Description is exactly "This is a collection of articles related to the original Ku Klux Klan that formed just after the Civil War.
The Ku Klux Klan was founded in late May or June of 1866 by six bored ex-Confederates in Pulaski, Tennessee; these men young men wanted to found their own fraternal order similar to the Freemasons or Odd Fellows; they chose the Greek term kuklos or “circle” as their name. One of the members then suggested calling themselves ku klux and someone else suggested affixing the term klan at the end, to create ku klux klan. Like the members of other fraternal orders fanciful costumes were worn (originally red, black, etc., with hoods or masks). By early-mid 1868 this group had evolved into a clandestine vigilante group which used violence and intimidation to terrorize local freedmen and their white Republican allies.
Local and national newspapers reported Klan activity in Florence and the larger Shoals area in November of 1868 and again in March of 1869. Different sources reported between 125 and 500 Klansnsmen who murdered "one very bad" black man named "Ellis" in Florence on November 21, 1868 however in this instance at least, the Klansmen may not have been from Florence-Lauderdale as the men, when asked to unmask themselves did so but weren't recognized by anyone.
Florence-Lauderdale apparently did not have an official Klan chapter until April 1925, and it appears to have been defunct by 1928 due to public sentiment, led by the press and city/county officials being against it. "
