Before the crowd could respond, a man yelled out, “Damned shore do! I lost my farm five days ago. Some son-of-a-bitch from up North bought it up ‘fore I could raise the money.”
Immediately several other men called out that they also had lost their land.
The speaker reached inside his coat and pulled a pistol out and waved it above his head. “Now don’t you think it’s about time we done something about it? Don’t you think it’s time we take the South back before it happens to more of us?”
At that, the crowd roared and screams and gunshots rang out.
The speaker then beckoned to Frankie who was standing near the back of the platform. “Mister Olliver, I think we got ‘em ready for him. You can bring him on in now.”
A tall well-dressed man with graying black hair, a mustache, and goatee stepped up on the platform and walked toward the podium. A complete silence covered the room for a moment, then someone, recognizing the man, exclaimed, “It’s Forrest, It’s Gen’ral Forrest!”
Once again murmuring rippled over the men assembled and then what began as one man chanting, spread instantly through the group. “Forrest! Forrest! Forrest!” Over and over the men called his name until finally the guest raised his hand and all became quiet.
“Gentlemen, Sons of the South, Soldiers of the Grand Confed’racy, it’s indeed a pleasure to stand before you tonight,” Forrest said. “Any of you men ride with me during the war?”
Several of the men raised their hand and a round of applause filled the building.
“God bless you for the sacrifice. How many of you served in the field for us?” Forrest continued.
Most of the men raised their hand and gave a yell that years earlier had sent chills through Union soldiers as they awaited the waves of gray and butternut clad Confederates in battle formation.
Forrest continued, “Men, things ain’t going too good for us since the Yankees run us off the fields. I always felt that we could’ve fought ‘em longer. We could’ve made ‘em pay a heavier price. We quit the war too soon for me.”
With that statement a roar of agreement sounded and one man in the back of the building screamed out, “You want us to take up arms again, Gen’ral? We can raise another army!”
Forrest raised his hand for quiet and said, “Appreciate your dedication sir, but we ain’t exactly wanting to raise another army of that kind. What we do plan to do is to raise an army of loyal Southerners to get control of our government. We want you Miss’sippians to take the Governor’s seat, all the legislators’ seats, all the way down to your justices of the peace. When you get control of your government then you’ll have control of what happens in this state. The war is over and there won’t be no return of slavery, but we can seize what is rightfully ours. We can stop them rascals from making a mockery of our society, and we shore as hell can stop ‘em from taking our homes away from us.”
“How can we do that Gen’ral? Some of us ain’t even eligible to vote nor hold office,” a man called out.
“Good question,” Forrest answered. “The group that’s sitting over there at Jackson is sorry Northerners who come down here to take advantage of the situation, turncoat Southerners loyal to the Yankee dollar and them illiterate Negroes that can’t even read nor write. What we got to do is simply find us some young men who are eligible to run for office and put our total support and financial backing behind them.”
“But, with some of us not able to vote, we probably won’t have no majority in most of the counties,” Frankie said, standing next to the platform.
Forrest looked down at Frankie and replied, “Son, your job is to get every man you can to the polls on voting day and a little bit of money and whiskey in the right place can do wonders for an election.”
“What if we are still outnumbered,” Frankie replied.
Forrest reached inside of his jacket, pulled a revolver out and raised it arms length above his head. “You then persuade them bastards to stay home on election day. As I have often said, ‘You get ‘em scared and you keep the scare on ‘em.’”
With that he discharged his pistol overhead, causing a state of pandemonium.
After order was restored Tim called out, “Gen’ral, how far do we go with the scare!”
Returning his pistol to its holster, Forrest replied, “To get Miss’sippi back ain’t gonna be no easy task and it’s gonna take a lot of sacrifice on all of you. Some folks could get killed and some of you men right here tonight might have to pay the price. Just depends on how bad you want freedom.”
Instantly the group began shouting, “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” as several men discharged their pistols.
Professor Hendon then called out, “Sir, we can’t do this without some help, some kind of organization.”
Mister McWorthan, sitting near the podium leaned over to Forrest and said, “You got ‘em General, finish it off.”
“Men, what I’m gonna tell you is confidential and for us to be successful you got to keep it quiet. All over the South there are meetings just like this one going on and we don’t plan to only get Miss’sippi back, but we plan to take control of all the South and we do indeed have a organization that’ll do the job. An organization like folks have never seen.”
“What’s it called, General?” someone yelled out.
“It’s called the Ku Klux Klan, Gentlemen,” Forrest answered.
“Who’s running this here Klan and how do we join it?” Frankie asked, raising his hand to get Forrest’s attention.
“Men, you know all you need to know for right now, but you will be contacted ‘fore long. There will be men in every county and community assigned to lead you, but before we close our meeting I just want to know if’n you approve of what’s going on here tonight.”
With the shaking of fist and shouting in support, there was no doubt in Forrest’s mind that the Klan had arrived in Newton County.
As Forrest sat down, McWorthan returned to the podium and began reading a list of names of men Forrest wanted to see as soon as the meeting closed. Among the names called, to the surprise of John and Tim, were the names Ernest Hendon and Frank Olliver.
As the group dispersed, John and Tim waited outside for the Professor, wondering what Forrest wanted with him and Frankie. After about half an hour Hendon apppeared.
“Big night boys, wasn’t it?” Hendon asked as he approached. “Haven’t got much time. Frankie and I are going over to Meridian tonight to meet with some men. John, just tie my horse up in the gin by the water barrel and tell my wife I’m out on business and be sure she knows I’m not chasing any skirts, strictly business. I’ll get my horse in the morning.”
John assured the Professor he would take care of the matter and as the train was leaving for Meridian, Tim decided he would go with Hendon and Frankie to spend a little time in the city. The lure of city life with its gambling opportunities, drinking and women of the evening was too much for Tim to resist.
As
