knights of the golden circle members list

Masons also wear stylized clothing based upon the clothing worn by stone masons from the middle ages. This entry belongs to the following Handbook Special Projects: We are a community-supported, non-profit organization and we humbly ask for your support because the careful and accurate recording of our history has never been more important. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Confederate cavalry commander J.E.B. Appealing to the Confederacy's friends in the North and in the border states, the Order spread to Kentucky as well as the southern parts of such Union states as Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri. [10] Although a Unionist, United States Senator Sam Houston introduced a resolution in the U.S. Senate in 1858 for the "United States to declare and maintain an efficient protectorate over the States of Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and San Salvador." The most popular is that the group tries to steer the direction of public policy, financial markets, and media in certain prescribed directions of their choosing, perhaps even with the goal of forming a so-called one world government. These claims have been brushed aside by the group, which claims global understanding and the end of nuclear proliferation as its main goals. They often paid with Confederate currency or with drafts on the Confederate government. The information detailed in it should be read by every person who is interested in Civil War history, the history we were never taught in school. The Knights of the Golden Circle was reorganized in Lexington, Kentucky, on July 4, 1854, by five men, whose names have been lost to history, when Virginia-born Gen. George W. L. Bickley (18191867) requested they come together. Both of the Bush presidents were members of the society while studying at Yale, and a number of other members have gone on to great fame and fortune. Members meet every Thursday and Sunday of each week in a building they call the Tomb. The basic structure of many of these rituals appear to originate with Rosicrucianism. Hudson, Linda S. "The Knights of the Golden Circle in Texas, 18581861: An Analysis of the First (Military) Degree Knights", p. 53, in Howell, Kenneth W., ed. The Knights of the Golden Circle organized in July 1854 in Kentucky by George Washington Lafayette Bickley (1823-1867), a physician-turned-editor-turned adventurer. The Golden Knights became the first team to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Armstrong Thus, promises of riches built on the backs of enslaved people propelled the movements greed. The Hashshashin would plant highly trained moles inside enemy strongholds, with instructions to only attack when the time was right. had an elaborate ritual with codes, signs, and passwords, and complicated plans for its military and governing operations. In the mid-19th century, some Bell County men as well as many other Texans were caught up in the Knights of the Golden Circle, a secretive group endeavoring to establish its own slave-holding empire in the U.S. South and Mexico, West Indies and parts of Central America. texasjay..glad to be of help..do some research on a quantrill member ''james hall''..eventually you will find metodd hall.when i get the time i will post for you large amounts of quantrill research sources i have around here somewhere Hi gldhntr. We need your support because we are a non-profit organization that relies upon contributions from our community in order to record and preserve the history of our state. In most areas only a minority of its membership was radical enough to discourage enlistments, resist the draft, and shield deserters. Bickley was arrested in 1863 and died four years later. Bickley created, on paper at least, an army of 16,000 men. He later increased his claims to 115,000, but such numbers were widely dismissed as fanciful. You can read that document here. Bell, William H. Knights of the Golden Circle: its organization and activities in Texas prior to the Civil War. The team's goal differential is ninth-best in the league at +42. If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe. The story of the Knights of the Golden Circle is a cautionary tale of a political movements fabricated claims and perverse influencers coupled with unbridled passions for money and control. Black History - From Reconstruction to the Present (US), National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (2007), Shadow of the Sentinel: One Man's Quest to Find the Hidden Treasure of the Confederacy, Knights of the Golden Circle by Tim Talbott, The Mysterious and Secret Order of the Knights of the Golden Circle, The Knights of the Golden Circle, Buried Treasure and John Wilkes Booth, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copperhead_(politics), Knight Grand Commander, John Robert Baylor. In response to the increased anti-slavery agitation that followed the Dred Scott decision (1857), the Knights changed their position: the Southern United States should secede, forming their own confederation, and then invade and annex the area of the Golden Circle to vastly expand the power of the South. The Cavalry commander J.E.B. WebThey appointed regional military commanders from the ranks of the Souths major political and military figures, including men such as Elkanah Greer of Texas, Paul J. Semmes of Georgia, Robert C. Tyler of Maryland, and Virginius D. Groner of Virginia. Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org. Knights of the Golden Circle, a semi-military secret society that was active in the Midwestern states during the American Civil War. Then they would occupy the District of Columbia and install Breckinridge as president instead of Lincoln. 3: Master Mason, this degree is necessary for participating in most masonic activities. All copyrighted materials included within the Handbook of Texas Online are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Loyalist Leaders of the Democratic Party opposed to Abraham Lincoln's administration denounced the draft and other wartime measures, such as the arrest of seditious persons and the president's temporary suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. The fundamental documents of the order are known as the Cipher Documents. Subscribe for as little as $4 Around the time of their downfall, the library that contained all Nizari records was destroyed, so much of what is known about them today has taken on the status of myth. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. WebThe Knights of the Golden Circle was a mysterious southern-based society that set out in 1859 to establish a slave empire in Mexico. The street is a beautiful showcase of Gothic architecture, Start a Free Blog at Webs.com. while KGC members were still Cabinet officers and Senators". "Newcomb, James Pearson | The Handbook of Texas Online|", "California Naval History: The Pacific Squadron of 1861-1866", "Gold coins found by California couple unlikely stolen from U.S. Mint", "The great north-western conspiracy in all its startling details", "Watch Lincoln's Secret Assassins Full Episode - America Unearthed", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Knights_of_the_Golden_Circle&oldid=1150481115, Expansion of slavery in the United States, Proposed states and territories of the United States, Articles containing Spanish-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2012, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, The KGC are the villains of the graphic novel, The KGC are portrayed as conspirators in the, The KGC and their potential involvement in President Lincoln's assassination are discussed in an episode of the, The KGC are the antagonists in a story which is featured in the, The KGC are referenced during a discussion concerning a potential assassination plot in the, The KGC are the subject of a historical fiction novel by, This page was last edited on 18 April 2023, at 12:45. Desires for a tobacco and cotton empire were vanquished. The Secretary of War, John Floyd and of Treasury, Howell Cobb, were members of the circle, in addition to Vice President John Breckenridge. The Knights of the Golden Circle was a secret society that flourished in the U.S. during the American Civil War. itself probably received greater attention during the war for its supposed role in a treasonous plot variously called the Northwest Conspiracy, the Copperhead Movement, and similar names in the old Northwestern states such as Indiana and Ohio. [16] Other KGC members followed Brig. In most areas only a minority of its membership was radical enough to discourage enlistments, resist the draft, and shield deserters. The robust economy the KGC hoped to create would be fueled by cotton, sugar, tobacco, rice, coffee, indigo, and mining. These seven industries would employ slave labor. He was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1836, the son of Martin and Anna Elizabeth (Sl ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Along with a series of secret hand gestures, these tickets were supposed to protect the horses and other possessions of ticket holders from seizure by invading Confederate soldiers. In either case, the goal was to increase the power of the Southern slave-holding upper class to such a degree that it could never be dislodged.[1]. I will also put the link in our Links section for future reference. A successor organization, the Sons of Liberty, was alleged to have taken its place. These conspiracy stories associated with the Knights of the Golden Circle are now part of the historical record associated with the organization, but none of them can be reliably documented. It is believed that they wish to create a One World Government based on humanist and atheist principles. Black Hand would be all but forgotten today if not for their unlikely involvement in one of the biggest events of the twentieth century. Perhaps the greatest historical significance that can be assigned to the K.G.C. After the Souths surrender, the Knights eventually disbanded. Many religions frown upon membership of the Masons, and the Roman Catholic Church forbids Catholics to join under pain of excommunication. Their plan was to incite a war between Serbia and Austria, which would give them a chance to free their country and unite the different Slavic nations as one. At that time, the order's prime objective was said to be to raise an army of 16,000 men to conquer and "Southernize" Mexico, which meant making slavery, not legal in Mexico, again legal, while supporting the "Knights of the Columbian Star"those in the KGC's highest level of membershipfor public office.[7]. [19]. [8][9][10], In late 1863, the KGC reorganized as the Order of American Knights. The Effect is the death of President Lincoln, whose profile portrait at right is framed by swags of black drapery. Once the war began, many Knights signed up for service in the Confederate Army. The KGC's proposal grew out of previous unsuccessful proposals to annex Cuba (Ostend Manifesto), parts of Central America (Filibuster War), and all of Mexico (All of Mexico Movement). First order of business was Bickleys plan to annex Mexico, which had outlawed slavery in 1829. This measure, which supported the goal of the KGC, failed to be adopted. Stuart also reported the alleged KGC tickets when documenting the campaign. Here is a cemetery list of many members of the Knights of the Golden Circle. The Knights Templar (full name: The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta) is a modern off-shoot of Masonry and does not have a direct tie to the original Knights Templar a religious military group formed in the 12th century. The Hashshashin, or Nizari, were a mysterious band of Muslim assassins that operated in the Middle East during the 13th century. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Widespread publicity in Southern expansionist newspapers called attention to the new order, and Bickley soon claimed it had 65,000 members. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. [12] On February 15, 1861, Ben McCulloch, United States Marshal and former Texas Ranger, began marching toward the Federal arsenal at San Antonio, Texas, with a cavalry force of about 550 men, about 150 of whom were Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) from six castles. Every dollar helps. Unlike most secret societies, the Golden Circle didnt just concern itself with clandestine meetings and mysterious plans. Knights were grouped into three divisionsmilitary, commercial and financial, and politicaleach of which was in turn divided into two classes. activity circulated for a few more years, but there is no dependable evidence that the organization survived the war in any meaningful way. By 1860, one-fourth of Bell Countys population of 4,000 was enslaved. Senior Deacon . Originally, the KGC advocated that the new territories should be annexed by the United States, in order to vastly increase the number of slave states and thus the power of the slave-holding Southern upper classes. It should come as no surprise then that the K.G.C. This group is now known as the Bavarian Illuminati. Genuine secret societies have existed for centuries, conducting their business in darkened back rooms and, more often than not, exerting a mysterious influence upon our culture. As he promoted his organization, Bickley focused on the annexation of Mexico as an essential first step. WebThe successor to GEORGE BICKLEY must be over thirty years of age, of Southern birth, liberally educated, Knight of the Columbian Star, sound of body and mind, and married, and Protestant. 's roots went back to the Sons of Liberty of the American Revolutionary period. It was founded in 1832 and membership is open to an elite few. Donald S. Frazier, Blood & Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). European colonialism and dependence on slavery had declined more rapidly in some countries than others. In an outbreak of mob justice that became known as the Texas Troubles, alarmed Texans formed committees to search for and punish blacks and Unionist whites whom the Knights demonized. In the spring of 1860, a small group of K.G.C. while KGC members were still Cabinet officers and Senators". California Senator Milton Latham subsequently did so when he entered the entire Pierce-Seward correspondence into the Congressional Globe. This organization is a distinct one, and is not just a higher degree of Masonry. KGC members also figured prominently among those who, in 1861, joined Lt. Col. John Robert Baylor in his temporarily successful takeover of southern New Mexico Territory. There is a great deal of controversy surrounding the origins of these documents. In the years prior to the American Civil War, the rise of support for abolition of slavery was one of several divisive issues in the United States. Many members held dual memberships in local Masonic lodges, where the castles met, but the official Order of Free and Accepted Masons and its related organizations disavowed any connection. It is one of the oldest student secret societies in the United States. The three degrees of Masonry are: 1: Entered Apprentice, this makes you a basic member of the group. http://www.knightsofthegoldencircle-kgc.com/index.htm>, http://www.lib.utexas.edu:2048/login?url=http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/M, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bloodybillandersonmystery, http://members.tripod.com/~Penningtons/roster.htm, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Knights_of_the_Golden_Circle, http://www.uttyler.edu/vbetts/alexandria_louisiana_democrat.htm. Records of the K.G.C. This would, according to Bickley, protect the Southern states from being overwhelmed by the industrial and commercial interests of the North. This is one I found today. It was to prepare the way for annexation of a In the William Martin novel The Lincoln Letter (2012), the KGC are a group of conspirators in Washington, DC, during the Civil War. WebCategory:Knights of the Golden Circle members Tools Help Pages in category "Knights of the Golden Circle members" The following 5 pages are in this category, out of 5 total. Maybe the last Castle of Knights of the Golden Circle old school. [citation needed] Mexico and Central America had no interest in being part of the United States. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. Copperheads Fernando Wood, former Democratic mayor of New York City, and Clement L. Vallandigham of Ohio were reputed to be the chief officers. High around 80F. Library of Congress On the left is George W. L. Bickley, head of the Knights of the Golden Circle. Theres a conspiracy that Lincolns assassin was a member of this society. Alexander the Greats epitaph expressed the sentiment that the world is not enough. You have to be at least 18 years old and of sound mind. In the Northern states, the mysterious order had an even bigger impact. The left panel is a portrait of George W. L. Bickley, the Head of the Knights of the Golden Circle. Above him is the word Theory. The central panel Practice shows Booth in profile holding a dagger. convention held in 1860, the organization was originated at Lexington, Kentucky, on the fourth day of July 1854, by five gentlemen who came together on a call made by Gen. George Bickley. Bickley then occupied himself with other projects during the mid-1850s, and the K.G.C. Hope you didn't miss it! WebThe Knights of the Golden Circle (K. G. C.) was a secret society founded by George W. L. Bickley on July 4, 1854. I find some of my best information about the KGC from old online newspaper articles. addthis_url = location.href; With the outbreak of the war, however, Republicans charged that Democrats who opposed the conduct of the war were influenced by, or were members of, the Knights. This group was the Knights of the Golden Circle who planned the creation of a new nation dominated by slavery. played a role in reducing the vote for Constitutional Unionists (see CONSTITUTIONAL UNION PARTY) in November 1860 and in keeping Unionist voters from the polls when the state held a referendum on secession in February 1861. Various clandestine actions were undertaken to accomplish this, including a plan in 1861 to intercept Abraham Lincoln in Baltimore and kidnap him before he could take the Oath of Office (which Allen Pinkerton scuttled). Sunshine and some clouds. He and several comrades took time to launch several small projects until 1859 as national tempers roiled over slavery, succession and the fever pitch of the impending 1860 presidential election. The Black Hand was a secret society of anti-imperialist political revolutionaries that was started in Serbia in 1912. It is considered by many to be a forerunner of the Ordo Templi Orientis and a majority of modern Occult groups. Bickleys letters and commands were frequently published in the Democrat. Leaders of the K.G.C. Made a few Return Trips to Places the last 6 days. Facing the Gulf of Mexico, these new states would form a large crescent. 2: Fellow Craft, this is an intermediate degree in which you are meant to develop further knowledge of Masonry. Nevertheless, in spite of the fraternitys official disclaimers, some Masons, non-Masons, and even anti-Masons insist that certain Masonic rites or degrees originally had direct Templar influence. As the story goes, enemy leaders would often wake in the morning to find a Hashshashin dagger lying on their pillow, along with a note saying you are in our grip. Their legend soon grew, and before the Mongols finally destroyed the group, they became well known contract killers, supposedly performing jobs for the likes of King Richard the Lionheart. [6], Hounded by creditors, Bickley left Cincinnati in the late 1850s and traveled through the East and South, promoting an armed expedition to Mexico. Please note that if there is a change in program schedule or a cancellation, we will notify you via email, and it will be your responsibility to notify other registrants in your group. } Sam Houston, who reportedly became an initiate. In 1914, the group engineered the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Randolph Mike Campbell, former State Historian of Texas, summed up the Knights perverse influence: Perhaps the greatest historical significance that can be assigned to the Knights of the Golden Circle is its contribution to creating the emotional excitement necessary to persuading Southerners to rebel against the United States. The Great I'm thinking your relative may have been Thomas J. The country would have been centered in Havana and would have consisted of the Southern United States and a "golden circle" of territories in Mexico (which was to be divided into 25 new slave states), Central America, northern parts of South America, and Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and most other islands in the Caribbean, about 2,400 miles (3,900km) in diameter.[1][2]. Mason. Cassandra Morris Small letters, York County (PA) Heritage Trust files. Even though there were some known Freemasons in the membership, it was not considered to be endorsed by Masonry. [citation needed], As abolitionism in the United States grew in opposition to slavery, the KGC members proposed a separate confederation of slave states, with U.S. states south of the Mason-Dixon line to secede and to align with other slave states to be formed from the "golden circle". Corrections? George W. L. Bickley, a Virginia-born doctor, editor, and adventurer, was one of the founders of the K.G.C. Some 250,000 to 300,000 oath-bound members were said to have existed in the Midwest. The Knights appealed to many Bell County men, all of whom were slave holders and landowners. developed a second plan for invading Mexico later in 1860, but it proved abortive as attention turned to the presidential election and the secession movement that followed immediately across the lower South. The leaders were sentenced to death or imprisonment by military commissions, but the sentences were suspended, and in 1866 the convictions were overturned by a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. When a person reaches the third degree, they are called a Master Mason. In early 1862, Radical Republicans in the Senate, aided by Secretary of State William H. Seward, suggested that former president Franklin Pierce, who was greatly critical of the Lincoln administration's war policies, was an active member of the Knights of the Golden Circle. These are best described as commemorative orders or degrees. Following the Mexican-American War of 1846, the group's original goal was to provide a force to colonize the northern part of Mexico and the West Indies. The most controversial legend centers of the groups use of drugs and other intoxicants Hashshashin translates roughly as Hashish userwhich some have said were employed by the members in battle. Other conspiracy stories claim the Knights stole millions in U.S. Army payrolls and gold, buried across Texas. The plan was to prevent Lincoln from reaching Washingt WebThe Knights of the Golden Circle emerged in 1858 when a secret society formed by a Cincinnati businessman merged with the pro-expansionist Order of the Lone Star, which Unless otherwise noted, registration for streaming programs typically closes two hours prior to the start time on the date of the program. The Golden Knights could eliminate Winnipeg in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday night in Las Vegas. Seal of the President of the Knights of the Golden Circle. Once Texas seceded in March 1861, individual Knights participated in the actions that displaced the authority of the United States in Texas, leading some Unionists such as James P. Newcomb to emphasize the role of the organization in destroying the Union. Omissions? Updates? The plan also called for the acquisition of Mexico which was then to be divided into fifteen new slave-holding states which would shift the balance of power in Congress in favor of slavery. Webby Thomas C. Parramore, 2006. Robert Barnwell Rhett, who has been called "the father of secession", said a few days after Lincoln's election: We will expand, as our growth and civilization shall demandover Mexicoover the isles of the seaover the far-off Southern tropicsuntil we shall establish a great Confederation of Republicsthe greatest, freest and most useful the world has ever seen. Calhoun had an illustrious political career serving as a congressman from his home state of South Carolina, a state legislator, vice president under the administrations of both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, and a U. S. senator. Members of the Masonic Knights Templar do not claim a direct connection to the medieval group, but merely a borrowing of ideas and symbols. [1] Floyd used his position as Secretary of War to move munitions and men to the South towards the end of Buchanan's presidency. The Knights merged with the Order of the Lone Star with the expansionist goal of forming a slave-holding empire that operated like the East India Company by annexing Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, and Central America into the United States. Historian Christopher Hamner examines the strange history of the secret society in the context of the turbulent debate over slavery and its future that overwhelmed the country in the 1850s and 1860s. Member. The original objective of the KGC was to annex a "golden circle" of territories in Mexico (which would be divided into 25 slave states), Central America, northern South America, and Cuba and the rest of the Caribbean for inclusion in the United States as slave states. : The Confederate States of America, the Confederacy's defeat in the Second Great War, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. George William Chilton, Confederate Army officer, was born to Thomas Chilton and Francis Tribble Stoner Henry Foster, lawyer, editor, and politician, was the son of Cony and Caroline Brown Foster of Orono, Maine. As anti-slavery agitation increased after the Dred Scott Decision was issued, the members proposed a separate confederation of slave states, with U.S. states south of the Mason-Dixon line to secede and to align with other slave states to be formed from the golden circle. Roy Sylvan Dunn, The KGC in Texas, 1860-1861, Southwestern Historical Quarterly 70 (April 1967). I went first to our group's extensive Links section and looked through the following list for James Hall. This includes many references to architectural symbols such as the compass and square. WebThe Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret society originally founded to promote the interests of the Southern United States. The left panel is a portrait of George W. L. Bickley, the Head of the Knights of the Golden Circle. Above him is the word Theory. The central panel Practice During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, scam artists in south-central Pennsylvania sold Pennsylvania Dutch farmers $1 paper tickets purported to be from the Knights of the Golden Circle. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The primary economic and political goal of this organization was to create a prosperous, slave-holding Southern Empire extending in the shape of a circle from their proposed capital at Havana, Cuba, through the southern states of the United States, Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. Masons conduct their regular meetings in a ritualized style. The Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret society founded in 1854 by American George W. L. Bickley, the objective of which was to create a new country, known as the Golden Circle (Spanish: Crculo Dorado), where slavery would be legal.

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