Ku Klux Klan: Its Origin, Growth and Disbandment Part 2

Amus.e.m.e.nt was still the end in view. But now the method by which they propose to win it were those of secrecy and mystery. So when the report of the committee on rules and ritual came up for consideration, the recommendations were modified to adapt them to the new idea. The report as finally adopted, provided for the following officers: a Grand Cyclops, or President; a Grand Magi, or Vice-President; a Grand Turk, or Marshal; a Grand Exchequer, or Treasurer; and two Lictors.

These were the outer and inner guards of the "Den," as the place of meeting was designated.

The one obligation exacted from members was to maintain profound and absolute secrecy with reference to the order and everything pertaining to it. This obligation prohibited those who a.s.sumed it from disclosing that they were Ku Klux, or the name of any other member, and from soliciting any one to become a member. The last requirement was a singular one. It was enacted for two reasons. First, it was in keeping with the determination to appear as mysterious as possible, and thus play upon the curiosity of the public. Secondly, and mainly, it was designed to prevent unpleasantness following initiations. They wished to be able to say to novices: "You are here on your own solicitation, and not by invitation from us." They desired accessions; to have them was indispensable; but they knew human nature well enough to know that if they made the impression that they wished to be exclusive and select, then applications for members.h.i.+p would be numerous. The result showed that they reasoned correctly.

Each member was required to provide himself with the following outfit: A white mask for the face, with orifices for the eyes and nose; a tall, fantastic cardboard hat, so constructed as to increase the wearer's apparent height; a gown, or robe, of sufficient length to cover the entire person. No particular color or material were prescribed. These were left to the individual's taste and fancy, and each selected what in his judgment would be the most hideous and fantastic, with the aim of inspiring the greatest amount of curiosity in the novice. These robes, of different colors, often of the most flashy patterns of "Dolly Varden" calicos, added vastly to the grotesque appearance of the a.s.sembled Klan.[24]

[Ill.u.s.tration: COSTUMES WORN IN MISSISSIPPI AND WEST ALABAMA FACING PAGE 58]

Each member carried also a small whistle, with which, by means of a code of signals agreed upon, they held communications with one another. The only utility of this device was to awaken inquiry.[25]

And the object of all this was amus.e.m.e.nt--"only this, and nothing more." A few young men debarred for the time by circ.u.mstances from entering any active business or professional pursuits, and deprived of the ordinary diversions of social life, were seeking in this way to amuse and employ themselves. The organization of this Klan was to them both diversion and occupation. But where, it may be asked, did the fun come in? Partly in exciting the curiosity of the public, and then in baffling it; but mainly in the initiation of new members.

The ritual used in the initiation was elaborate, but not worthy of reproduction. It is enough to say that it was modeled on and embraced the leading features of the ritual of an order which has long been popular in colleges and universities under various names.[26] In one place it is the "Sons of Confucius;" in another, the "Guiasticutus;"

but everywhere, the "Ancient and the Honorable," and the "Mirth-Provoking."

The initiations were at first conducted in the law office, where the suggestion for the formation of the Klan had been made. But it was not a suitable place. The room was small. It was near the business portion of the town, and while in session there, they never felt entirely free from apprehensions of interruption.[27]

They soon found a place in every respect better adapted to their purposes. On the brow of a ridge, that runs along the western outskirts of the town, there used to stand a handsome and commodious residence. The front, or main building, was of brick, the "L" of wood.

In December, 1865, the brick portion of this house was demolished by a cyclone. The "L" remained standing, but tenantless. It consisted of three rooms. A stairway led from one of them to a large cellar beneath. No other house stood near. Around these ruins were the storm-torn, limbless trunks of trees, which had once formed a magnificent grove. Now, they stood up, grim and gaunt, like spectre sentinels. A dreary, desolate, uncanny place it was. But it was, in every way, most suitable for a "den," and the Klan appropriated it.[28]

When a meeting was held, one Lictor was stationed near the house, the other fifty yards from it on the road leading into town. These were dressed in the fantastic regalia of the order and bore tremendous spears as the badge of their office.

As before stated, and for the reasons a.s.signed, the Ku Klux did not solicit any one to join them; yet, they had applications for members.h.i.+p. While members were not allowed to disclose the fact of their members.h.i.+p, they were permitted to talk with others in regard to anything that was a matter of common report with reference to the order. If they chose, members were allowed to say to outsiders: "I am going to join the Ku Klux." If the persons addressed expressed a desire to do likewise, the Ku Klux would say, if the party was a desirable one: "Well, I think I know how to get in. Meet me at such a place, on such a night, at such an hour, and we will join together."

Other similar subterfuges were resorted to, to secure members without direct solicitation. Usually, curiosity would predominate over every other consideration, and the candidate would be found waiting at the appointed place.

As the Ku Klux and the candidate approached the sentinel Lictor, they were hailed and halted and questioned. Having received the a.s.surance that they desired to become Ku Klux, the Lictor blew the signal for his companion to come and take charge of the novices. The candidate, under the impression that his companion was similarly treated, was blindfolded and led to the "den." The preliminaries of the initiation consisted in leading the candidate around the rooms and down into the cellar, now and then placing before him obstructions which added to his discomfort, if not to his mystification. After some rough sport of this description, he was led before the Grand Cyclops who solemnly addressed to him numerous questions. Some of these questions were grave, and occasionally a faulty answer resulted in the candidate's rejection. For the most part they were absurd to the last degree. If the answers were satisfactory, the obligation to secrecy, already administered, was exacted a second time. Then the Grand Cyclops commanded:

"Place him before the royal altar and adorn his head with the regal crown."

The "royal altar" was a large looking gla.s.s. The "regal crown" was a huge hat bedecked with two enormous donkey ears. In this headgear the candidate was placed before the mirror and directed to repeat the couplet:

"O wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursel's as ithers see us."

As the last word was falling from his lips, the Grand Turk removed the bandage from his eyes, and before the candidate was his own ludicrous image in the mirror. To increase the discomfiture and chagrin which any man in such a situation would naturally feel, the removal of the bandage was the signal to the Klan for indulgence in the most uproarious and boisterous mirth. The Grand Cyclops relaxed the rigor of his rule, and the decorum hitherto maintained disappeared, and the "den" rang with shouts and peals of laughter; and worse than all, as he looked about him, he saw that he was surrounded by men dressed in hideous garb and masked, so that he could not recognize one of them.

The character of these initiatory proceedings explains why, from the very first, secrecy was so much insisted on. A single "tale out of school" would have spoiled the fun. For the same reason the Klan, in its early history, was careful in regard to the character of the men admitted. Rash and imprudent men--such as could not be confidently relied upon to respect their obligation to secrecy--were excluded. Nor were those admitted who were addicted to the use of intoxicants. Later on in the history they were not so careful, but in the earlier period of its existence the Klan was composed of men of good habits.[29]

In some instances, persons not regarded as eligible to members.h.i.+p, or not desirable, were persistent even to annoyance in their efforts to gain admission to the order. Such persistence was occasionally rebuked in a manner more emphatic than tender.

One young man had a consuming desire to be a Ku Klux. The sole objection, to him was his youth. When he presented himself to the Lictor, the latter received him kindly, and led him blindfold, "over the hill and far away" to a secluded spot, and left him with the admonition to "wait there till called for." After hours of weary waiting, the young man removed the bandage from his eyes and sought the shelter of the paternal roof.

Another of riper years, but for some reason not acceptable to the order, made repeated efforts to join the Klan. For his special benefit they arranged to have an initiation not provided for in the ritual. A meeting was appointed to be held on the top of a hill that rises by a gentle slope to a considerable height, on the northern limits of Pulaski. The candidate, in the usual way--blindfold excepted--was led into the presence of the Grand Cyclops. This dignitary was standing on a stump. The tall hat, the flowing robe, and the elevated position made him appear not less than ten feet tall. He addressed to the candidate a few unimportant and absurd questions, and then, turning to the Lictors, said: "Blindfold the candidate and proceed."

The "procedure" in this case was to place the would-be Ku Klux in a barrel, provided for the purpose, and to send him whirling down the hill! To his credit, be it said, he never revealed any of the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan.[30]

These details have an important bearing on the subsequent history of the Ku Klux. They show that the originators of the Klan were not meditating treason or lawlessness in any form. Yet the Klan's later history grew naturally out of the measures and methods which characterized this period of it. Its projectors did not expect it to spread. They thought it would "have its little day and die." It lived; it grew to vast proportions.

FOOTNOTES:

[14] The writer, D.L. Wilson, was not a member. The secrets of the Klan were not printed or written, but were communicated orally. In Appendix IV, p. 197, will be found versions of the oath taken by the members.--_Editor._

[15] In 1871-1872 a Committee of Congress made an investigation of affairs in the South. Its report, with the testimony collected, was published in 13 volumes, and is usually called the Ku Klux Report. See Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama, p. 701; Garner, Reconstruction in Mississippi, p. 344.--_Editor._

[16] See above, p. 23.

[17] General Forrest said that the order was disbanded in the fall of 1868. See Ku Klux Report, Vol. XIII., pp. 3-35.--_Editor._

[18] Wilson's account in the _Century Magazine_, July, 1884, says that the order was founded in June, 1866.--_Editor._

[19] This was the law office of Judge Thomas M. Jones, father of one of the originators.--_Editor._

[20] Survivors say that six men organized the club and that others joined soon after.--_Editor._

[21] This committee was composed of Calvin Jones and R.R.

Reed.--_Editor._

[22] In this committee were J.R. Crowe, J.C. Lester and John Kennedy.--_Editor._

[23] Spofford was a brother of A.R. Spofford, Librarian of Congress.

He was a native of New Hamps.h.i.+re, who removed to Louisiana and held high judicial office there before the Civil War. After 1870 he spent much of his time in Pulaski. In 1877 he was elected to the United States Senate from Louisiana, but the Senate seated W.P. Kellogg, a carpetbagger from Illinois, who had been voted for by the "Packard Legislature."--_Editor._

[24] "Their robes used in these nocturnal campaigns consisted simply of sheets wrapped around their bodies and belted around the waist. The lower portion reached to the heels, whilst the upper had eye-holes through which to see and mouth-holes through which to breathe. Of course, every man so caparisoned had one or more pistols in holsters buckled to his waist."--_Ryland Randolph._

[25] It is said that the members of the Pulaski Den wore small metal badges.--_Editor._

[26] In the Southern colleges of today the peculiar Greek letter fraternity known as Alpha Sigma Sigma, and the inst.i.tution of "snipe hunting" most nearly resemble the Klan in its early stages.--_Editor._

[27] After leaving the law office of Judge Jones the Klan met for a while in a room of the _Pulaski Citizen_ building. The editor of the _Citizen_ was a member of the Klan and his paper published the orders, proclamations and warnings sent out by the officials.--_Miss Cora R.

Jones._

[28] This building was the property of Dr. Benjamin Carter, grandfather of the present postmaster of Birmingham, Alabama.--_Miss Cora R. Jones._

[29] "My information was that they admitted no man who was not a gentleman and a man who could be relied upon to act discreetly; not men who were in the habit of drinking, boisterous men, or men liable to commit error or wrong."--General _Forrest in Ku Klux Report, Vol.

XIII, p. 22._

[30] Later, when Brownlow's Administration was endeavoring to crush out the Ku Klux Klan, one of his detectives sought to gain admission to the order. His purposes became known and the Nashville Den, which he was trying to join, put him into a barrel and rolled it into the c.u.mberland River, drowning the detective.--_Was.h.i.+ngton Post_, _August 13, 1905._

CHAPTER II.

THE SPREAD OF THE KLAN.

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

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