The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-05-17
Qrip1n of the Knklnx.

Origin Of the Kuklux.
We find the following floating
around credited to an "Unknown
Exchange" As one Of the individ-
uals mentioned as among the origi-
majors of the order, the writer only
has to say that the revelation is
true in the main, there being mis-
take as to date and one, perhaps, in
the name of the individual who first
suggested the idea. Instead of
1886 the order was founded in 1868:
In the fall of 1886 James r.
Grove, now a resident of Sheffield,
Ala, had returned to his home at
Pulaski, Tenn, after three years.
service in the Confederate army.
Although not a young man in years,
be was full of good-natured devil
try and fond of adventure, and one
day said to one of his friends:
Lets few Of US band together
and have secret society which
will be mystery to the old folks"
1t was agreed to and Mr.. Grove,
F. o. McCord, John C. Lester, Cal
vim Jones, John Kennedy, I. L.
Shapard and r. Reed met one even
ing in the law office of young Jones'
father, who was. lawyer and abb
sent from town, and formed the first
ku-klux organization ever heard of
in this country.
1t was then named and the OBJ
ject, as all state, and must be &C
cepted for the truth, was simply for
mystery and amusement. The sec
ond meeting was held on the ground
of DIR. Carter, a hillside outside the
town. A tornado had partially de-
molished the house and Frustrated
many of the cedars IN the groves
around it, making a wild and lonely
place, and it was at night, amidst
these ruins, that the candidates were
initiated. The name ku-klux was
adopted from a Greek word and the
boys originated the form of initia-
ton and the various grips and pass
words. The idea as stated was fun
and mystery, and to carry this out
every member was privileged to
Disguise as he saw fit. Candidates
were taken in one after another,
and finally a public parade was
held. This was the head and front
of an organization which quickly
lspread over the whole south. While
the Pulaski organization never post
ed threatning letter nor gave q
man warning, other organizations
were formed with different aim in
in view. Every member was dis
guised and each one surrounded
himself with as great a mystery as
he could, and it was the awe which
the public felt and expressed that
encouraged other organizations with
other objects.
| The close Of the war had left the
south full of bad men, both white
and black. Law was powerless to
reach them, and it was to grapple
with this evil that the ku -klux So
cieties sprang into existence all over
| that section. There were instances
where the work was carried too far,
and where bad men banded together
to do evil, but the original object
of every society, which included the
respectable citizens of the neighbor-
hood, was solely to protect the COM
munity. And that object was &C
compllshed by the earlier organiza-
tions more thoroughly than history
has ever stated. Lawless characters
who were preying on the people,
and who cared nothing for law or
life, were driven off or frightened
into reform by the ku klux. In time
the organization was made use of
to crafty personal spites, and this
led to great abuses, which were
never contemplated by the organiza-
ton of the order. There was no
thought of politics or correction in
the first society, and rs soon as Mr..
Grove and his friends saw how the
organizations were sprlnging into
life, and the bad use being made oil
4 their power, they withdrew from it
entirely.