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It was the night of November 10, 1923, when the ghosts and gobelins, dragons and kleagles, kligraphs and gum shoe investigators and instigat ors gathered at the agricultural fair grounds, Salem, Oregon, for a secret kanklave. It was a weepy night of the gloomy day of the dismal month in the year 2 of the ex-emperor Simmons and the year 1 of the imperial dragoon Doc Evans. The ghosts paraded in white robes and red robes along the windy ave nues beneath the glimpses of the moon. There was much whispering among the cold and flowing sheets. It was creepy and insidious, funny yet thrilling. Each whisperer said this—‘‘Are ye a Simmons man?” and each answer was this—‘‘It's none of your bizness!”’ When the fiery cross was glowing warmly and the ghosts were shiver ing wanly under their gleaming robes, a fat ghost by the name of Tom Akers, expert gum shoe instigator for Doc Evans, roared these words to the cold footed crowd of bedsheets. (All responsibility for these state ments rest squarely upon the should ers of the K. Kk, K. We quote them verbatim from the columns of the Western American, official Klan pa per for the realm of Oregon. The edition carries the date of Friday, November 16, 1923. A Dramatic Incident A silence—deep, mysterious, pot ent—settled over the vast throng as thousands of hands were lifted to heaven in the famous sign of Klan greeting. It was a dramatic mo ment. Then, as the speaker lowered his hand, there burst from the throats of the great assemblage a thunderous cheer for the absent leader. The thousands who sat in the darkened grandstands of the Fair Grounds, to witness the spectacle, lent their voices to the cheering, which lasted for more than two minutes. A Group of Five The speaker then declared the real “Simmons faction’? to consist of five persons, with a few scattering hang ers-on who cut no figure and have no influence. These, he said, are W. J. Simmons, Dr. W. N. Thompson, D . Fred Johnson, B. Y. Clarke and Dr. Caleb Ridley. “It is to be regretted,” said Mr. Akers, “that the public has been given the idea that ‘Colonel’ Sim mons is a member of the original Klan, a typical old Southern fire eater and a veteran of the Civil War. As a matter of fact, Simmons is not yet 45 years of age, and he got his title from the uniform rank of the W.. O. W. with which order he once was connected. He has been a school teacher, a preacher, a peddler and a good many other things before he had the vision and dreamed the dream which resulted in the formation of the present Knights of the Ku Klux Ilan, “No better proof is needed that God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform, than that W. J. Simmons and B. Y. Clarke should have been the chosen instruments by which our great order was launched upon its noble career. But let me tell you that God does not intend that the Klan, founded upon the greatest (Continued on page 5)
Newspaper Details
Seattle Jewish Transcript
Seattle, Washington, US
Fri, Nov 21, 1924
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Grant E.
USA 24 May 2026
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