tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920009031690353866.post6262895161717147623..comments2023-11-13T12:37:50.833-05:00Comments on Army of Tennessee: "A True Story of the Ku Klux, White Caps and Happenings in the South"Lee Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00582934303160302669noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920009031690353866.post-82171248520647358292008-07-18T19:09:00.000-04:002008-07-18T19:09:00.000-04:00Great post. It was a long-held story that my great...Great post. It was a long-held story that my great-great grandfather was a "leader of the Klan" in Dent County, Missouri. <BR/><BR/>Later, I found an old family history said he "was a member of the Vigilantes and was shot and killed while riding with them."<BR/><BR/>Here is the story from the local paper:<BR/><BR/>Whitecaps Shot<BR/>The Harveys, Near Salem Mo., Fire to Kill<BR/><BR/>SALEM, MO., June 13 [1895] – The residence of Eli M. Harvey, two and one half miles north of Salem was the scene of the tragical result of a whitecap affair last night. Shortly after midnight a mob composed of twenty five or thirty men called at Harvey’s and demanded that John, a son of Harvey, come to the door. John answered the call, but not until the mob had entered the house. <BR/><BR/>Harvey immediately fired into the crowd, fatally wounding Joseph Nelson and injuring to some extent another whitecap, whose name has not yet been learned. -[From the St. Louis] Star Sayings. <BR/><BR/>It's clear they were vigilantes of the Klan sort, although perhaps out on a mission that apparently did not involve race this time. <BR/><BR/>Here's a follow-up article that sheds some more light. <BR/><BR/>[From the] Salem Leader<BR/><BR/>In the case of the State against John Harvey, before Esq. Hogle, last Friday, upon the charge of burning three ricks of hay belonging to John Robnett, the defendant was held to bail in $1500 to the next grand jury. The evidence showing his presence in the vicinity of the Robnett place was very direct, and sundry letters were introduced in testimony, claimed to be written by John Harvey, which seemed to threaten the destruction of some of Robnett’s property by fire. As usual, a young women was the prime cause of the trouble. Harvey was in love with a girl whom he accused Robnett of keeping from him, and he wrote the letters in question to induce Robnett to give the girl up to him. Harvey has been regarded as a young man of good character and we hope to see him clear and himself [sic] of the accusation. [Dent County Prosecuting Attorney] Mr. [J.J.] Cope prosecuted; Capt. [J.S.] Ault defended. <BR/><BR/>Certainly an interesting case of extra-legal violence, but apparently not one that (officially anyway), served as an "ongoing act of memory making that made Klansmen and White Caps into heroes who upheld morality, racial order, and law."<BR/><BR/>I'm very interested in reading more. thanks for the great post.Editorial Staffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11844483212763666949noreply@blogger.com