ssee legislature at the
time of writing the book. Rev. D.L. Wilson, who put the account into
its present form, was born in 1849, in Augusta County, Virginia. He
went to school to Jed Hotchkiss and was graduated as valedictorian of
his class from Washington and Lee University, in 1873, and a year
later from the Union Theological Seminary, near Hampden-Sidney,
Virginia. From 1874 to 1880 he was pastor of a Presbyterian church at
Broadway, Virginia, and from 1880 to 1902 he served a church in
Pulaski, Tennessee. He died in 1902 after a six months' residence in
Bristol, Tennessee, as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. He was
not a member of the Klan, but was acquainted with the founders and
with many other former members, and had access to all the records of
the order that had not been destroyed. In addition to information
received from other members, Wilson was assisted by Captain Lester,
who furnished most of the facts used, revised the manuscript and the
book was printed with both names on the title page.

As a general account of the Ku Klux movement Lester and Wilson's
History leaves something to be desired. It is colored too much by
conditions in Tennessee. No knowledge is shown of other organizations
similar to Ku Klux Klan, when in fact there were several other very
important ones, such as the White Brotherhood, the White League, the
Pale Faces, the Constitutional Union Guards, and one, the Knights of
the White Camelia,[2] that was larger than the Klan and covered a
wider territory. Then, too, in an attempt to make a moderate statement
that would be generally accepted, the authors failed to portray
clearly the chaotic social, economic and political conditions that
caused the rise of such orders, and in endeavoring to condemn the acts
of violence committed under cloak of the order they went too far in
the direction of apologetic explanation. Consequently, the causes seem
somewhat trivial and the results not very important.[3] It would seem
from their account that after a partial success, the movement failed
in its attempt to regulate society, and degenerated into general
disorder. This is a superficial conclusion and is not concurred in by
the survivors of the period and those who understand the conditions of
that time. The remnants of such a secret, illegal order were certain
to degenerate finally into violence, but before it reached this stage
it had accomplished much good in reducing to order the social
chao