Formation
In 1920 Imperial Wizard William J. Simmons of Atlanta, Georgia chose Joe Huffington to start an official Indiana chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Huffington left for Indiana and set up his first headquarters in Evansville.
Huffington met D.C. Stephenson, a fellow war veteran with a background in Texas and Oklahoma, who quickly became one of the leading members of chapter. Stephenson was active in the local Democratic Party and had run unsuccessfully in the Democratic Congressional primary of 1922 as an anti-prohibition candidate. He was more successful with recruiting and organizing new members. Like other agents, Stephenson got to keep a portion of the entrance fees, and began to amass wealth. Entrance in the Klan cost $10, plus dues, and the recruiter personally kept $4 of each registration. It is estimated that Stephenson made between two and five million dollars from his position in the Klan. Southern Indiana had already had significant vigilante activity among White Cap groups, dating back to the American Civil War.
Stephenson was an active recruiter. He stressed the concept of the Klan as a fraternal society and brotherhood, organized for civic activism, to help the poor and defend morality. He gained the support of many ministers and church congregations for these appeals to populist issues, and the Klan grew rapidly in Indiana.
Read more about this topic: Indiana Klan
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