Answer. I have one fourteen years old, one ten, and one nine, and one six years old. Question. Where were they?

Answer. They were there in the house.

Question. Did they molest the children at all?

Answer. No, sir; they never injured the children in any way. They never bothered the children.

Question. How old was your sister?

Answer. Well, I declare I don't know how old she is.

Question. Is she older or younger than you are?

Answer. She is younger than I am; I am the oldest of them all.

Question. Did they give any reason for whipping your wife and sister?

Answer. Not that I heard.

Question. Have you any idea how many blows they struck your sister?

Answer. She says they only struck her forty. I tell you they struck her more than any forty.

Question. You judge so from her appearance?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Were any of the rest of your family whipped besides yourself, your wife, and sister?

Answer. No, sir.

Question. Was your mother there?

Answer. My mother-in-law was there. She was lying in bed when they were whipping me. One of them went into the house and told her to shut up her mouth and put her head under the cover, or they would give her a little. I did not hear that; my wife said so. I reckon she told you what she knew; I can only tell what I know. Question. How many of those men that came there either time did you think you knew?

Answer. I knew two of them.

Question. Who were they?

Answer. I knew three of them. I have never put this in before, for I said I would not say anything about it.

Question. Who were they?

Answer. Sam Rich, Bill Felker, and Jim Austin, the first time.

Question. Who did you know the second time?

Answer. Bill Felker and Sam Rich.

Question. Have you been sending your children to school?

Answer. No, sir; they will not allow you to have a school down there.

Question. Why not?

Answer. Talk about having a school down there! They would come in on you and kill you if you sent your children to school; eh! eh! A black fellow got up a school five miles from me, and they went in on him, and liked to have killed him because he was teaching school.

By Mr. BAYARD:

Question. What was his name ?

Answer. Jim Harper.

By the CHAIRMAN:

Question. Are there many of these disguised men going about through that country? Answer. A sight of them.

Question. How long since you have heard of their going around?

Answer. The first that I ever heard of them was last spring, down there. I had heard of their being in Jackson, and lower down, in Walton, before, but I never saw any before. I had heard of this thing, but I did not believe it.

Question. How long since you first heard of it?

Answer. About two years ago last Christmas. I went down to my old master's, and he told me of it. Said he, "There are Ku-Klux here; are you not afraid they will get among you?" I said, "What sort of men are they?" He said, "They are men who rise from the dead." I said, "Master, do you believe there are men that rise from the dead, and come here and Ku-Klux a body up in this way?" He says, "They come here to protect their country." I studied about it, but I did not believe it.

Question. Who was your old master?

Answer. Jefferson Smith.

Question. Where does he live?

Answer. In Walton County.

Question. Did you ever tell him about the way you have been treated?
Answer. No, sir; he is dead now.

Question. When did he die?

Answer. Along this last summer.

Question. Did he leave any children?

Answer. He left four.

Question. Do they live in that country?

Answer. They live ten miles below me.

Question. Did you ever tell any of them how you were treated?

Answer. I have not seen any of them since.

Question. Did you make any attempt to have the men arrested who came to your house in March?

Answer. No, sir; that would not have done.

Question. Why not?

Answer. If I had made the attempt they would have killed me by the time I made the movement.

Question. How do you know that?

Answer. I know it. If a man just talks about the Ku-Klux they get after him.
Question. You were satisfied you could not get justice if you tried?

Answer. What! get justice from the Ku-Klux in that country! I was done satisfied that we never could get justice from the Ku-Klux there; they would have killed us before we got it.

Question. Do you know the men in that country that people generally suppose belong to the Ku-Klux?

Answer. I only know what I saw myself.

Question. What is the character of those men that you saw; are they men of standing and property and influence ?

Answer. Well, this man Felker is a man of pretty good standing, but Rich is but a common poor man.

Question. Did you vote when the election came on P

Answer. I never voted but once in my life, and that was for a convention; and if it had not been for a white man, I would not have done it. I just tell the truth; whether it is right or wrong, I am going to tell it. I was living with a man who asked me if I was going to vote. I said, "What about?" He said, "Go on and vote for a convention." I said, "I do not know anything about it." He said, "You had better go and vote, or they may do something with you." I said, "I do not know that they can." He said, "They might." I said, "Are you going to vote?" He said, "I am going to Lawrenceville to vote." I said, "I am not well; I do not care about walking that far." He said, "Get in the buggy and ride with me." That is the only time I voted, and I am not going to vote again either, for I do not know what I am voting for. I am a mighty hand to live in the country and make cotton and corn; I love to do that. Question. You never voted but once?

Answer. That is all.

:

Question. Do you know how the men voted who whipped you?
Answer. No. sir.

By Mr. BAYARD:

Question. Have you been before the grand jury here?

Answer. I was before the grand jury last week.

Question. Did you make a statement of this case against Felker and Rich?

Question. Are they all colored people living there about you?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Have they all been before the grand jury on the same business?
Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Had all of them knowledge about the same facts?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Is Caroline Smith your wife?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. She has been here and been examined before this committee?
Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. And all the others have been before this committee?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. And all about this same case, about Rich and Felker?
Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. What is the name of the judge in your district?

Answer. Judge Charley Davis, of Monroe.

Question. Is he judge of the superior court ?

Answer. I do not know.

Question. What is the name of the solicitor?

Answer. I do not know anything about that; I never heard of any such thing.

Question. You never made application to either of those gentlemen for aid to protect you, or to anybody else down there?

Answer. No, sir; I know only the sheriff down there.

Question. Did you make application to him?

Answer. No, sir; but there are colored men here on this same business, Benafield and Lewis Henderson.

Question. Are they colored people too?

Answer. Yes, sir; they are here about distilling.

Question. Do the people up there make whisky?
Answer. This Felker makes whisky.

Question. Without a license?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Was he afraid you people would report on him?

Answer. Certainly; he tried to keep it hid. But here is the way I found it out: Sam Rich did my smith-work, and I went right along by the still-house door when I went to carry my smith-work to the shop.

Question. You found out in that way that they were distilling?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Did he ever say anything to you about reporting him?

Answer. No, sir. He tried to keep it blind; he thought I did not know it, but I happened to see him carry the meal there, for I watched him.

Question. Do you think they ever suspected that you had been watching them?
Answer. I do not know whether they ever did or not.

Question. You had watched them carry the meal to the still?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Did you watch them pretty often?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Did you watch them at night?

Answer. Yes, sir; at night and in the day-time. I saw this black mare going down to the mill with a sack of meal when the sun was about an hour high, and then I watched at night, about an hour or two after dark, and saw them go to the still.

Question. How many times did you watch them that way?

Answer. Three or four times.

Question. Did any of the other people watch them too?

Answer. Some fellows here will tell you something about that when you call them. Question. Some colored men?

Answer. Yes, sir; they will tell you something about it.

Question. Do you suppose that Felker suspected any of you were watching him in that way?

Answer. No, sir. I will tell you how I came to watch him. After he came on me the first time I watched him. Says I to myself, "I have been taking that man for a clever man; me and him have played together many a time, but now I will watch him;" and I did watch him, too.

Question. And in that way you found out that he was carrying on an illicit distillery? Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. When you came before the grand jury did you make a statement to them

about it?

Answer. No, sir.

Question. They did not ask you about that?

Answer. No, sir.

Question. They only asked you about the whipping?

Answer. That is all. That is all I put in at the start, when I first came here. I am the one who first came here and reported this man for whipping me. I did not put in this distilling, but I went in for what they did to me.

Question. If they had not whipped you, you would not have said anything about the distilling?

Answer. I would not have done it.

By the CHAIRMAN:

Question. I understand you to say that you did not watch this man, or have anything to do with looking for his black mare, until after they came upon you last spring? Answer. No, sir. I did not watch him before.

Question. But since that time you have been watching to find out what he was doing? Answer. Yes, sir.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, October 26, 1871.

E. H. CHAMBERS sworn and examined.

By the CHAIRMAN :

Question. State your age, where you were born, where you now live, and what is your present occupation.

Answer. I am forty years of age; I was born in Gwinnett County, and now live there; I am a farmer.

Question. How long have you lived in Gwinnett County?

Answer. Ever since I was born.

Question. Have you any people in that county that are called Ku-Klux?

Answer. Yes, sir; there are bands of disguised men, and I suppose you may call them Ku-Klux; I believe they call themselves Ku-Klux.

Question. That is the name by which they are known in the community?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. How long since you first heard of them in your county?

Answer. I do not remember the exact time, but some two or three years ago.
Question. How often have you seen any of them?

Answer. Only once.

Question. When was that?

Answer. About the last of May.

Question. State all the eircumstances connected with that transaction.

Answer. I had some freedmen employed on my plantation, and they came to my house to know where they were living, and if they had been committing any depredations, that is, stealing or anything of the kind. I informed them that they had not been to my knowledge. They then told me that I must go with them and show them where they lived; that they had been committing some crime at other places, and they wanted to deal with them. I went with them and showed them where they lived. When I got within two hundred yards of their respective houses, they told me to stop. I did so. They all alighted from their horses and gave me their bridles and told me to hold them. They treated me rather as if I was a freedman, or worse, perhaps. They called me "boy," and ordered me around, which I thought was rather indignant. They gave me a pistol and told me to halt any person that approached, and if they did not halt, to fire at them. They left me with the horses and went to the first house; and from the noise that I heard I supposed that they did considerable knocking there. They ordered out the man and his wife into the yard, and I could hear tremendous licks, as they were whipping them with sticks. I heard the man holler, "O Lord," or something of that kind, and they ordered him to hush up. I do not know how long they beat him; he said they gave him a hundred licks. I heard them beat his wife; I heard her say something once in a while, and some one said, "Shoot her, damn her." I heard a pistol fired, and as I heard her say nothing more, I supposed she was shot; but they only shot up through the air. They came back and told me to take them to the next house, which I did. They stopped at about the same distance, and then went up there. I could hear slashing and a gun fired there. They took a gun from the freedman who was living there and fired it off and then broke it, as I understood from the freedman afterward; they did not fire off their own arms at that place. They beat three there, perhaps ; whipped them severely. When they came back to me they said they had given them a whipping at that place, and wanted me to show them the next place. I had to go by my own dwelling to go to the next place. When I got there I said, "Let me stop here; I have gone far enough." They said, "No, you must go with us." At the next place I stopped something further than two hundred yards from the dwelling, for it was disagreeable to me to hear the beating and thrashing. They were gone about half an hour. I could still hear occasionally some of their blows and their cursing and abusing. They returned to me and told me to go home and go to bed. One of them said, "Keep what you know under your shirt, or we will come and see you."

Question. How many places did they go to?

Answer. They went to three places on that night.

Question. Why did you suffer yourself to go around at those places?

Answer. They forced me to do it; I was obliged to do it or be treated perhaps worse than the freedmen were.

Question. It was through fear of your personal safety?

Answer. Yes, sir.

By Mr. SCOFIELD:

Question. They would have found them any way?

Answer. Perhaps they would; I do not know anything about that.

By the CHAIRMAN :

Question. How many were there of those men?

Answer. There were ten in that gang.

Question. Were they riding or walking?

Answer. They were all riding.

Question. Were they disguised?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. What was their disguise?

Answer. They had some kind of covering or mask of some description over their faces and large white gowns that reached almost to the ground. Some had great horns sticking up on the side of their faces, and some had long beards. Their horses had white coverings on, with some fancy doings about their heads.

Question. How were the men armed?

Answer. I could occasionally see a pistol. I was afraid to try and examine anything about them, but I could occasionally see a pistol.

Question. Did they have hickories along with them?

Answer. I could not see the hickories; if they did not get them there they had them along with them. From what the freedmen told me I supposed that they had the hickories under their gowns.

Question. Did you know any of the ten?

Answer. Yes, sir; one.

Question. Who was he?

Answer. His name was Melvin C. Kennedy.

Question. Where does he live?

Answer. In Gwinnett County.

Question. What is his position in society?

Answer. Rather low; he is a kind of drunken, desperate man.

Question. Did you address him or speak to him by name?

Answer. No, sir; I recognized him in the first place by his voice; he was the man who called me "Boy," and ordered me to hold his horse; about that time he came up to me and threw up the thing he had over his face, so that I could see him; at least I supposed so; my notion about it is that he was a kind of desperate man, and did that to let me know that he was really in the gang, and to make me hold him in dread. Question. You think the man meant that you should know he was along? Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Did you know any of the others?

Answer. I think I know several, but I am not positive about them.

Question. Are the persons that you suspect people who live in that neighborhood? Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. People of like low character to Kennedy?

Answer. Well, similar.

Question. You said this occurred last May?

Answer. Yes, sir; I think it was the last of May; it was a short time before our wheat harvest.

Question. What reason did they give other than what you have mentioned?
Answer. None at all, only that they wanted to hunt them up for stealing?
Question. Did they state what they had stolen, and from whom?

Answer. They said they had stolen corn; they said they had stolen corn from a man by the name of Martin, and asked me if they had stolen any from me; I said that they had not; they asked me if I had heard that they had stolen corn from Mr. Martin, and I said that I had, but that it was a year ago, and as it had not been prosecuted I supposed that nobody had paid any attention to it; they said that never mind, that they meant to attend to it; they asked me if I had ever heard some one of them make any threats against the Ku-Klux; I said I had not; they said they had understood that one of them said he was going to whip the Ku-Klux; and he says that they told him so when they whipped him.

Question. Did they charge only one man with stealing?

Answer. That was all to me.

Question. And another with making threats against the Ku-Klux?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. What did they charge the third one _with?

Answer. Nothing that I heard of then; I understood afterward that they said they were whipping him for stealing sheep.

Question. What were the names of those men who were whipped?

Answer. The first was Harry Allen and his wife; the next were George Mitchell Hamp Mitchell, and Charles Burson; and at the third house they whipped Jack Allen and punched and knocked his wife about, and probably some of his children. Question. Have any of those parties been examined here that you know of? Answer. No, sir.

Question. Are they here in attendance?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. They were at work for you?