Ku-Klux This page intentionally left blank Ku- Klux the birth of the klan during reconstruction Elaine Frantz Parsons The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill This book was published with the assistance of the Anniversary Endowment Fund of the University of North Carolina Press. © 2015 The University of North Carolina Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Designed by Alyssa D’Avanzo Set in Quadraat by codeMantra, Inc. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003. Jacket illustration: Courtesy of the North Carolina Museum of History Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Parsons, Elaine Frantz, 1970– author. Ku-Klux: the birth of the Klan during Reconstruction / Elaine Frantz Parsons. pages cm “This book was published with the assistance of the Anniversary Endowment Fund of the University of North Carolina Press.” Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-1-4696-2542-3 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 978-1-4696-2543-0 (ebook) 1. Ku Klux Klan (19th century) 2. Domestic terrorism—United States—History— 19th century. 3. Racism—United States—History—19th century. 4. United States— Race relations. I. Title. hs2330.k63p37 2015 322.4'20973—dc23 2015026763 Portions of this work appeared earlier in somewhat different form in Elaine Frantz Parsons, “Klan Skepticism and Denial in Reconstruction-Era Public Discourse,” Journal of Southern History 77 (February 2011): 53–90, and is reprinted here by the permission of the publisher. To my parents, Janet Elizabeth Frantz and Carl Daniel Frantz, who taught me what I need to know This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction 1 one The Roots of the Ku-Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee 27 two Ku-Klux Attacks Define a New Black and White Manhood 72 three Ku-Klux Attacks Define Southern Public Life 109 four The Ku-Klux in the National Press 144 five Ku-Klux Skepticism and Denial in Reconstruction-Era Public Discourse 181 six Race and Violence in Union County, South Carolina 215 seven The Union County Ku-Klux in National Discourse 264 Conclusion 303 Acknowledgments 309 Notes 315 Bibliography 361 Index 377 This page intentionally left blank Illustrations and Figures “Midnight Rangers” carte de visite 33 Replicas of Robert J. Brunson’s Ku-Klux Klan robe and hood, 1866 42 Hood/mask associated with John Campbell Van Hook Jr., of Roxboro, North Carolina 80 Bonnet/mask that may have been a Klan costume piece 82 Robe and hood said to have belonged to Joseph Boyce Steward of Lincoln County, Tennessee 83 Playbill for a production of Dupres and Green’s Original New Orleans and Metropolitan Minstrels, 1864 89 Tennessee Ku-Klux Klan rider on horseback and in full regalia, c. 1868 113 Image purportedly representing a Yale College initiation ceremony 126 Members of Watertown (N.Y.) Division 289 of the Ku-Klux Klan, c. 1870 200 Frontispiece of the Klan-themed sensationalist novel The Masked Lady of the White House, 1868 204 figure 1 The number of articles in which “ku-klux,” “kuklux,” or “klan” appeared per month in four major newspapers, 1868–1872 150 figure 2 A visualization of the connections between William Faucett and his closest associates in Union, S.C. 225 figure 3 A visualization of the connections between William Faucett and identifiable Union County residents claiming at least $5,000 total property on the 1870 census 229 figure 4 A visualization of the connections between William Faucett and identifiable Union County residents arrested under the Enforcement Acts 300