Part 8

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 Caesar 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.