The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1884-08-21
Eu xLux xRoNIxLEs.
a Batch ofGross Errcrs and MisreI-
resentations

The New Ork Sun OF Aug. OF
C n aims long letter from Raleigl
y. C.purpGrting to be report of
conversation with Capt. b. ShOl
veil, who vas sentenced in 1871 t
NO years imprisonment as Kr
klux. His attention was called |
ne his,ory OF the KukIux recent
nblished by Rev. Mr.. Wilson an
apt. JnO. c.. Lester of Pulaski an
re enters into an elaborate correc
ion (?) of the errors contained il
he book. We are forced to con
clude from his Misrepresentation
that the captains sentence was just
as he must have belonged to tn
narauders and murderous band
that hid their identity under th'
Kuklux aegis. OF the book h
says:
SIT was written by man who appar
,.ntly knew little of the history of the
order and whose conclusions, founded
on secondhand information, are unius
and misleading. He pictures the klar
as fantastic affair, born at frolic anC
continued as means of frightening the
Jarkies. | will not undertake to deny
that such a society was started as he
states, but presume the author got hi
tnformstion from disjointed converea-
tiOns of men who were in the club
originally started in froic. \
IC may he that the first cub of the gen.
eral nature Of the klan started then, but
the relationship was as connected as
the ats steam engine with the mod
ern Mogul locomotive"
He then proceeds to give a his
tory of the terrible times of carpet
baggery and mentions the existence
of several other organizations born
in diffe, ent sections to meet the re
quiremenis and expressions of such
localities. He evidently gets these
bastards mixed with the real khan
and perhaps thinks he was himself
a KukluX. He goes on:
ssThe name Ku-Klux originated from
the soubriquet Company O." so IA
miliar to OH soldiers OF both armies
AT the initiation OF members into the
Q company a gun was cooked and
pointed at the hea of the applicant to
test his nerve. The click-click OF the
lock while the gun was being cooked
suggested the words Ku-Klux, and can
didates tor initiation were finally called
subjects TO be Ku- Kluxed. The word
came into use and was by the disband-
ed Q men brought into one of the socie-
ties OF the Invisible Empire. The
wierd and meaningless sound of the
name Ku-KluX brought it to the nntic..
OF the society. AS the Invisible Empire
held a great power by reason OF it,
my stery, this society rPa lily caught at
the strange word and adopted it as
de ignatiOn
"what about the Pulaski club dis
banding the Kn-Klux in 1862"
GAS l have said, there being no or
gaHiZation am ny the orders through
Ut the states, each being left TO act a.
suggested in its field,
Pulaski Klan had no authority over any
Of hrr 50 -iety, and had no power to or
ganiZe 1r disOrganiZe anyLhing beyond
iJself. 1t Is ridiculous TO assume that
rhe Pulaski maniIesboes disbanded, or
hai any power to order the disbanding,
oI the secret s0cieties thr, uShout the
SOU h, when Pul,ski's Khan was not the
head anl had no authority over them"
'..fh n the Kn KluX Kans, or the
Empire were not disbau led in 1869 "
"ay dear sir, they did not really
active operations Until after
that time. 1t was in 1870 that the war
ln the Invisible K upise broke loose Ia
this state. The most stirring
ime in the history was in 1869. AMI ~
they had no correction wish and were
lot subject tO the Pulaski Kan, the
OF that society hal no author
iIy to disbani anv other society oil eth
pr the Invisible Empire or the White
.sDid the Pulaski order hold a posi-
iian of any prominence in the socie-
lies 90
"The Pulaski club was not the only
barlesque association that masqueraded
under tile regalia OF, and borrowed in
fluence from the Ku Klux Klans. Other
similar socie les assumed Ku-Klux col
Irs to mystify the public and marched
ntO villages with masked process -jons,
With stuffed elephants and other gro
csqne an mails"
The errors and misrepresentation
above are enormous. AS we stated.
,he captain belonged to some bogus
concern. The accuracy of all his
statements may be gauged by what |
ne says concerning the origin of the |
word Ku Klux. He heard that and |
repeats it as authentic. The wri- |
.er of this knows absolutely and |
and does not have to re
y on reports and hearsay, that the
Tord originated in the brain of Cal
vim Jones, esq'r, long since deceas-
sd, son of Judge Thos. M. Jones
now of this city. The writer of this
Knows absolutely that the Klan did |
originate in Pulaski, Tenn, in the
manner and at the time described |
n the book criticised, and he
Knows personally and from well au-
,henticated facts in personal and |
close association with the persons
Who originated and carried on the
that the statements in |
he book from beginning to end are
exactly correct and true. The wri-
,er was a printer at the case at the |
lime and knows personally of trans
actions and publications at the time
hey substantiate all the allegations |
Is to its origin,and he lived here dur
ng all the time and had reason to
Inow of all of the movements of the
and he here states, not
lpon hearsay, that the book is a
correct history of the rise and fall
# the Invisible Empire, as far as it
,oes. The organizations referred
o this by persons were not Kuklux.
{ was these organizations that
ibused the orjer and forced Its
The latter part OF
he interview is based upon a mis-
apprehension. 1t has never been
tated thai the Pulaski Klan order
'd the disbanding of the order.
This organization became a minor
,art of it, and although it was look
"a upon far aud wide as the parent