The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1869-01-22
PROCLAMATION by THE CO.
VERNON. ,3l" W.
Everybody Invited to Enroll--Mar-
tial Law to be Proclaimed.

tial Law to be Proclaimed.
Following will DO found Governor
Brownlow's Proclamation calling out
the /" State Guard" which we copy from
the Knoxville Whig of Wednesday.
WHEREAS, There exist, In the Middle
and West divisions Of this State, lawless
bands of desperadoes. who are setting
at defiance civil law; and who, by
threats and acts Of violence, are forcing
many of our citizens to leave their
homes; and
Whereas, In certain localities, in those
divisions of the State named, it is en-
tirely impossible for the civil officers of
the State to enforce the laws thereof;
and
| Whereas, Those masked Williams, call
ed Ku Klux, arc taking prisoners from
the county jails and hanging them with
out due form of trial, and are entering
railroad trains and abducting thence
passengers pursuing their legitimate
business, and notifying conductors of
Northern birth that they must leave the
State forthwith, thus having driven four
conductors from one road; and
Whereas. Certain ambitious, disap-
pointed and bad men have been engage
ed for the last two or three years in
making inceudiary speeches, advising
the overthrow of the State government,
and thereby infusing an insurrectionary
spirit into the dcluded wretches who
are thus breaking the laws and destroy
ing the quiet and welfare of the State |;
and
Whereas, The leading rebel newspa-
pers of this State have encouraged this
state of things-first, by denying the
existence of the Klan-secondly, by ridi-
culing their atrocious acts, and further
by failing to condemn and denounce
their outrages, showing thereby that at
heart they approve their conduct; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature, now in
session, has so amended the Militia Law
of Tennessee, as to remove the restric-
tons which heretofore crippled it, CIV
ing the Governor full authority to meet
such outrages with sufficient force:
Now, therefore, l, William G.. Brown
low, Governor of Tennessee, do call
upon all good and loyal citizens, to enter
the ranks of the State Guards and be
mustered into service, and assist in put
ting down these lawless combinations
and proceedings, and bringing the Of
tenders to justice, so aiding to preserve
the peace of this commonwealth.
Those enrolling under this call will be
subject to the rules and regulations, as
to rank, pay, &C., governing the United
States Military. Those enrolling in
East Tennessee will be furnished with
transportation to Nashville, where they
will be armed, equipped and distribu-
ted, under command Of Gen. Joseph A.
y Cooper. Companies, heretofore organ
lied, will be preferred.
This proclamation will, in due time,
be followed by another, designating the
counties over which shall declare Mar
tial Law, the effect of which will be to
set aside civil law, and turn offenders
over to the Military, who will try them,
and upon their conviction, dispose OF
them in a summary manner.
These outragcs have been long borne
: with, iii the hope that shey would bl
F. abated by the public sentiment of The
respective communities concerned
Forbearance has now ceased to be q
: virtue. The Executive is not to be
brow-beaten, cajoled nor terrified out
of the discharge of the duties demand.
ed by existing eXigencies.
All citizens who may not enroll under
this call, are hereby requested and ell.
joined to use their utmost endeavors in
conjunction with the State Guards, and
,, otherwise, to restore and preserve the
peace and dignity of this common
wealth, and all citizens are hereby warn
ed against harboring those masked ma
RAIDERS called Ku KluX Klans, or Civ
ing them aid and countenance.
. The Governor is determined to make
the State Guards sufficiently numerous
J and effective, and to continue them il
the field sufficiently long, until Middle
and West Tennessee are as orderly anC
secure, as, happily, East Tennessee is to-
: day.
) Papers in the State authorized by law
to do the public printing, are requested
to copy this Proclamation three times
In testimony whereof l have signed
the foregoing, and affixed the Great Sea
Of the State, this twentieth day Of Jan
uary, A. d., 1869.
William G. BRowNLow.