Something about those who sit in judgment on the affairs of the "Invisible Empire"; their troubles in court.
William J. Simmons (who carries a bogus title as "colonel") is the "Imperial Wizard" of the "Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan." He organized the masked men on Thanksgiving night in 1915. Some of the organizers associated with him had belonged to the original Ku Klux Klan which rampaged in the southern states after the Civil War, killing hundreds of negroes and whites, and which was put out of business by President U.S. Grant after the states had failed to do so.
Simmons and thirty-four others secured a charter from the state of Georgia on December 4, 1915. It is signed by Philip Cook, who was then secretary of state of that commonwealth. Later, on July 1, 1916, a special charter was issued by the Supreme court of Fulton county, Ga. The granting of the charters followed the organization of the Klan which occurred with midnight ceremonies on the top of Stone mountain, near Atlanta, Thanksgiving night.
THAT COLD WINTER NIGHT
In referring to the first ceremonies, Simmons has written as follows in the official records of the Ku Klux:
"On Thanksgiving night, 1915, men were seen emerging from the shadows and gathering round the spring at the base of Stone mountain, the world's greatest rock, near Atlanta, Ga., and from thence repaired to the mountain top, and there under a blazing fiery cross they took the oath of allegiance to the Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
"And thus on the mountain top that night at the midnight hour, while men braved the surging blasts of wild wintry mountain winds and endured a temperature far below freezing, bathed in the sacred glow of the fiery cross, the Invisible Empire was called from its slumber of half a century to take up a new task and fulfill a new mission for humanity's good, and to call back to mortal habitation the good angel of practical fraternity among men."
It will be noticed that Simmons refers to "a temperature far below freezing." The official weather reports of the region for that night show that the temperature was thirty degrees above the freezing point.
Simmons had a fraternal order in mind when he organized the Ku Klux. He had been an itinerant Methodist preacher and organizer for the Modern Woodmen of the World and had not met with success in either capacity. He was a good talker but lacked the "punch" to put things over. The Ku Klux Klan did not prosper under his direction. Then he met Edward Y. Clarke and Mrs. Elizabeth Tyler. Clarke and Mrs. Tyler were the owners of the Southern Publicity Association of Atlanta. During the war they had been publicity agents for various "drives," managed for the Y.M.C.A., such Y.W.C.A., the Salvation Army and such enterprises. Clarke saw the value of the publicity that could be coined from the old name of the Ku Klux Klan and entered into an arrangement with Simmons to promote the Klan. He agreed to give Simmons $100 a week if Simmons would follow his directions. Simmons was to brush up on delivering speeches and writing articles for The Searchlight, a magazine which Clarke founded as the official organ of the Ku Klux.
From this joining of forces Simmons, Clarke and Mrs. Tyler have become rich. The Klan has extended its membership to all except three states and it claims that 500,000 to 700,000 Klansmen are in its ranks. Clarke is the "Imperial Kleagle," or boss salesman of memberships. Mrs. Tyler is Grand Chief of Staff in charge of the woman's division of the Klan.