-Chapter III- SLAVERY, WAR, AND RECONSTRUCTION (1850-1900)
The KKK
In northwest Georgia, though the whites usually outnumbered the Negroes, relations between the two groups were terrible. The Ku Klux Klan, representing themselves as the ghosts of soldiers who were slain in battle, was organized to deal with the problem and whipped offenders for sass, insolence, and theft, as well as lynched those accused of rape. The blacks and some whites were warned against loafing, thievery, and prowling. The warning, sometimes a stern lecture but often a bundle of switches left on the offender's doorstep during the night, was enough to cause anyone, regardless of color to stop his wicked ways.
The Ku Klux Klan was condemned by Congress and by negative sentiment in the South and, as far as Congress knew, the Klan disbanded by 1869. But in Northwest Georgia, including Murray County, the flame of the Klan had just kindled. The KKK and its successor, the "White Caps" were responsible for several hangings, shootings, and whippings in Murray County in the last decades of the nineteenth century.
The first Murray County Klan members were very respected men, mainly Civil War veterans, who wanted to keep order and were reasonably successful in doing so. The men met during the day in front of the courthouse in their regular clothes to plan their nocturnal activities. At night they would ride through the town toward their destination wearing their white robes. Seeing the Klansmen start out on a raid was exciting and frightening for children who happened to be looking out the window!
Although the Klan was a secret organization, most people had pretty good ideas as to who were members. Some people still do not want anyone to know about membership in the Klan, while others are like Mr. Hill Jones of Chats-worth who quickly states that his grandfather, M.M. Bates, was a Murray County Klansman. Another self-admitted leader was Dr. E.G. Stafford of Ramhurst. Both were well-known Murray residents.
In Murray County, the Klan was active in the 1870's. A black man. Carter Griffin, was hanged by the Klan in Spring Place in 1874. Levi Branham wrote in his My Life and Travels that the Klansmen entered a store to buy forty feet of rope with which to hang another Negro, John Ward, in 1875 and told other customers, "Every rat to his hole." Mr. Branham continued his account of the episode by saying: "I suppose every rat did get to his hole. I know I got to mine ... I don't know whether I made any tracks or not, but I got home."
In a newspaper article of 1930, Branham told that in 1885 a rumor started that a black Ku Klux Klan existed in Murray because a white man poisoned a black man. Of course, the white KKK immediately investigated, but no organization was discovered. However, by this time, the old Klan was dying out in Murray County, having served whatever purpose it had had for a time. Unfortunately, another organization arose, similar to the KKK in dress and occasionally in leadership. This organization was called the "White Caps." Although not formed for that purpose, it soon became involved with the whiskey business. Since the county voted "dry" in 1886, moonshining abounded. County historian Charles Shriner wrote in 1911:
Although many joined it (White Caps) from honest motives, it must be admitted that reckless daring and love of adventure prompted others. Persons who were suspected of reporting stills were beaten or killed. Personal malice quite often prompted their raids. They soon became dreaded by the law-abiding citizens as a menace to public peace and safety . . . Fortunately the strong hand of the law has put a stop to the Order in this part of the country and none perhaps are more pleased to have it so than the very men who unthoughtedly instituted it.
In the winter of 1888-89 the "Distillers Union" was formed in the Cohutta Mountains and spread to other counties. This so-called Union was the White Caps. Each area had a club with captains, a lieutenant, and four referees. They were mostly autonomous within each district and at first wore black caps and hoods, but then began wearing the white hoods modeled after the KKK. They were responsible for at least 18 night attacks and acts of collective violence between 1889-1894. The peak was in 1894 with five reported raids. Naturally, not all events were reported in what newspapers then existed and if any cases went to court, there were fewer convictions because some of the "White Cappers" would be on juries. In 1889 the White Caps, alias the KKK, shot John Duncan, a black tenant farmer living with a white woman. Later they attempted to raid Walker Dwight's farm, but he and his wife hid and were never found by the men. Dwight was also a black man. In 1891 members of the White Caps killed Hosey Jones on what has been termed a personal vendetta and also shot John Bentley Davis, another black man who was involved with a while woman. The most famous of the White Caps' escapades occurred in 1894 and was the turning point in the history of the organization. Levi Branham wrote that on June 7, 1894, he and Will Roper went to Nix Spring to purchase some whiskey. Four days later five White Caps shot Roper and threw him in a pit in the hills of east Ramhurst. The men felt that Roper had reported the site of iheir still. Branham said that Roper was not actually a "reporter," but he had testified against moonshiners. Roper remained in the pit for five days according to official accounts, though some say eight or nine. He survived on roots and water found in the bottom of the pit until a Mr. Springfield heard Roper's cries while hunting and rescued him. After being nursed back to health, Roper went directly to the sheriff who arrested the men who had thrown Roper into the pit. When he testified against them, four of them were sentenced to ten years in prison along with a $1,000 fine while the fifth man received an eight-year sentence and a $500 fine. The White Caps, who were mostly Democrats and owned little or no land, had been condemned by the "Murray County Farmer's Alliance" for their night riding in 1890 and 1891. The Alliance could not stop them, but Mr. Roper did!
The White Caps died out after 1894 and following the turn of the century the KKK in general weakened. However, the Klan was revived in 1915 with bitter opposition both state- and nation-wide. The revival began in Atlanta and the major concern was World War I. Colonel William Joseph Simmons of Atlanta and Imperial Wizard of the KKK visited Chatsworth on Sunday, March 31, 1918. Following an introduction by Mr. R. Noel Steed, Col. Simmons gave what The Chatsworth Times termed "an eloquent address" to "a large crowd assembled at the courthouse." Members of the local Klan attended wearing their robes. The Times went on to say that at the end of the speech "the audience ... expressed its appreciation in a great burst of applause. The local Klan at Chats-worth . . . received its charter and elected officers Tuesday night (April 2). It is steadily adding to its ranks.. ."
As the revival continued in the 1920's, Murray County was again touched. On October 25,1923, the following appeared in The Chatsworth Times-
If you are interested in the principles for which the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan stand, and desire to know more about this growing patriotic organization, or to become a member of the same, address inquiries to Box C, Chatsworth, Georgia, and the same will be referred to the proper authorities.
Since the 1930's the Klan has become less and less active in Murray County, though crosses have been burned at various intervals. The Chatsworth Times of March 31 I960 reported, "A cross was burned on the vacant lot next to Chatsworth Cabinet and Supply just outside the city limits on March 26, 1960. Just who was responsible or exactly what was the motive has not been determined." Thus a part of Reconstruction has lingered well into the last half of the twentieth century.
Though Confederate veterans had organized the original KKK in Murray County, they must have looked upon the new organization with dismay. While the White Caps and new Klansmen rode through the land or aroused others with their oratory, these stately old gentlemen were elected to local offices in order to rebuild Murray through good government. They came to represent the best of the Old South and Old Murray.
Murray County Heritage