These declarations give a good idea of what was in the minds of the southern whites in 1867 and 1868, and later.[1930]
Like the Ku Klux Klan, the Knights of the White Camelia disbanded when the objects of the order were accomplished, or were in a fair way toward accomplishment. In some counties it lived a year or two longer than in others. In certain counties, by order of its authorities, it was never organized. It did not extend north of the Black Belt, though it existed in close proximity to the more southerly of the Klans. As the oldest of the large secret orders, the name of Ku Klux Klan was more widely known than the others, and hence the name was applied indiscriminately to all. A local body would assume the name of a large one when there was no direct connection. The other organizations similar to Ku Klux in objects and methods[1931] did not have a strong membership in Alabama.
The Work of the Secret Orders
The task before the secret orders was to regulate the conduct of the blacks and their leaders, in order that honor, life, and property might be made secure. They planned to do this by playing upon the fears, superstitions, and cowardice of the black race; by creating a white terror to offset the black one. To this end they made use of strange and horrible disguises, mysterious and fearful conversation, midnight rides and drills, and silent parades.
The costume varied with the locality, often with the individual.[1932] The Tennessee regalia was too fine for the backwoods Ku Klux to duplicate. The cardboard hat was generally worn. It was funnel-shaped, eighteen inches to two feet high, covered with white cloth, and often ornamented with stars of gold, or by pictures of animals. The mask over the face was sometimes white, with holes cut for eyes, mouth, and nose. These holes were bound around with red braid so as to give a horrible appearance. Other eyes, nose, and mouth were painted higher up on the hat. Black cloth with white or red braid was also used for the mask. Sometimes simply a woman’s veil was worn over the head and held down by an ordinary woollen hat. The “hill billy” Ku Kluxes did not adorn themselves very much. To the sides of the cardboard hats horns were sometimes attached, and to the mask a fringe of quills, which looked like enormous teeth and made a peculiar noise. The mask and the robe were usually of different colors. Sometimes a black sack was drawn over the head, and eyes, mouth, and nose holes cut in it. False or painted beards were often worn. The robe consisted of a white or colored gown, reaching nearly to the heels, and held by a belt around the waist; it was usually made of fancy calico; white gowns were sometimes striped with red or black. As long as the negro went into spasms of fear at the sight of a Ku Klux, the usual costume seems to have been white; but after the negro became somewhat accustomed to the Ku Klux, and learned that there were human beings behind the robes, the regalia became only a disguise, and less attention was devoted to making fearful costumes. As a rule the ordinary clothes worn were underneath, but in Madison County the Ghouls sported fancy red flannel trousers with white stripes, while the west Alabama spirits were content with wearing ordinary dark trousers, and shirts slashed with red. The white robe was often a bed sheet held on by a belt. After a night ride the disguise could be taken off and stowed about the person. The horses were covered with sheets or white cloth, held on by the saddle and by belts. There was, at times, a disguise which fitted the horse’s head, and the horses were sometimes painted. Skeleton sheep’s heads or cows’ heads, or even human skulls, were frequently carried on the saddle-bows. A framework was sometimes made to fit the shoulders of a Ghoul and caused him to appear twelve feet high. A skeleton wooden hand at the end of a stick served to greet negroes at midnight. Every man had a small whistle. The costume was completed by a brace of pistols worn under the robe.[1933]
Ku Klux Costumes.
Worn in Western Alabama.
The trembling negro who ran into the Ku Klux on his return from the love-feasts at the Loyal League meetings was informed that the white-robed figures he saw were the spirits of the Confederate dead, killed at Chickamauga or Shiloh, and that they were unable to rest in their graves because of the conduct of the negroes. He was told in a sepulchral voice of the necessity for his remaining at home more and taking a less active part in various predatory excursions. In the middle of the night the sleeping negro would wake to find his house surrounded by the ghostly company, or find several standing by his bedside, ready, as soon as he woke, to inform him that they were the ghosts of men whom he had formerly known, killed at Shiloh. They had scratched through from Hell to warn the negroes of the consequences of their misconduct. Hell was a dry and thirsty land; they asked him for water. Buckets of water went sizzling into a sack of leather, rawhide, or rubber, concealed within the flowing robe. At other times, Hell froze over to give passage to the spirits who were returning to earth. It was seldom necessary at this early stage to use violence. The black population was in an ecstacy of fear. A silent host of white-sheeted horsemen parading the country roads at night was sufficient to reduce the black to good behavior for weeks or months. One silent Ghoul, posted near a League meeting place, would be the cause of the dissolution of that club. Cow bones in a sack were rattled. A horrible being, fifteen feet tall, walking through the night toward a place of congregation, was pretty apt to find that every one vacated the place before he arrived. A few figures, wrapped in bed sheets and sitting on tombstones in a graveyard near which negroes passed, would serve to keep the immediate community quiet for weeks, and give it a reputation for “hants” which lasts perhaps until to-day. At times the Klan paraded the streets of the towns, men and horses perfectly disguised. The parades were always silent, and so conducted as to give the impression of very large numbers. Regular drills were held in town and country, and the men showed that they had not forgotten their training in the Confederate army. There were no commands unless in a very low tone or in a mysterious language; usually they drilled by signs or by whistle signals.[1934]
For a year or more,—until the spring of 1868,—the Klan was successful so far as the negro was concerned, through its mysterious methods. The carpet-bagger and the scalawag were harder problems. They understood the nature of the secret order and knew its objects. As long as the order did not use violence they were not to be moved to any great extent. Then, too, the negro lost some of his fear of the supernatural beings. Different methods were now used. In March and April, 1868, there was an outbreak of Ku Kluxism over a large part of the state.[1935] For the first time the newspapers were filled with Ku Klux orders and warnings. The warnings were found posted on the premises of obnoxious negroes or white Radicals. The newspapers sometimes published them for the benefit of all who might be interested. One warning was supposed to be sufficient to cause the erring to mend their ways.[1936] If still obstinate in their evil courses, a writ from the Klan followed and punishment was inflicted. Warnings were sent to all whom the Klan thought should be regulated—white or black. The warnings were written in disguised handwriting and sometimes purposely misspelled. The following warning was sent to I. D. Sibley, a carpet-bagger in Huntsville:—