St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-07-20
THE KUKLUX KHAN.

The following synopsis of an article in the
July Century giving an account of the origin,
growth and disbandment of the notorious
knklux kan which sets the seal of infamy
on class of men much higher in the social
scale than was generally credited with the re-
sponsibility of the midnight organization,
cannot fail to be read with interest. Accord
ing to the author of this article, the Rev. D.
L. Wilson, Presbyterian of the south, sthe
OF Pulaski, in Middle Tennessee. It was a
time OF universal discomfort in the south,
when there was no business and no society,
and this organization was formed simply for
the amusement of certain young men who
were suffering from ennui. The name was
manufactured from the Greek word Kuklas
(clrcle), Khan being added for euphony. II
was founded on secrecy even to the identity
OF Its numbers. There was a grand cyclops
or president and grand Turk or marshal,
and there were lictors to guard their eden, -
which at first was a lawyers office. The in
vitations to this mysterious circle were not
unlike the @horriblesn associated with such
occasions in college secret societies. When
the office had become too small for the Khan,
more isolated and appropriate 'sden' was
found in the 'sLn of what was once a fine
mansion. The main part had been demol-
ished by a cyclone. 1t stood alone on the
brow of a hill Night sessions in this desc
late retreat with lictors dressed in flowing
gowns, tall cardboard hats and white masks
were sufficient to rouse the curiosity and
wonder of the community. During the sum-
mer of 1865 it was the Sensation of tine
hour" The fame of the khan was in the To-
cal press and then wandered into other towns.
Members were admitted from out of town,
and finally associate "dens'' were established
in other parts of the state. When the winter
had set in the hearts of the young men in
other states were opened and they too had
their khan dens. Thus the amusement
grew. the Pulaski s'den" being the model for
them ALL
But in the spring of 1867 the various
kuklux klans through the south were trans
formed into bands of REGULATORS -
This change from an entertainment to po-
litlcal factor was caused by the anomalous
and peculiar condition of affairs in the
south" The spread of the order became
more and more marked as its regulating fea-
lures were noised about And then the ne
gro population began to band themselves in
to perverted form of the union league''
This forced the khan into protective organ
ization," and the robberies and lawlessness
of the negro, we are told were checked for a
time. The next great step In the kuklux
history was general convention of all the
''dens" at Nashville in the spring of 1867
The territory represented was called the SIN
visible empire,' over which was elected a
grand wizard and full corps of sub-grands,
and it was voted in glittering generates
that the innocent should be protected or
phans of the confederate soldiers aided and
the laws of the United States enforced. 1t
was not until better public opinion and a
stricter execution of the laws had put the
members of the order in personal peril, that
an order of disarmament was issued. This
was in the fall of, 1868.
The legislatures of several states
had taken the matter up, and the order was
issued as matter of self-defense. But the
fact that it was not voluntarily disbanded as
soon as 1t began to be used for purposes not
designated by its founders, discredits Mr..
Wilson'S theory of its origin. For several
years after the order of disbandment was TO-
sued midnight outreges upon the freedmen,
persons of northern origin and southerners
accused of favoring the reconstructive acts
Of congress continued, and it was not until
congress made the offenders punishable in
the federal courts, and authorized the pres
ident to suspend the habeas corpus act when
necessary to the preservation of order, and
the United States troops were employed in
the troubled districts, that this revolving out
lawry came to an end. The great body of
the southern people deplored the crimes OF
the Kuklux, and it is rather late in the day
for minister of the gospel to offer an apollo
gy for them.''