First Page:
Transcriber's Note:
Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has
been preserved.
The pages in Appendix I and II are preserved as printed,
with latin headers and page numbers marked like so:
[Header: 'text' 'page number'], and latin footers like
so: [Footer: 'text'.] A compiled version is included at
the end for the benefit of the reader.
Many of the illustrations are facsimiles, so have
bleedthrough in the original images. Also the first
image is missing in the original.
KU KLUX KLAN
ITS ORIGIN, GROWTH AND
DISBANDMENT
BY
J.C. LESTER AND D.L. WILSON
WITH
APPENDICES CONTAINING THE PRESCRIPTS
OF THE KU KLUX KLAN, SPECIMEN
ORDERS AND WARNINGS
WITH
INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
BY
WALTER L. FLEMING, PH. D.
Professor of History in West Virginia University; Author
of "Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama."
NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
Assistance was given to me while searching for information in regard
to Ku Klux Klan, by many former members of the order, and by their
friends and relatives. Of especial value were the details given to me
by Major James R. Crowe, of Sheffield, Alabama; the late Ryland
Randolph, Esq., and his son, Ryland Randolph, Jr., of Birmingham,
Alabama; Judge Z.T. Ewing, of Pulaski, Tennessee; Miss Cora R. Jones,
of Birmingham, Alabama, niece of one of the founders of the Klan; Mr.
Lacy H. Wilson, of Bristol, Tennessee, the son of one of the authors
of the History printed within, Major S.A. Cunningham and Mr. A.V.
Goodpasture, of Nashville, and Dr. John A. Wyeth, of New York City.
There is still much that is obscure about Ku Klux Klan and I shall be
glad to obtain additional information in regard to the order, and also
to receive notice of mistakes and errors in this account.
W.L.F.
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION.
BY WALTER L. FLEMING. 13
KU KLUX KLAN.
BY J.C. LESTER AND D.L. WILSON.
PAGE
Chapter I. The Origin 47
Chapter II. The Spread of the Klan 68
Chapter III. The Transformation 83
Chapter IV. The Decline 100
Chapter V. Disbandment 125
APPENDICES.
PAGE
Appendix I. Prescript of Ku Klux Klan 133
Appendix II. Revised and Amended Prescript of Ku Klux Klan 151
Appendix III. Constitution of a Local Order 177
Appendix IV. Ku Klux Orders, Warnings, and Oaths 187
Index 199
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Badge worn by high officials of the Klan. See outside cover.
PAGE
2. Some Klansmen 19
3. General Nathan Bedford Forrest, Grand Wizard 28
4. General John B. Gordon 33
5. Room in which the Klan was organized 53
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