KLAN, or KUKLUX, kfekliiks' (from Gk. faInNos, kyklos, circle, so called as being a secret society, and Eng. clan, with altered spelling to give• the mysterious abbreviation K. K. K.). A secret organization which existed in some of the Southern States during the period, roughly speaking, from 1866 to 1872. It is said to have originated in Giles County, Tenn., in 1866, during the administration of Governor Brownlow, and to have been at first an associa tion of young men for mutual pleasure and amusement. The demoralization and turbulence of the negroes at the close of the war necessitated, it was said, some means of restraint, which the Government did not then afford. The 'association' devised by the young men of Tennessee was adapted to this purpose. In its beginnings it was not greatly different from the old slave patrol, and was intended simply to scare the superstitious blacks into good behavior and obedience, and its membership comprised some of the best citizens of the South. Its original purposes as set forth in the prescript or constitution of the Klan, a copy of which is printed in the report of the so called Ku-Klux Committee of Congress, were the protection of the weak and innocent from the outrages of lawless and brutal persons: the re lief of the injured and oppressed; the extension of aid to widows and orphans of Confederate soldiers; and assistance to the Government in the execution of all constitutional laws. The prominent Southerners who testified before the Congressional committee asserted in justification that it was intended to counteract the evil influ ence of the Loyal Leagues, or secret political organizations of the negroes, which were formed under the direction of 'carpetbag' politicians for the purpose of controlling the votes of the blacks in the elections.
But the organization was soon perverted. It became a band for the purpose of whipping, banishing, and murdering negroes and '.Northern men.' Many of the better class of citizens aban doned it; and henceforth it consisted of the more restless and lawless characters of the South. At first the organization did not bear the same name in every part of the South. It
was variously known as 'The Knights of the White Camelia,"The Pale Faces,' The Brother hood,' etc., but eventually came to be known everywhere by the more mysterious name of the Ku-Klux Klan. Its sphere of operations was styled the 'Invisible Empire'; the chief function ary was the Grand Wizard; each State was a Realm, ruled over by a Grand Dragon; each Congressional district was a Dominion, at the head of which was the Grand Titan; each county was a Province under the rule of a Grand Giant; and each county was subdivided into Camps or Dens, each governed by a Grand Cyclops. The members of a Den were called Ghouls. They went disguised in their nocturnal raids, the prevailing costume being a long white robe, a mask for the face. and a high cardboard hat or cap with ears or horns attached. The horses which they rode were quite as effectively disguised. Exaggerated tales circulated among the freedmen as to the numerical strength and supernatural powers of the Ku-Klux, said to be spirits of dead Confederate soldiers. Resolutions to punish were introduced in secret meeting of the Klan, and its decision took the form of a decree. The most frequent victims were negroes active in polities, agents of the Freedmen's Bu reau. `carpetbaggers,' sealawags; and Northern school-teachers and ministers. These were some times merely warned to desist from a certain course, or notified to leave the community, but sometimes suffered punishments of whipping or death. In the case of a mere warning or noti fication, the decree was couched in a strange and half-mysterious phraseology, and posted in some conspicuous place about the premises of the vic tim for whom it was intended. The following is a typical example: K. K. K. Dismal Swamp.
2D, XI . lIth hour.
mene, tekel upharsin. The bloody dagger is drawn; the trying hour Is at hand; beware. Your steps are marked; the eye of the dark chief is upon you. First he warns; then the avenging dagger flashes in the moon light. By Order of the Grand Cyclops: