Hello, The account you give is entirely plausible. The whitecaps who roamed Murray County in the 1890s were often confused locally with the Reconstruction KKK and may have been a link between that version of the Klan and the Second Klan that re-emerged in 1915 at Stone Mountain, Ga., and afterwards in Murray County -- December 1918 to be exact. Branham, Levi. My Life and Travels (Dalton, Ga.: A.J. Showalter Co., 1929) discusses "Klan" attacks in the 1890s which were almost certainly the work of Whitecaps. William F. Holmes, "Moonshining and Collective Violence: Georgia, 1889-1895," The Journal of American History 67 (No.3, December 1980) also explores racial violence in Murray County during that time. There is also a story in The Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution, 30 December 1956, that mentions Klan meetings at the Spring Place Courthouse. Those meetings were also probably whitecaps, or a subsequent version of the same organization, as they probably occured before 1915. I hope this helps a wee bit, Robert Smith On Mon, 9 Sep 2002 18:05:15 -0700 br549 <br549@prodigy.net> writes: >You guys have been so helpful so far, now I need more help. An aunt >has >relayed a story and I need someone who has access to Murray Co. >history to >check it out for me. > >A young doctor and his wife from "up north" moved to Murray County >around >1897-1901. They either brought a baby with them or the young woman >gave >birth there. The young woman died and my GGGMa Williams (?) moved in >with >the young doctor to keep his house and take care of the baby. GGGMa >was a >Cherokee. A spokesman for the KKK visited the young doctor and told >him to >get rid of the Indian. He refused. The Klan visited him 3 times and >told >him to get rid of GGGMa but he refused. My GMa was about 9 yrs old >and said >she could remember hearing the horses coming up the road. The Klan >surrounded the doctors house and again demanded that he throw out the >Indian >and again he refused. The Klan set fire to the house and killed the >doctor, >the baby and my GGGMa. She would have been 50ish. > >My GGMa was in her mid 30's and hid in a cave so the Klan wouldn't >kill her. >She hid in a barrel when they loaded up and left Murray Co. GGMa's >name was >Mary Elizabeth Williams and she was married to Samuel James >Springfield. It >appears that they were in Atlanta in June 1898 and in Texas in 1901 >but I >can't be certain. My aunt says the reason I can't find any records >on Mary >Elizabeth is because she was Cherokee and just assumed the name to >pass for >white. > >Can anyone help me verify this story? It almost sounds so bizarre I >think >it might be true. Also, I think I read somewhere that there is a >Murray >County history book. Is that so and how could I get one? Thanks to >you >all, cindy moore > > > > >==== GAMURRAY Mailing List ==== >--- Author Retains Copyright --- >-- Copyright 2002 Author -- All Rights Reserved >Post to List: GAMURRAY-L@rootsweb.com http://www.selfroots.com >Unsubscribe request To: GAMURRAY-L-request@rootsweb.com >ARCHIVES: http://searches2.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl > > ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.