USA > Wisconsin > An illustrated history of Wisconsin from prehistoric to present periods : the story of the state interspersed with realistic and romantic events > Part 43
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PAPER,
PRINT, BOOK AND
FLAT PAPERS,
CARDBOARD,
ENVELOPES, WRAPPING PAPERS, ETC., ETC.,
347 AND 349 BROADWAY,
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.
C. K. PIER,
Lawyer,
Room 6, 102 Wisconsin Street, MILWAUKEE, WIS.
IT STANDS AT THE HEAD!
- THE -
CALIGRAPH WRITING MACHINE.
The Caligpoph.
100,000 Daily Users.
Special Nº3.
100,000 Daily Users.
Ask to See the New Keyboard!
Typewriters of All makes for Rent. Typewriter Rib- bons for all machines. Machines sold on easy pay- ments. STATE AGENTS for the MIMEOGRAPH and CYCLOSTYLE.
BADGER TYPEWRITER AND STATIONERY CO., 414 Broadway, Milwaukee, Wis.
MILWAUKEE, December 27th, 1892. To whom it may Concern :- We hereby certity that for several months past, we have used the Caligraph in our office, and that the same has given entire satisfaction. C. S. MATTESON, President Wis. His. Pub. Co.
E. G. COMSTOCK,
Attorney af Law,
Room 6. Second Floor. . 102 Wisconsin Street,
MILWAUKEE, WIS.
Opera House Cafe.
OPERA HOUSE CAFE. *
AUG. R. HENSEL, Proprietor, 507 EIGHTH STREET,
SHEBOYGAN, - - - WIS.
¿ OPERA HOUSE CAFE. *
Opera House Cafe.
MAY NYCHAROS
ENG PMIL
EX-GOVERNOR JEREMIAH M. RUSK.
CHAPTER LIX.
THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
Organization of Treasonable Orders .- Harrison H. Dodd, a Well-Known Citizen of Wisconsin, the First Grand Commander of the Order of American Knights, and Grand Com- mander of the Sons of Liberty for Indiana .- Condensed History of the Orders .- Arrest, Con- viction and Sentence of the Leaders, for Treason.
THE Knights of the Golden Circle, Order of American Knights, and Sons of Liberty, are entitled to recognition in our historical pages, on account of the numerous sympathizers with those bodies, within our borders, during those stormy days that marked the period from 1861 to 1865, and from the fact that the first grand commander of the Order of American Knights has been an honored citizen of Wisconsin for more than twenty years past, during which time he has been the mayor of the city of Fond du Lac, occupied numerous positions of public trust, is still an honored and respected citizen of that city, and is well-known throughout the state as the genial Commodore Harrison H. Dodd.
The Knights of the Golden Circle were a fraternity organized in the South, prior to the war, and had members in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois at the outbreak of the civil strife. Another society, known as the Circle of the Mighty Host, existed for a short period, some of its lodges being organized early in 1861. Then there were the Knights of the White Camellia, and in 1863, the Circle of Honor. Next came that extensive order called the Ameri- can Knights, which had an armed organization throughout the state of Indiana, as well as in Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri, with sympathiz- ers, aiders and abettors in most of the Northern states. This order having been exposed, its ritual was changed, and the order then merged into that ex- tremely insurrectory and treasonable order, known as the Sons of Liberty, which swallowed up all previous orders organized for treasonable purposes.
From various reliable sources, the author has ascertained the origin of these societies. In 1855, one Charles C. Bickley, a native of Indiana, resid- ing in the South, an ardent advocate of the pro-slavery cause, for the purpose of more effectually establishing and organizing the Southern Rights Clubs, which existed in various parts of the slave states, drafted a constitution, by- laws and ritual, and established the order, which he christened Knights of the Golden Circle, and became its first commander.
439
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
The numerous divisions of the order were called " castles," and were divided into subordinate and state castles. The state castles were represented by delegates in the Grand American Legion, from which body emanated the celebrated articles of war, governing the subordinate castles, and requiring military drill. At first the order professed to foster elaborate schemes of con- quest. According to its constitution the annexation of Cuba, Mexico and Nicaragua, were among the numerous objects of its creation. While at first the organization was insignificant in numbers, yet some of the wealthiest and most influential men of the South belonged to it.
The real object of this fraternity was the establishment of a slave empire, surrounding the Gulf of Mexico-the establishment of an empire which should rival the Roman Empire of the Old World, was the dream of those ambitious adventurers, which almost became realistic. "The North is vastly outgrowing us in territory and population. If we cannot get territory in the Union, we can out of it." This was the general sentiment in the South, and the people, with few exceptions, were in favor of the Southern Confederacy.
In 1858, many features of the organization were changed. The "castle" was subdivided into the " outer " and " inner temples," while its members were only admitted, after sufficient probation to determine their political prin- ciples. Like many of its predecessors, the order now began to acquire great antiquity. Regalia were now provided, together with a close helmet, sur- mounted by a crescent, with fifteen stars, representing the growing " Confed- eracy." The skull and cross-bones were also worn as a reminder of the fate of traitors and spies within the order. There was also a temple consecrated to the " Sunny South," with the noon-day sun beneath its dome. Numerous castles now sprang up in the border states, while Northern sympathizers knocked loudly at their doors for admission.
The fraternity was composed of three degrees: Military, financial and governmental. In the first degree, the members were called the Knights of the Iron Hand, and were informed that their first field of operation would be in Mexico, but that it was their duty to offer their services to any Southern state to repel a Northern army. The financial, or second degree, members were known as the Knights of the True Faith, and, were to have their headquarters at Menterly, where stores and munitions of war could be stored. The third degree was composed only of those born in a slave state, while candidates admitted to a " castle " in a free state were required to be slaveholders. The members of this degree were called Knights of the Columbian Star.
Among the obligations in the third degree, were the following: "I will use my best exertions to find out every abolitionist in my county, and forward the name of such to the commander-in-chief. If I know of any who is a stranger or traveler, I will inform the Knights of the Columbian Star in my
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THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
county, and call them to meet in council, that proper steps may be taken for his exposure. I will do all that I can to make a slave state of Mexico, and as such will urge its annexation to the United States. Until the whole civil, political, financial and religious reconstruction of Mexico shall be completed, I will recognize a limited monarchy as the best form of government for the purpose, since it can be made strong and effective. To prevent the entrance of any abolitionist into Mexico, I will sustain a passport system."
The knights took an active part in the presidential campaign of 1860, using their efforts to divide the Democratic party, believing that the vote for Breckinridge would show the strength of Northern sympathizers, and deluded themselves with the belief that those who voted for Breckinridge could be relied upon for soldiers of the Southern army.
When Lincoln was elected, the order sent secret agents into the free states to organize castles, believing that the deliverance of the South had come, but, after the fall of Fort Sumpter, they found their mission a dangerous one, con- sequently the order was principally confined in its workings to the slave and bordering states. Members in the North and border states were to act as spies, and, when possible, to raise military companies to be turned over to the Con- federate service. A knight wrote from Madison, Indiana, to Jefferson Castle, in Kentucky, promising one thousand men "who would fight Northern aggressions to the death." A member of the order at Evansville promised that Vanderburg county would be good for a regiment, while an ambitious knight wrote from Washington, Indiana, that there were thirty thousand men in that vicinity who would unite their fortunes with the South. Another ambitious Indianian, one Drongoole, of Martin county, wrote to Jefferson Davis, declaring his ability to muster and furnish six regiments to the Con- federacy. Jefferson Davis, in his reply, commended his " noble and patriotic endeavors." This letter was intercepted and Drongoole, after being roughly handled, was sent South.
Another great stronghold for the enemies of the Union was Washington and Orange counties, in the southern part of Indiana. A location well adapted by nature as the rendezvous for the wild and unsettled elements of those days- rough, half-mountainous regions, where the civilization is now a quarter of a century behindhand; impregnable localities, neighborhoods where the roads were rough and almost impassable, and where to-day the local banditti seek refuge in caves and dark recesses of the forests-a locality now universally shunned by the wary traveler.
Among these regions, the French Lick Springs gained much celebrity as being the home of Dr. W. A. Bowles, a man of wealth, who served as colonel of the Second Indiana Regiment in the Mexican war. Dr. Bowles had married a Southern woman, and was an active member of the Knights of the Golden Circle, while his house was a rendezvous for Southern sympathizers.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
On May 3d, he writes to his wife, who is then in the South: "If things do not change very soon we shall have fighting here in our midst, for many persons whom I supposed to be true to the South have been silenced, and are afraid to open their mouths in favor of Southern rights. Ayer, Charles Dill, and many others have come out for the North, and call all traitors who do not espouse the cause of the North. God knows what I am to do. If I leave and join the Southern army, my property will all be confiscated; and, besides that, my health is such that I fear I could render no service; but I have already sent some who will do service, and I expect to send more." Later, he becomes discouraged about Kentucky, and writes: "Louisville is in a perfect tumult. The Abolition party is very strong, and I think the worst consequences are in store for Kentucky under her policy of armed neutrality, which I think is a humbug. It is reported that a battle has been fought at Fortress Monroe, and that six hundred abolitionists were killed, and fifty on the Southern side; but I fear it is too good to be true. When the fighting commences, I think I shall go."
Doctor Bowles' fear of the confiscation of his property kept him from going South. He stayed in Indiana, and, according to the testimony taken upon the treason trial, which convicted him and sentenced him to death, be- came one of the leading conspirators in that great center of secession.
During the early part of the war, the defeat of the Northern armies acted as an impetus to the knights, and at these centers Southern sympathy became more outspoken. The Knights of the Golden Circle now spread their organi- zations throughout the South, and numerous meetings were held in out-of-the- way places-in woods, in deserted houses ; men attended with arms, and sentinels were posted to keep away intruders.
According to the testimony taken in May, 1862, by a grand jury of the United States District Court, the Knights of the Golden Circle numbered some fifteen thousand. This estimate was made by members of the order who had recanted. The grand jury also ascertained that lodges were being instituted in different parts of the state; that among the signs and signals of the order, was one invented for the benefit of such members as should be drafted into the army. It became the duty of the soldiers on the other side, upon seeing the signals of the order, to shoot over the heads of those giving the signals. Some of the members of the grand jury, having learned these signals, went to Camp Morton, at Indianapolis, where, among the Confederate prisoners, they soon found that their signals were received and answered.
The Indiana state election, in the fall of 1862, resulted in the election of the whole Democratic ticket, with both houses of the legislature Democratic. An attempt was made in the legislature to investigate the different secret orders, which were thought to be of a treasonable character. After some discussion,
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THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
and many profuse excuses, by the majority, the proposition to investigate was finally laid upon the table by a party vote. While the legislature was still in session, Governor Morton received information "that the knights were armed, and talked of war at home; that they declared that no deserters should be ar- rested; that abolitionists were to be exterminated, and that the Northwestern states would form a government by themselves."
Governor Morton, on March 26, 1863, sent a telegram from Washington to General Henry B. Carrington, who had recently been appointed to the com- mand of the district of Indiana, informing him that large shipments of arms had been sent from New York to Indiana for insurrectory purposes. General Carrington immediately issued an order restricting the sale of arms, and pro- hibiting the importation of weapons for such organizations.
On April 18, 1863, one of the leading knights in Brown county, Lewis Prosser, killed a soldier, and in return was himself mortally wounded. Gov- ernor Morton, now being satisfied that treason in its worst form was lurking in the state, appointed without law, authority or precedent, a commission to inquire into the facts. Witnesses testified " that their neighbors had been driven from home; houses had been burned; the lives of Union men threat- ened; soldiers shot, and that bands of men had been seen drilling and passing through the country fully armed." The agency of the knights in these pro- ceedings was clearly shown.
Throughout the state, especially in localities where dissatisfaction existed, every offense, misdemeanor and crime committed was attributed to the Knights of the Golden Circle, although many of these crimes and offenses were com- mitted by parties outside of the order.
It was at this time, when numerous members of the fraternity came to Indianapolis, with the avowed intention of inciting insurrection, It was here that the absurd "battle " of "Pogue's Run " was fought-the battle where numerous members of the order threw their pistols and am munition into the river, in order to avoid arrest by a handful of soldiers.
The encouragement and inducements held out by these orders prompted the invasion of the state in July, 1863, by a large force under Gen. John L. Morgan, who crossed the river and advanced to Corydon, next to Salem, thence to Vernon. Morgan did not meet with the expected assistance, and, finding that he was being surrounded on every side by troops, crossed the state line into Ohio, and was shortly after captured, and sent to the Ohio penitentiary, from which he subsequently escaped.
Senator Morton, in referring to this organization in the United States Senate, on May 4, 1876, said :
" The state was honeycombed with secret societies, formerly known as the Knights of the Golden Circle, but later as Sons of Liberty. They claimed, in
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
1864, to have forty thousand members in the state ; were lawless, defiant, plot- ting treason against the United States, and the overthrow of the state govern- ment. In some counties their operations were so formidable as to require the militia to be kept on a war footing; and throughout 1863, and until the final explosion of the organizations in August, 1864, they kept the whole state in an uproar and alarm. So bold were their demonstrations in the summer of 1863 that General John Morgan, of Kentucky, was induced to invade the state with his forces, in the belief that there would be a general uprising in his support. In 1864, so numerous were these treasonable organizations, and so confident were they of their strength, that they matured a plan for a general uprising in the city of Indianapolis, on the 16th of August, under cover of a mass meeting of the Democratic party, to be attended by members from all parts of the state. The plan, as shown by subsequent confessions of some of the leading conspira- tors, was, on that day, to release about seven thousand rebel prisoners confined at Camp Morton, seize the arsenal and arm these prisoners, overturn the state government, and take possession of the state. It was discovered some three weeks before the time fixed, and was abandoned by the leading conspirators, and orders were issued countermanding the march of their forces upon Indian- apolis. Subsequently, the discovery and seizure of a large amount of arms and ammunition collected at Indianapolis for treasonable purposes, the seizure of the records and rituals of the order of the Sons of Liberty, giving the names of the principal conspirators, and the arrest of eight of the ringleaders had the effect to break up and destroy the power of the organization; and I regret to have to state that in the list of the principal members of the organization were found three of the state officers, in whose hands the legislature of 1863 had at- tempted to place the whole military power of the state."
The Knights of the Golden Circle, as an order, for obvious reasons ceased to exist in the fall of 1863, but were generally merged into that more extensive order, the American Knights.
The order of American Knights was established during the summer and fall of 1863. Its first grand commander for Indiana was Harrison H. Dodd, a book publisher, at Indianapolis. His natural ability, gentlemanly appearance and personal magnetism, well qualified him as a powerful leader of a better cause. His political life began as a Know-Nothing. At an early age, he was one of the chief functionaries of the Sons of Malta, and, it is said, that the ini- tiations into that fraternity, as conducted by him, were "most impressive." Mr. Dodd's talents are well-displayed in the following extracts from his instruc- tions to the novice :
"In the economy of the intellectual world, there are some degrees of ca- pacity, which arise mainly from physical development ; which result from, and are adapted to the peculiar influences of material nature which surround the
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THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
man. The superior, intellectual and physical development must progress, nor must not be impeded, but aided by the inferior and imperfect, even should the subjection of the inferior to a condition of servitude to the superior be necessary to secure such aid; that servitude, however, being so qualified and regulated by enlightened sentiments and wise and humane laws, that while it aids the progress of the superior, it shall at the same time advance the inferior, by sub- duing and refining influences, toward complete civilization. Hence the servi- tude of the African to the white man, imposed and regulated by wise and humane statutes, and by suggestions of refined public sentiment, should promote the advancement of both races, and is improved by the sanction of divine economy."
Mr. Dodd's logical demonstration of constitutional law, leads us to be- lieve that he missed his natural vocation in life. Continuing his lecture, he says : " Whenever the chosen rulers, officers, or delegates to whom the people have entrusted the power of the government shall fail or refuse to administer the government in strict accordance with the letter of the established and ac- cepted compact, constitution, or ordinance, it is the inherent right and the solemn and imperative duty of the people to resist the usurpations of their functionaries, and, if need be, to expel them by force of arms. Such resist- ance is not revolution, but is solely the assertion of a right, the exercise of all the noble attributes which impart honor and dignity to manhood. Submission to power or authority usurped is unmitigated debasement in an entire people ; and the debasement is increased in degree according to the degree of progress which a people shall have attained before the usurpation began, and shall enlarge its measure of shame while the submission continues."
The following is a part of the candidate's obligation :
" I do further solemnly promise that I will ever cherish in my heart of hearts the sublime creed of the Excellent Knights, as explained to me in this presence; that I will inculcate the same amongst the brotherhood, will, so far as in me lies, illustrate the same in my intercourse with men, and will defend the principles thereof, if need be, with my life, whensoever assailed-in my own country first of all. I do further promise that my sword shall ever be drawn in defense of the right, in behalf of the weak against the strong, where- ever truth and justice shall be found on the side of the weak, and especially in behalf of the oppressed against the oppressor. I do further solemnly declare that I will never take up arms in behalf of any monarch, prince, potentate, power or government which does not acknowledge the sole authority of power to be the will of the governed expressly and distinctly declared, saving, however, a single instance, where a government shall exert its highest power and authority in raising a people from a condition of barbarism or anarchy to a degree of
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
civilization and enlightenment until they shall be equal to the noble work of constructing a government of their own free choice, founded upon the princi- ples of eternal truth.
" I do further solemnly declare and swear, in the presence of these Excel- lent Knights, my witnesses, that I now plight each and every of these my solemn vows, without reservation or evasion of mind whatsover, and with full knowledge and understanding, and with my full assent, that the penalty declared against any violation of any or either of these, my vows and promises, will be a surrender of my body to the tribunal of the Order of American Knights, to be burned and its ashes strewn upon the winds, if it shall be so adjudged, and my sword and the emblems and jewels with which I have been adorned in honor shall be forged into one mass and thrown into the sea, and my name shall become a by-word amongst the brotherhood, to be pronounced only with anathema and scorn. Divine Presence, approve my troth, and ye, Excellent Knights, hear and witness my plighted vows! Amen."
The lecture given to the candidate in the third degree is as follows :
"In the Divine economy, no individual of the human race must be permitted to encumber the earth, to mar its aspects of transcendent beauty, nor to impede the progress of the intellectual or physical man, neither in himself nor in the race to which he belongs. Hence, a people, upon whatever plane they may be found in the ascending scale of humanity, whom neither the divinity within them, nor the inspirations of divine and beautiful nature around them, can im- pel to virtuous action and progress onward and upward, should be subjected to a just and humane servitude, a strict tutelage to the superior and energetic development, until they shall be able to appreciate the benefits and advan- tages of civilization. . ..
"The Caucasian or white race exhibits the most perfect and complete de- velopment of humanity. Hence, the noblest efforts of that race should be directed to the holy and sublime work of subduing, civilizing, refining and elevating the wild and savage races wheresoever found; nor should those efforts cease until the broad earth shall bloom again like Eden, and the people thereof shall be fitted to hail the dawning light of that millennium which the inspiration of that divinity within us has pictured to our hopes, and whose transcendent glories are even now glowing upon the vision of calm, serene, undoubting faith."
The obligation in this degree contains the following :
"I do further solemnly promise and swear that I will ever cherish the sublime lessons which the sacred emblems of our order suggest, and will, so far as in me lies, impart those lessons to the people of the earth, where the mystic acorn falls from its parent bough, in whose visible firmament Orion, Arcturus, and the Pleiades ride in their cold, resplendent glories, and where the Southern
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THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.
Cross dazzles the eye of degraded humanity with its coruscations of golden light, fit emblem of truth, while it invites our sacred order to consecrate her temples in the four corners of the earth, where moral darkness reigns and des- potism holds sway. . . . . Divine Essence, so help me that I fail not in my troth, lest I shall be summoned before the tribunal of the order, adjudged, and condemned to certain and shameful death, while my name shall be recorded on the roll of infamy ! Amen."
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