WHEN THE KU KLUX RODE

WHEN THE
KU KLUX RODE

BY
EYRE DAMER

NEW YORK
THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1912

Copyright, 1912, by
The Neale Publishing Company

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INTRODUCTION

This work is undertaken with the wish to gratify a popular desire foraddition to the scant literature relating to the Reconstruction Era andthat most remarkable organization of modern times—begotten of conditionsunparalleled in history, conditions which can never recur, and vanishingwith the emergency which created it—the militant Ku Klux Klan. Only onewriter has ventured far into this field of research, which until thenseemed forbidden, and in his contribution to history, fact and fiction areso interwoven as to be almost indistinguishable. But the widespread andintense interest manifested in his revelations of the origin and purposesof the Klan indicates that the present generation eagerly imbibesknowledge of the sacrifices and achievements of the men who in the awfulcrisis of reconstruction, and against almost insuperable obstacles,rescued the commonwealth from the control of corrupt adventurers andignorant freedmen, and established orderly government, without which thesubsequent marvelous development of natural resources[Pg 6] and advancement ineducation which have placed the state in the forefront of progress wouldhave been impossible. This evident interest encourages the hope that asimple narrative of facts connected with the struggle in that part of theBlack Belt of Alabama which formed the Fourth Congressional District, byone who was in the midst of it and a close observer, will receive awelcome.

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CONTENTS