Walker Colt
Full Member
- #21
Thread Owner
Walker Colt As you may know I live in Harrison County Texas. We are famous for many things here. First Railroad in Texas, the Birthplace of Boogie Woogie music. One of the other things we were known for was Marshall was the center for the early cotton production in Texas. This was the very early big money boom
In the area. Money will draw in many different types of people. Some good others unscrupulous. The money attracting Bickley. The States rights, cheap labor, big profit of king cotton went hand in hand with the politics and philosophy of Bickley's KGC. He needed the money and the locals like Greer, Starr, Scott, Youree and a few more early families could well supply a good amount to help him out with his early year filibustering plans in to Mexico.
In my research into the local history of the KGC it seems that in 1858-59 when Bickley spent 6 months in and around Marshall it turns out that both he and General Greer would give interviews to the local newspapers to get out more of there views. It was the Facebook of there day. The interviews given to the Marshall Flag and the Marshall Democrat were sent all over Texas and Louisiana in dispatches to be printed in other papers. Remember Marshall was important because it was a cotton production center and had one of the first telegraphy into northeast Texas. Now the only documents that I have about the KGC is zero. But the Flag and Democrat were full of stories of brilliant speeches that Bickley and Greer gave and the opinion that they held. Who were the other members of the castle? We can speculate but don't know for sure.
Walker Colt has done a good job in putting together a list of most likely and for sure on his Facebook page. One of the only Facebook pages that I visit. If you haven't been to his virtual graveyard please take time and do so.
This is one of the problems in linking Pike and others to the KGC. They did a good job of hiding themselves in plain sight. A few of the big bugs and social elites are named the rest is just a wag at best. One of the best ways to figure out who was who was to see who was named in the local papers when it came to throwing out the carpet baggers out of town. These men were members of KGC and the depending where you were the committee of public safety, or the Democratic union and several other public groups that defended the old southern way of life and preserving the white power base. The castles were no doubt active after the the war another the time of reconstruction. Those at the very top went from KGC to O.A.K. to Robber Barons,to giants and titans of industry to the crony capitalists of Today.
Ain't it funny how Time slips away.
Senior Deacon
Thank you S. D., The people I list as KGC are identified as KGC by newspapers or known members in the 1850s and 60s. I would like to add Pike to the list but really all he has going for him as a member is that he was a secessionist and a former know-nothing. As much as Bickley was a braggart you would think that he would have mentioned Pike as a member in a newspaper or speech to drum up support and new initiates but nothing has been found.