in from all
quarters. The reports differed in minor details, but had a general
correspondence that was remarkable.
Some of these agents--and to whom the writer is indebted for many of the
facts herein contained--stated that all strangers in the localities
visited by them were looked upon with the greatest suspicion, and they
soon learned that the security of their lives depended largely upon the
enunciation of principles according with the Democracy; that the word
democrat was the _open sesame_ to the confidence of the leading spirits in
the various communities through which they passed; that Democracy in the
South meant rebellion, and that Ku Kluxism meant both, and they governed
themselves accordingly.
To attain the object, and get the most comprehensive view possible of the
condition of the people, these men, for the time being, were "Democrats,"
and "Rebels," and would gladly be "Ku Klux." By adroit and skillful
management they procured themselves to be initiated into the various
orders of the K. K. K., and were enabled thus to discover the numbers,
resources, operations, designs, and ultimate purposes of the same. The
names and residences of the victims, the outrages committed by the Klan,
were also obtained, until an array was presented that almost challenged
belief.
The information was full, thorough, and reliable. It left no longer room
for doubt. Action--vigorous and energetic action--based upon laws enacted
with special reference to the evil to be met, must be had. The suffering
sons and daughters of the South demanded it; the cause of human justice
and human freedom demanded it; the enforcement of the rights of the
recently emancipated bondmen demanded it; and in the interest of law and
order everywhere throughout the land, there came a demand for the adoption
of such measures as would save the people of the South from themselves,
and thus verify the scriptural saying:
"And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them to
pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy, and to afflict, so will
I watch over them to build and to plant, saith the Lord."
It was evident that if they were left to their own devices, the people
must fall into complete anarchy and ruin. Urgent as were these demands,
nothing could be done hastily. The salvation of a people and the well
being of a nation was in the balance, and the most profound and mature
deliberation was necessary at every step.
It was wisely deemed by the Executive that a continuation of the policy
adopted by him at the outset of his official career with regard to all
sections of the country would apply to this, viz., the judicious
enforcement of appropriate laws, enacted with special reference to the
existing emergency. This was considered a measure which, while it could
give no just grounds of offense to _any_, would afford the most available
means for securing the rights of _all_, and attaining the desired end.
There must be no halting by the wayside. The noblest and best blood of the
nation had been expended for a purpose not yet accomplished. Nothing save
the complete restoration of order, the harmonization of conflicting
elements, and the vindication of the rights of _all_ to their own
individual opinion, and the expression of the same through the ballot-box,
as their conscience might dictate, could be in any manner commensurate
with this great sacrifice.
The words of a just and righteous God to a suffering people must be
redeemed: "And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou
shalt dig about thee and thou shalt take thy rest in safety; also thou
shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid."
On the 23d of March, 1871, President Grant sent to Congress a message, in
which he touched delicately but unmistakably upon this subject, as
follows:
_"A condition of affairs now exists in some of the States of the Union
rendering life and property insecure, and the carrying of the mails and
the collection of the revenue dangerous. The proof that such a condition
of affairs exists in some localities is now before the Senate. That the
power to correct these evils is beyond the control of State authorities, I
do not doubt. That the power of the Executive of the United States, acting
within the limits of existing laws, is sufficient for present emergencies
is not clear."_
It was further suggested that such legislation should be had as would
secure life, liberty, and property in all parts of the United States; and
in pursuance of this recommendation, an act was passed by Congress, and
approved April 20th, 1871, entitled, "An Act to enforce the provisions of
the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and for
other purposes."
This was a blow under which the various orders of the Ku Klux Klans reeled
and staggered like quivering aspens. The leaders of these Klans had so
long disregarded law as to come to think, apparently, that they were no
longer amenable to it, and might be a law unto themselves. They predicted
that any attempt to interfere with them would lead to results in
comparison with which the scenes enacted during the war of the rebellion
would sink to insignificance; but, as the results have thus far shown,
they had reckoned without their host.
They sought to stand upon something like tenable ground and to fortify
their position before the world, by arguments that were worn threadbare
long before the war of the Rebellion, and they failed most signally. Their
fallacious reasonings were impotent to justify their acts, and they
neither enlisted the sympathies, nor gained the support of those to whom
they appealed.
The march of progressive republicanism, irresistible in the force of its
teachings, and the spread of the God-like principles of truth, justice,
and equality among men, without distinction of race or color, which had
_then_ encountered the fiercest obstruction within the power of the
slaveocracy to throw in its way, _now_ swept over the country, uprooting
the tyrannical oligarchy of the South, tearing asunder the flimsy veil
behind which the great wrongs done to the bondmen were sought to be hid,
and destined, in its onward course, to remove every vestige of those
pernicious principles so inimical to sound doctrine and the stability of
governments.
The results produced by the spread of these principles, and the
enforcement of the laws based thereon, can hardly be estimated. Taking the
condition of the Southern States both before and after the war--
THEN AND NOW--
and we have an array of facts in support of these principles, surpassing
all theories and arguments.
THEN, only white male citizens, twenty-one years of age and over, were
voters.
NOW, _all_ male citizens of twenty-one years and over, having the
necessary qualifications of residence, etc., have the right of suffrage.
THEN, voting was _viva voce_.
NOW, it is by ballot.
THEN, there was no registry of voters.
NOW, all electors are required to register before voting.
THEN, "returning officers," and those issuing commissions, were bound by
the arithmetical results of the polls, and were required to give the
commission or certificate of election to the person having the highest
number of votes.
NOW, there are boards of canvassers who are required not only to count the
returns, but to pass upon questions of violence and fraud, and to exclude
returns from precincts where they find the elections to have been
controlled by such means.
THEN, the basis of representation was property, or property and slaves, or
slaves by enumerating three-fifths of all.
NOW, it is all the _inhabitants_ of the land.
THEN, white male citizens, and, in some localities, property holders only,
were eligible to office.
NOW, _all_ male citizens, save the few under disabilities by the
Constitution of the United States, are eligible.
Coming down to a later period in the history of the country, from the time
when the death of the lamented Lincoln had left the Republic in the hands
of its worst enemies, to the presidential election in 1868, and what is
the situation?
THEN, the leaders had succeeded in ripening the people for a revolution
against law and order, if that were necessary for the maintenance of
issues, differing in character, but similar in design and spirit, to those
sought to be gained by the war of the rebellion.
THEN, a reign of terror had been inaugurated in the community which
compelled the tacit acquiescence of those who, desiring to express their
opinions, were denied the right through the fear of social and political
ostracism and physical violence.
THEN, the Government was in the hands of Andrew Johnson, and the hopes of
good and just men everywhere, in all sections of the country, of arriving
at a peaceful solution of the difficulties through reconstruction, were
blasted, and gave no signs of verification in fruition.
THEN, the same spirit was rampant that plunged the country into a
sanguinary war, and did not hesitate to express itself in a determined
resistance to the new order of things produced by that war.
THEN, men embraced and kissed their wives and children at night, as if
leaving them for a far-off journey, not knowing, when they lay down,
whether they should awake to peaceful sunlight or to a cabin strewn with
the bodies of the loved ones.
THEN had begun the first fruits of the great judgments through which the
people were eventually to pass, and by which alone, it appeared they could
be redeemed.
AND NOW CAME THE PROMISE of a new order of things. The political situation
of the country had changed. The reins of government passed into the hands
of men of whom much was expected. Three years have intervened. The false
issues that had been raised among the masses are _now_ being swept away.
The disorganizing elements are tottering to a fall, and those who had
fostered them are seeking to excuse and palliate their course.
They complain that the civil government of the Southern States had passed
into the hands of carpet-baggers, who had been forced upon them, who were
engaged in plundering the people, encouraging the negroes to pillage and
destroy the property of the country, and placing them in positions where
they could rule over white men.
But this was not in any manner the real trouble. The same oppressive
spirit that actuated these men during the days when slavery was a
recognized institution among them, still obtained. Neither the men of the
South nor the sojourners from the North were allowed in those days to
freely express their opinions, if those opinions chanced to be in
opposition to slavery.
What was treason _then_ against the social and political rights of these
would-be-masters of a race, is treason _now_ in their minds; for they have
not yet learned to tolerate the free expression of sentiments in such
exact antipodes to their early educational training.
To preach the principles of republicanism, to advocate the education of
the negro, to urge his right to the elective franchise, were deemed
seditious practices, and were opposed _then_ just as they are _now_; there
is simply a difference in the mode by which this opposition is manifested.
THEN, it was by argument, supported by local and Federal legislation.
NOW, it is by violence, and the subversion of all law.
THEN the North reasoned and counselled with the South; endeavored to show
them the great wrongs done to the bondman, and that the nation could not
prosper under the terrible curse of slavery.
NOW the strong arm of the Government is put forth to compel a respect for
the rights accorded to _all_ under the law; a situation which, it appears,
nothing but the determined front presented by the Administration will lead
the people of the South finally to accept.
The efforts of the wicked leaders to misguide the masses are persistent.
Many right-minded people of the South are misled by the false statements
put forth by those who should, and do know, better, and the pernicious
results of whose influence time and the dissemination of truthful
intelligence can alone eradicate.
In many instances Republicans have been elected to office, and these are
the so-called carpet-baggers. In some localities negroes and mulattoes
have been elevated to places of power and trust, and, for this, the people
of the South are largely indebted to their own willful neglect.
The Joint Select Committee to inquire into the condition of affairs in the
late insurrectionary States, allude to this subject in the following
language:
"The refusal of a large portion of the wealthy and educated men to
discharge their duties as citizens, has brought upon them the same
consequences which are being suffered in Northern cities and communities
from the neglect of their business and educated men to participate in all
the movements of the people which make up self-government. The citizen in
either section who refuses or neglects from any motive to take his part in
self-government, has learned that he must now suffer and help to repair
the evils of bad government. The newly-made voters of the South at the
close of the war, it is testified, were kindly disposed toward their
former masters. The feeling between them, even yet, seems to be one of
confidence in all other than their political relations. The refusal of
their former masters to participate in political reconstruction
necessarily left the negroes to be influenced by others. Many of them were
elected to office and entered it with honest intentions to do their duty,
but were unfitted for its discharge. Through their instrumentality, many
unworthy white men, having obtained their confidence, also procured public
positions. In legislative bodies, this mixture of ignorant but honest men
with better educated knaves, gave opportunity for corruption, and this
opportunity has developed a state of demoralization on this subject which
may and does account for many of the wrongs of which the people justly
complain."
Had the evil ended simply in a neglect upon the part of leading citizens
to discharge their duties as such, the remedy might have the more speedily
been applied. But the views of these men were to be carried far beyond a
mere declination to take part in the political reconstruction. They
determined that others should not do it and live at peace. Threats and
violence were brought into requisition to intimidate and prevent the well
meaning from using their efforts to render the political situation such
that society could improve rather than be retarded under it.
Evidences of the wide-spread defection are not wanting. That the various
orders of the Ku Klux Klans, were guided by men of intelligence, is amply
shown these pages; and the fact is corroborated by testimony taken before
the Investigating Committee above referred to.
One of the witnesses before this Committee was Gen. N. B. Forrest, of
Tennessee, late of the rebel army, and to whom a vast array of
circumstances pointed as being the GRAND CYCLOPS of the Ku Klux Orders.
The fact that he was in receipt of from fifty to one hundred letters per
day from all parts of the South upon the subjects of the Order; that he
was present in person in districts of the South where its members were
placed upon trial; that he had the general conduct and management of
affairs at such trials, hovering near the courts, though not appearing in
them; that when asked if he had taken any steps in organizing the Order,
he made reply that he did not think he was compelled to answer any
question that would implicate him in anything; that when asked if he knew
the names of any members of the Order, he declined to answer, and finally
said he could only recollect one name, and that was Jones; these, and
numerous other circumstances which the investigations have developed, but
which a want of space forbids reciting here, lead to the inevitable
conclusion that Gen. Forrest was at the head of the Order.
Some care has been taken to arrive at this fact, as it is evident that a
man of enlarged experience and liberal education, as General Forrest is
known to be, would draw about him men of equal caliber, thus
substantiating the assertions that the operations of the Ku Klux Klans
were guided by men of intelligence, education, and influence, who had been
violent secessionists, who had rebelled against the Government, and who
were determined to thwart all its endeavors to restore peace and harmony
to the distracted country.
General Terry, commanding military district of Georgia, makes report as
early as August, 1869, to the Secretary of War, in which he says:
"There can be no doubt of the existence of numerous insurrectionary
organizations, known as the Ku Klux Klans, who shielded by their
disguises, by the secrecy of their movements, and by the terror which they
inspire, perpetrate crimes with impunity. There is great reason to believe
that in some cases _the local magistrates are in sympathy with the members
of these organizations_."
General Terry's testimony is borne out by that of the United States
officials and secret agents and the evidence of recanting members of the
order. The cases of Harry Lowther, Ex-sheriff Deason, Susan J. Furguson,
Edward Thompson, and hosts of others, show men to have been engaged in
these murderous outrages, who were leading lights in the various
communities in which they lived. It is not therefore true, as has been
attempted to be made out by the Democratic party, that it is the rabble
only who are engaged in the treasonable movement.
It is not contended here that all the Democrats of the South are Ku Klux,
but it has been most conclusively shown that all the Ku Klux are
Democrats, and that they are sworn to oppose the spread of Republican
principles. They are determined to rule, and to rule with a rod of iron.
They have settled in their minds that "no government but the white man's
shall live in this country, and that they will forever oppose the
political elevation of the negro to an equality with the whites."
The report of the above committee, alluding to this condition of affairs,
very justly says:
"The facts demonstrate that it requires the strong arm of the Government
to protect its citizens in the enjoyment of their rights, to keep the
peace, and prevent this threatened--rather to say this initiated--war of
races, until the experiment which it has inaugurated, and which many
Southern men pronounce now, and many more have sworn shall be made a
failure, can be determined in peace. The race so recently emancipated,
against which banishment or serfdom is thus decreed, but which has been
clothed by the Government with the rights and responsibilities of
citizenship, ought not to be, and we feel assured will not be left
hereafter without protection against the hostilities and sufferings it has
endured in the past, as long as the legal and constitutional powers of the
Government are adequate to afford it. Communities suffering such evils,
and influenced by such extreme feelings, may be slow to learn that relief
can come only from a ready obedience to and support of constituted
authority."
That communities in some portions of the South are still suffering from
the evils herein referred to is an established fact, and the testimony is
not confined to the cloud of witnesses herein cited. The existence of the
Orders of Ku Klux Klans, and the allegations of the outrages perpetrated
by its members, have been proven before courts of justice. The most
learned advocates employed to defend these criminals have not attempted to
deny it.
No less a legal light than the Hon. Reverdy Johnson, of counsel, who
appeared, to defend persons charged with the commission of crimes similar
to those narrated in the foregoing pages, has admitted it. The trials in
which Mr. Johnson appeared as such counsel were had before the November
(1871) term of the United States Circuit Court, at Columbia, S. C.
On the sixteenth day of the proceedings, the evidence for the Government
having closed, Mr. Johnson made his opening for the defense; and although
standing before the court as the legal defender of the members of one of
the most terrible organizations known to modern times, he was compelled,
in justice to human decency, and in acknowledgment of the truth of the
statements presented to the court by the United States Attorney, to use
the following language in his address to the jury:
"I have listened with unmixed horror to some of the testimony which has
been brought before you. The outrages proved are shocking to humanity;
they admit of neither excuse or justification; they violate every
obligation which law and nature impose upon them; they show that the
parties engaged were brutes, insensible to the obligations of humanity and
religion. The day will come, however, if it has not already arrived, when
they will deeply lament it. Even if justice shall not overtake them, there
is one tribunal from which there is no escape. It is their own
judgment--that tribunal which sits in the breast of every living man--that
small, still voice that thrills through the heart, the soul of the mind,
and as it speaks gives happiness or torture--the voice of conscience--the
voice of God.
"If it has not already spoken to them in tones which have startled them to
the enormity of their conduct, I trust, in the mercy of heaven, that that
voice will so speak as to make them penitent, and that, trusting in the
dispensations of heaven--whose justice is dispensed with mercy--when they
shall be brought before the bar of their great Tribunal, so to speak, that
incomprehensible Tribunal, there will be found in the fact of their
penitence, or in their previous lives, some grounds upon which God may
say: PARDON."
THE STATISTICS,
as to the number of those who have been the victims of outrages
perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klans, are necessarily meagre.
Many of them are recorded alone in the blood of the unoffending victims;
thousands of mouths that could speak the unwelcome truth, have been
sealed, and are sealed to-day, through fear, and dare not make the
terrible revelations; but sufficient have come to light to afford an
approximate idea of the extent to which the pernicious designs of the
Order have been carried.
With all the figures before us, and with a desire to keep within, rather
than exceed the bounds, the awful truth must be confessed, that _not less
than twenty-three thousand persons_, black and white, have been scourged,
banished, or murdered by the Ku Klux Klans, since the close of the
Rebellion: an average of more than two thousand in each of the States
lately in insurrection.
Great care has been had in arriving at these figures. All the available
sources of information have been exhausted by research, and the facts
obtained have been in a manner borne out by collateral evidence, tending
to confirm the accuracy of the statement.
The committee appointed by the Legislature of Tennessee (special session
of 1868), to investigate the subject, reported to that body, that:
"The murders and outrages perpetrated in many counties in Middle and West
Tennessee, during the past few months (1868), have been so numerous and of
such an aggravated character, as to almost baffle investigation. The
terror inspired by the secret organizations, known as the Ku Klux Klans is
so great, that the officers of the law are powerless to execute its
provisions. Your Committee believe that, during the last six months, _the
murders alone_, to say nothing of other outrages, would average _one a
day_, or one for every twenty-four hours."
Gen. Reynolds, as commander of the Fifth Military District--comprising the
State of Texas--in his report to the Secretary of War, 1868-9, says:
"Armed organizations, generally known as Ku Klux Klans, exist in many
parts of Texas but are most numerous, bold, and aggressive east of the
Trinity River. The precise object of the organization in this State, seems
to be to disarm, rob, and in many cases, murder Union men and negroes.
_The murder of negroes is so common as to render it impossible to keep
accurate account of them._"
Gen. O. O. Howard, reporting to the Secretary of War (1868-9), says, of
the State of Arkansas:
"Lawlessness, violence, and ruffianism, have prevailed to an alarming
extent. Ku Klux Klans, disguised by night, have burned the dwellings and
shed the blood of unoffending freemen."
In the Louisiana contested election cases (1868), the terrible extent to
which these outrages were carried, was shown by most conclusive evidence.
One of the members of the Committee selected to take testimony in those
cases, says:
"The testimony shows that over _two thousand persons_ were killed,
wounded, and otherwise injured in that State, within a few weeks prior to
the presidential election; that half of the State was overrun by violence;
that midnight raids, secret murders and open riots, kept the people in
constant terror until the Republicans surrendered all claims, and then the
election was carried by the Democracy."
Referring to the well-authenticated massacre by the Ku Klux, at the parish
of St. Landry, in 1868, the report says:
"Here (St. Landry) occurred one of the bloodiest riots on record, in which
_the Ku Klux killed and wounded over two hundred Republicans in two days_.
A pile of twenty-five bodies of the victims was found half buried in the
woods. The Ku Klux captured the masses, marked them with badges of red
flannel, enrolled them in clubs, marched them to the polls, and made them
vote the Democratic ticket."
It is estimated that, in North and South Carolina, not less than five
thousand were scourged and killed, while more than that number were
compelled to flee for their lives. In Florida and Georgia, the outrages
were not so numerous, but they were marked with greater atrocity and
brutality.
In further consideration of this question, the numbers and extent of the
various orders of the Ku Klux Klan, may be taken as a partial guide. The
testimony of Gen. N. B. Forrest is pertinent to the point. His position as
GRAND CYCLOPS of the Order, lends to his testimony the probability of
truth which it would not otherwise possess; and when it is considered that
he gave it with the greatest reluctance, one readily arrives at the
conclusion that his figures are by no means exaggerated. According to the
statements made by Gen. Forrest, the Order numbered not less than _five
hundred and fifty thousand men_. According to his estimate, there were
_forty thousand Ku Klux in the State of Tennessee_ alone, and he believed
the organization still stronger in other States.
Here, then, we have a vast array of men banded together with the secret
purpose of banishing from the country, or scourging and murdering all who
differed from them politically. In view of the numbers and extent of this
organization, and the positive evidence of the fearful work of its
members, the statement that twenty-three thousand persons have suffered
scourging and death at their hands, may be considered under, rather than
over, the real numbers.
In North Carolina alone, eighteen hundred members of the Order stand
indicted for their participation in outrages upon persons and property.
In South Carolina, the number reaches over seven hundred. Florida,
Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, and other States, swells the
aggregate to more than five thousand, and the investigations upon which
these indictments have been procured, disclose a condition of affairs,
which, it is difficult to conceive, could exist in a civilized
community;--much less in a Republic, noted among the nations of the earth
for its liberality, its progression, its enlarged freedom, the security of
life, liberty, property, and the equal rights of all.
THE EXISTENCE OF THE EVILS herein enumerated is placed beyond all doubt
and cavil. In the light of the recorded and corroborated facts, the nation
will demand to know:--
_First._ How far the present administrators of the Government have
fulfilled the duties and responsibilities confided to them by the
people?
_Second._ What has been done to remedy the evils that have made life
in Southern communities intolerable and unsafe?
_Third._ What steps are necessary to prevent a recurrence of these
evils in the future?
Happily the first two questions have been amply answered in the acts of
the administration.
A careful study of the necessities of the case, the enactment of
appropriate laws, applicable thereto, and their vigorous, but humane
enforcement, constitute a plan, the successful elaboration of which gives
answer to the third question, of "how a recurrence of these evils may be
prevented in the future."
To those who may have entertained the idea, that the work of restoring
order and securing to _all_ the citizens equal rights, nothing can be more
comprehensive than the language of the committee of investigation. In
alluding to this point, the report says:--
"Looking to the modes provided by law for the redress of all
grievance--the fact that Southern communities do not yield ready
obedience at once, should not deter the friends of good government in
both sections of the country, from hoping and working for that end.
"The strong feeling which led to rebellion and sustained brave men,
however, mistaken in resisting the Government which demanded their
submission to its authority; the sincerity of whose belief was
attested by their enormous sacrifice of life and treasure, this
feeling cannot be expected to subside at once, nor in years. It
required full forty years to develop disaffection into sedition, and
sedition into treason. Should we not be patient if in less than ten,
we have a fair prospect of seeing so many who were armed enemies,
becoming obedient citizens?"
DURING THE THREE BRIEF YEARS in which the present administration has held
sway over the destinies of the nation, what has been accomplished? Upon
its accession to power, the people of the South were struggling under
political disabilities, and a consequent social condition that had
detached them from the onward march of civilization, and was hurrying them
back to anarchy and ruin. They had become morose, bigoted, violent.
The law of revenge had usurped that of order. They writhed under the
results of the war and the downfall of their cherished institutions, and
they had sworn that what could not be gained by a war upon the nation at
large, should be had by a local war of extermination upon the--to
them--offensive portions of the races, black and white, that opposed, or
would not coincide with them.
It was a delicate question; but the wisdom of the newly chosen leaders of
the nation have been equal to the emergency, and, to-day, light begins to
dawn in the dark places; the supremacy of the law is being established,
and by a continuation of the same wise and humane policy in the future,
the people of _all_ the States may abundantly hope for the restoration of
peace and harmony in the South, where, but so recently, all was chaos and
confusion.
In view of what has thus far been said, I call upon my countrymen,
everywhere, not to be deceived as to the real issues of the hour.
ADDENDA.
A retrospective glance at the field of American politics during the past
twelve years discloses several significant facts worthy of especial
attention.
The most casual observer cannot fail to have been impressed with the fact
that there has been a growing disposition in the minds of the people to
make the welfare of the Country and not the advancement of party, the
issue, in the struggle for political supremacy.
The political opinions of the masses are based upon foundations materially
different from those usually accorded them by the would-be leaders, who
attempt to form opinions for, and force the same upon the people.
There is a spirit in politics that rises superior to party clap-trap and
unhealthy journalism, and which determines the problem of government with
far greater accuracy than any amount of machinery designed for the
accomplishment of any special end.
Political organizations live or die by their _acts_ and not by their
_machinery_. Without that spirit that seeks the greatest good of the
greatest number, they inevitably go to decay and final dissolution. With
that spirit they rise to the grandeur of well ordered governments.
Principles may be outraged and promises disregarded for a time but the end
must come sooner or later, and re-action in such cases usually means
annihilation.
During the past twelve years the principles and promises of the two great
political parties of the United States--the Republican and the
Democrat--have been more severely tried and tested than at any similar
period of time since the foundation of the Republic. Upon the maintenance
of certain principles and the fulfilment of certain promises, either party
have based their claims to the confidence of the American people. It
matters but little how seductive these principles may appear in their
enunciation, or how glowing the promises for future good, one must judge
of them, and the people will judge of them as they have been illustrated
in the acts of either party to whom the reins of Government have been
confided.
Given that both parties announce that they have the interests of the whole
people at heart, then the results that have accrued from the accession of
either to power must be the standard by which their principles must be
measured, and their good or bad faith established. These results give rise
to momentous questions. They lead thinking men to ask, if within the
Democratic ranks, slavery has not always found its ablest advocates.
If it was not the Democratic party that formed a compact and coalition
with the slave holders of the South, with the understanding that if
slavery could be maintained, slave holders would help to keep the
Democrats in power.
Was it not through the supineness of a Democratic Administration that the
rebellion was engendered and the fortifications and other property in the
Southern States belonging to the Government allowed to pass unquestioned
into the hands of its sworn enemies?
Was it not to the Democratic party that the South looked for assistance in
deed and word to carry on a war aiming at the destruction of the Union?
Did not the South rest its hope in the Democratic party to oppose every
measure taken by the loyal North in defence of the Government and the
salvation of the Union?
Did not the Democratic party in the interest of their brethren in the
South, resist the draft in the North, thus causing the bloody riots of
'63?
Was it not the Democratic party that opposed emancipation, the policy of
reconstruction, universal freedom and universal suffrage?
Did not the weakness and vacillation of a Democratic Administration plunge
the country into a contest by which hundreds of thousands of citizens were
slain upon the field of battle, their widows and orphans left to the
charities of the Republic, and the nation saddled with an enormous debt?
Is it not the Democratic party which has striven for years, and which is
still struggling, to maintain itself in power through its Tammany
organization at the North, and its Ku Klux organization at the South; the
one stealing the money of the people to sustain the other in scourging
them?
Is it not upon the success of the Democratic party that the Ku Klux Klans
base their hopes for the future? And do they not expect, through the aid
of their Democratic allies to rescind the present Ku Klux laws, and
thereafter to scourge and kill radicals and negroes with impunity?
Is it not to the Democratic party that the leaders of the Ku Klux Klans
look for help and shelter from the consequences of the numerous outrages
perpetrated by them in the Southern States?
Was it not a Democratic Administration that bequeathed to the country,
foreign complications of a delicate nature, the foreshadowings of
internecine war, a depleted Treasury, an impaired credit, a general
feeling of insecurity in business and financial circles, and an almost
dismembered Nation?
Has it not been for years the record of the Democratic party that it has
conspired against humanity and justice, aided to rivet the fetters of the
slave, sown the seeds of demoralization in politics, and by its cringing
subserviency to the slaveocracy of the South aimed a blow at the National
life?
Is the Democratic party sincere in its profession to accept in good faith
the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution,
while strenuously objecting to all laws designed for the enforcement of
the provisions of those amendments?
Does the Democratic party hope to blind the people by its shallow pretence
of a new departure from the principles advocated by it since its
organization?
Do the old Democratic party ring-masters expect to mislead the people by a
mere visionary reconstruction of Tammany, and can they hope to erase the
foul stains upon their party linen to such an extent as to have them
accepted as pure and unspotted garments?
These are some of the questions at present mooted in the silent heart of
the Nation. They are the questions of the hour and upon them the people of
the whole country are called to decide, as to which of the two great
political parties the future welfare of the Republic may be confided with
the greatest safety.
In making this decision the minds of the people naturally revert to the
records of the Republican party as manifested through its administration
of the Government, its vindication of its professed principles, its
fulfilment of its promises for the redemption of the nation. And what is
that record?
Upon its accession to power in 1861 the Republican party found the country
upon the verge of a civil war. Some of the nation's strongholds were
already in the hands of the traitors, and the incompetency and weakness of
its predecessor were everywhere apparent. Never in all its history had
such an opportunity been presented it to redeem the pledges it had made
in the interests of human justice and human freedom. True to its loyal
instincts it rose to the dignity and the grandeur of the occasion.
It at once instituted the most vigorous measures for the National defence.
By it the most wicked rebellion ever organized among men was put down.
Through the Republican party the integrity of the Union was preserved, and
its place maintained among the nations of the earth as one of the leading
powers.
By it financial measures were inaugurated and carried out that have
brought unparalleled prosperity to the country.
By it the credit of the nation has become firmly established at home and
abroad.
Through its labors in the cause of human freedom the bondmen have become
emancipated and assume equal rights with freemen.
By a wise administration in its foreign relations the country is at peace
with all nations, and the citizens of the American Republic traveling in
foreign climes are honored and respected.
By a vigorous enforcement of the laws, criminals of every degree, in all
sections of the country, have been brought to justice.
By it bands of deadly assassins, skulking at midnight behind hideous
disguises, and warring upon innocent women and children have been
suppressed and broken up. And by it they have been compelled to answer for
their numerous crimes.
Through the unwearied efforts of the Republican party Universal Suffrage
has become a law of the Nation, freedom of speech and freedom of opinion
everywhere vindicated throughout the land, and the right to exercise the
elective franchise as their consciences might dictate, guaranteed to all.
By it the States lately in insurrection have been reconstructed upon a
prosperous basis, and brought back into the folds of the Union.
By it the public lands have been opened to settlers; manufactures
stimulated through the establishment of a judicious tariff, and labor
dignified and made prosperous through an enhanced remuneration for
services performed, and a reduction in the hours of toil.
* * * * *
These are but a few only of the acts of the Republican party. They are
based upon principles through the consummation of which the Government has
been administered with more than ordinary honor and integrity. Principles
that have given birth and sustenance to an administration in which every
appearance of evil has been scrutinized, every unworthy public servant
ferreted out and punished, every effort put forth to prevent frauds upon
the Revenue and the Treasury.
An Administration in which the most trivial charges made against it by the
most personally bitter and partizan newspapers have been probed to the
bottom.
An Administration in which every law upon the Statute books has been
enforced with the whole power of the Government.
An Administration by which the rights of the laboring classes have been
maintained; the status of the newly emancipated citizens defined and
enforced; the dignity of the flag and the honor of the nation everywhere
upheld.
An Administration whose Chief Executive was, in the dark hours of civil
war, "the hope of America and of Liberty."
A Chief Executive who resolutely set his face against the enemy upon the
field of battle until victory crowned our banners. Under whose wise and
skillful leadership might and right joined hands in solid union, and the
Nation drew the long and refreshing breath of freedom.
A Chief Executive whom the nation sought out as its chosen leader, General
Grant, the hero of Vicksburg--the Wilderness--Richmond. By his bravery in
the Camp and his sagacity in the Cabinet the fires of liberty burn bright
and unextinguishable.
By his stern and uncompromising adherence to the interests of the whole
people, unbounded prosperity rests upon the country.
By the extraordinary financial policy of his administration the public
debt has been reduced three hundred millions of dollars; the people
relieved of a burden of taxation amounting to nearly one hundred millions
of dollars annually, gold brought from 133 to 109, and the public credit
restored.
Under his administration every loyal soldier of the war of the Rebellion
who served ninety days in the Union Army acquires the right to a homestead
upon the public lands, or if dead the right reverts to his heirs.
These are some of the truthful remembrances that come back to the minds of
the people, and they cast about them in vain for any measure which General
Grant has ever enforced against the will of the masses, for any act to
lessen their faith in his personal purity and official integrity, for one
solitary principle of the party that elevated him to power, which he has
not vindicated, for one single promise which he has not fulfiled.
To General Grant, the hero of the war of the rebellion, who wrested
victory from doubtful battle fields, who stood unflinchingly at his post
in the darkest days of the nation's history, the people turn instinctively
as the standard bearer in the coming political contest.
By his utter self abnegation and his preference for the welfare of the
masses rather than the political aggrandisement of a few leaders, he has
acquired the most malevolent partizan opposition ever encountered by any
Chief Magistrate of the Nation.
By the strong voices of the people reverberating over the country, and by
the more recent utterances from the granite hills of New Hampshire, the
thrifty valleys of Connecticut, the loyal voters of Rhode Island, his
policy is endorsed and his future political status insured.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The Night Hawk is an attache of the Ku Klux Camp, whose business it is
to scour about, and locate the victims upon whom visitations are ordered
to be made.
[2] Alluding to the shooting of a Mr. Cason a few days before.
Transcriber's Notes:
Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.
Punctuation has been corrected without note.
The following misprints have been corrected:
"transspires" corrected to "transpires" (page 24)
"Deacon's" corrected to "Deason's" (page 44)
"of of" corrected to "of" (page 47)
"straighforward" corrected to "straightforward" (page 67)
"rise rise" corrected to "rise" (page 138)
Other than the corrections listed above, inconsistencies in spelling and
hyphenation have been retained from the original.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Nation's Peril, by Anonymous
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