Texas Jay
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2006
- Messages
- 1,152
- Reaction score
- 1,363
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Location
- Brownwood, Texas
- Detector(s) used
- Garrett AT Pro, Garrett Scorpion Gold Stinger, Garrett Ace 350, Garrett Ace 250, vintage D-Tex SK 70, Tesoro Mojave, Dowsing Rods
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
- #1
Thread Owner
I discovered a fascinating story about the KGC while researching Bloody Bill Anderson for my group on Yahoo:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bloodybillandersonmystery
I posted this message at the group yesterday but want to re-post it here for all of you who are interested in learning about the Knights of the Golden Circle.
***
I was called to the Library Annex today to pick up an article about
Wild Bill Longley and, since I was there, I started thumbing through
a few more local history books and what I discovered blew my mind! I
picked up a typewritten book entitled "Memoirs of Brooke Smith of
Brownwood, Texas" written by "Himself". He wrote it from 1933-35.
Brooke Smith, like Henry Ford, was one of the early-day leaders of
Brownwood, Texas. He moved to Brownwood in the mid-1870's and opened
a general mercantile and soon became a well-known and respected
banker and civic leader. Since he was only a boy at the beginning of
the Civil War, he remained at home with his parents in Indiana after
moving there from Virginia where his family owned several slaves.
Apparently, he abided by the "Code" (of silence) that Henry Ford's
great grandson Lex Johnston mentioned in his book about his great
grandfather because nothing is said about the mysterious Henry Ford
or Bill Anderson in his book. But, to my knowledge, the page I am
about to quote below has never been revealed in recent decades until
now.
***
"...his passage to Detroit, and arriving there he crossed the river
to Windsor, Canada, and stayed there until the war ended. He was
there about a year, and when he came home he had about a quart cup
full of silver money. We hadn't seen anything but greenbacks for
four years, and we thought Channing was rich. When the soldiers came
after Channing and asked where he was, Pa said, 'He said he was going
to slip over into Kentucky and join John Morgan's cavalry.' During
the war, after so many had volunteered and gone South, our vicinity
was about equally divided between the remaining northern and southern
sympathisers, and the friends of the South organized a secret
society, known as "The Knights of the Golden Circle". Our attic was
one of their favorite meeting places; they would come dark nights,
quietly, singly, and in every conceivable disguise. Camp Morton, at
Indianapolis, was a Federal military prison, and there were some
twenty to twenty-five thousand Southern prisoners confined there.
(Jim Smith was a prisoner there). Indianapolis had a large supply
arsenal, with arms and munitions and military food supplies. The
plan was that John Morgan would come over from Kentucky with his
cavalry army, and make a swift raid to Indianapolis, and that as he
came along, the Southern sympathisers would join and augment his
forces, and at the appointed and expected time the Knights of the
Golden Circle would gather at Indianapolis from all over the State,
all in all would have made a pretty large fighting force. There was
a book-binder in Indianapolis named H.H. Dodd, and the big long
revolvers to be supplied to the Knights of the Golden Circle were
shipped to Dodd from Hartford, Connecticut, labeled "Sunday School
Books', and these pistols were known as 'Dodd's Sunday School Books',
and those things would shoot; it is claimed that they would shoot
through a telegraph pole, or would shoot through a span of mules and
break both legs of the rider. My father was allotted one of the
Sunday School Books, and it is now in our family and is loaded with
the same loads he put in it to take to Indianapolis. Margan
attempted his contemplated raid, but it was not successful. Indiana
had too many railroads and too much telegraph line that cavalry
travel could not compete with, and before he got well on the way he
was overwhelmed with numbers and driven back to Kentucky. Some one
had tipped the secret of the expedition, and given the plan away, and
that is the reason that Morgan's expedition was not a big success.
The plan was to raid the arsenal, free the prison, and arm the
prisoners, which, together with Morgan, the Knights and the
prisoners, would have made history. Dodd was betrayed, arrested, and
given the death penalty, and was confined in the Indianapolis jail.
The next night was cold and drizzling, and someone went to the jail,
attracted his attention, and threw him a ball of twine, which he drew
up, sawed out of prison, came down the rope and escaped to Canada,
where he remained until the war was over. He came back to
Indianapolis and was never executed. Then there were the public
political parties that had their organizations and their flag poles
and their public speakings and torch light processions and
parades...."
-26-
****
This raises even more questions about ex-Confederates, ex-guerrillas,
and Knights of the Golden Circle who may have lived in Brown County,
Texas after the war.
~Jay~
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bloodybillandersonmystery
I posted this message at the group yesterday but want to re-post it here for all of you who are interested in learning about the Knights of the Golden Circle.
***
I was called to the Library Annex today to pick up an article about
Wild Bill Longley and, since I was there, I started thumbing through
a few more local history books and what I discovered blew my mind! I
picked up a typewritten book entitled "Memoirs of Brooke Smith of
Brownwood, Texas" written by "Himself". He wrote it from 1933-35.
Brooke Smith, like Henry Ford, was one of the early-day leaders of
Brownwood, Texas. He moved to Brownwood in the mid-1870's and opened
a general mercantile and soon became a well-known and respected
banker and civic leader. Since he was only a boy at the beginning of
the Civil War, he remained at home with his parents in Indiana after
moving there from Virginia where his family owned several slaves.
Apparently, he abided by the "Code" (of silence) that Henry Ford's
great grandson Lex Johnston mentioned in his book about his great
grandfather because nothing is said about the mysterious Henry Ford
or Bill Anderson in his book. But, to my knowledge, the page I am
about to quote below has never been revealed in recent decades until
now.
***
"...his passage to Detroit, and arriving there he crossed the river
to Windsor, Canada, and stayed there until the war ended. He was
there about a year, and when he came home he had about a quart cup
full of silver money. We hadn't seen anything but greenbacks for
four years, and we thought Channing was rich. When the soldiers came
after Channing and asked where he was, Pa said, 'He said he was going
to slip over into Kentucky and join John Morgan's cavalry.' During
the war, after so many had volunteered and gone South, our vicinity
was about equally divided between the remaining northern and southern
sympathisers, and the friends of the South organized a secret
society, known as "The Knights of the Golden Circle". Our attic was
one of their favorite meeting places; they would come dark nights,
quietly, singly, and in every conceivable disguise. Camp Morton, at
Indianapolis, was a Federal military prison, and there were some
twenty to twenty-five thousand Southern prisoners confined there.
(Jim Smith was a prisoner there). Indianapolis had a large supply
arsenal, with arms and munitions and military food supplies. The
plan was that John Morgan would come over from Kentucky with his
cavalry army, and make a swift raid to Indianapolis, and that as he
came along, the Southern sympathisers would join and augment his
forces, and at the appointed and expected time the Knights of the
Golden Circle would gather at Indianapolis from all over the State,
all in all would have made a pretty large fighting force. There was
a book-binder in Indianapolis named H.H. Dodd, and the big long
revolvers to be supplied to the Knights of the Golden Circle were
shipped to Dodd from Hartford, Connecticut, labeled "Sunday School
Books', and these pistols were known as 'Dodd's Sunday School Books',
and those things would shoot; it is claimed that they would shoot
through a telegraph pole, or would shoot through a span of mules and
break both legs of the rider. My father was allotted one of the
Sunday School Books, and it is now in our family and is loaded with
the same loads he put in it to take to Indianapolis. Margan
attempted his contemplated raid, but it was not successful. Indiana
had too many railroads and too much telegraph line that cavalry
travel could not compete with, and before he got well on the way he
was overwhelmed with numbers and driven back to Kentucky. Some one
had tipped the secret of the expedition, and given the plan away, and
that is the reason that Morgan's expedition was not a big success.
The plan was to raid the arsenal, free the prison, and arm the
prisoners, which, together with Morgan, the Knights and the
prisoners, would have made history. Dodd was betrayed, arrested, and
given the death penalty, and was confined in the Indianapolis jail.
The next night was cold and drizzling, and someone went to the jail,
attracted his attention, and threw him a ball of twine, which he drew
up, sawed out of prison, came down the rope and escaped to Canada,
where he remained until the war was over. He came back to
Indianapolis and was never executed. Then there were the public
political parties that had their organizations and their flag poles
and their public speakings and torch light processions and
parades...."
-26-
****
This raises even more questions about ex-Confederates, ex-guerrillas,
and Knights of the Golden Circle who may have lived in Brown County,
Texas after the war.
~Jay~
