J. F. Hollingsworth and the Klan

News-Gazette Obituary Photo 10/30/1945

James Franklin Hollingsworth has appeared in previous Klan posts here, but his advocacy for the Klan throughout the area deserves special mention. Reverend Hollingsworth replaced O. K. Doney at the Villa Grove church over the winter of 1922-1923. Reverend Doney would also go on to become an outspoken supporter and even open member of the Klan. From the Urbana Daily Courier on 12/19/1922 and Villa Grove News coverage on 1/4/1923 and 1/18/1923:

The Villa Grove and Tuscola (where Hollingsworth had just moved from) Klans had fairly well known and spectacular ceremonies announcing their charters a few months later. From the 5/24/1923 News:

One of the first public appearances recorded of the Klan in Villa Grove came in July of that same year at the Christian church Hollingsworth now led. From the Villa Grove News on 7/19/1923:

The News had taken a positive view of "mob law" and the necessity of lynching a few months earlier. So it probably shouldn't surprise anyone that soon after the Klan established itself and was chartered as the Villa Grove Klan No. 58 of the Ku Klux Klan Realm of Illinois, they published Klan warnings on the front page. From the 5/17/1923, 7/19/1923 and 7/26/1923 editions of the News:

By the next month, the infamous Klan minister, Reverend McMahan was recruiting in Villa Grove with one of his pro-Klan lectures. From the 8/11/1923 Courier and the 8/9/1923 News:

The Villa Grove News included the Klan's "Creed" for more mainstream audiences and recruiting with its coverage of that event in the following 8/16/1923 edition of the News:

 

In 1924 Reverend Hollingsworth was openly speaking in support of the Klan around Champaign County. Some examples I found: 

At a Fisher Klan meeting. From the Courier on 7/11/1924:

At a Rantoul Klan meeting. From the Champaign News-Gazette on 8/14/1924:

And in Villa Grove itself, including officiating a Klan wedding there. From the Courier on 9/11/1924:

He also visited St. Joseph and gave a pro-Klan lecture. In the advertising announcing the event he is described as "noted Klan lecturer." From the 10/3 and 10/10/1924 St. Joseph Record:

His Klan activities continued into at least 1925. An example from the Courier where he was a part of the Women's Klan auxiliary events listed on 8/11/1925:

Hollingsworth died on 10/29/1945 and there is a large gap in what I know of his later Klan activities and his life after the Klan. More research is needed on that transition and what ramifications (if any) he may have faced afterward. His local obituaries fill in some of the gaps. He had moved on to the Webber Street Christian Church of Christ in Urbana covering most of the years from 1928 to 1936. His support of and activities with the Klan across the Area did not receive any mention, however. From the Courier and News-Gazette on 10/30/1945 and the Daily Illini on 10/31/1945:

His wife's obituary in 1963 also didn't make reference to his Klan activities or indicate they impacted her continued relationship with the Church into the Civil Rights Era. From the 9/30/1963 News-Gazette:

More information on the Villa Grove Klan and its activities here on the Area Klan page.

More information on area Churches and the Klan, including local Klan ministers here.

O. K. Doney

As far as local Klan ministers go, Oliver Kinsey Doney probably made the most headlines as an outspoken proponent and member of the Champaign County Ku Klux Klan. He began as a pretty typical local attorney. He was featured in the 1905 edition of the History of Champaign County (volume 2):

OLIVER KINSEY DONEY, a minister and lawyer, of Urbana, Ill., was born in Deerfield, Mo., November 30, 1873, the son of Lysander and Cynthia A. (Hill) Doney. The former was a veteran of the Civil War whose first enlistment for a period of three months so inspired him with zeal, that at the expiration of this term, he immediately reenlisted for the entire war. At the Battle of Chickamauga he was twice wounded, and although he bravely kept on, he was at length compelled to fall out of line at Atlanta, in the famous "March to the Sea." The mother was, in her youth, a somewhat gifted singer, and to her san she transmitted not alone her contour of features, but a natural musical ability...

The children had no opportunity to attend school until 1885, when the family removed to Tolono, Ill., but here the two started in the same grade graduating together from the high school in 1893. Then came a separation hard to bear, since the brother and sister were like twins, for in the fall of that year the lad entered the University of Illinois, the sister's ill-health detaining her at home. Mr. Doney spent two years at this institution of learning, taught school for a term, and then decided to study law.

In March, 1899, he was admitted to the bar. He then reentered the university and graduated with the class of 1900, receiving the degree of LL. B. Since then he has practiced law, specializing as an abstractor. He is an earnest advocate of the cause of prohibition, declaring that every voter at every election should cast his vote to destroy the liquor traffic. His ambition had been, since his boyhood, to become a minister not a mere preacher, but a minister. With this end in view he made a special study of the gospels, and was ordained April 5, 1903, not as a minister of any special denomination, but of the Church Universal the Church of Christ...

On August 17, 1899, Mr. Doney was married to Hattie Myrtle, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Shuck, of Urbana, Ill. Mr. Shuck is a veteran of the Civil War. Since May, 1903, Mr. Doney has been preaching with marked success at Homer, Ill.

 As the Klan was emerging locally, O. K. Doney was retiring from the Christian church of Villa Grove. He was soon to be replaced by Reverend Hollingsworth, who would also become an outspoken advocate for the local Klan. From the 12/19/1922 Urbana Daily Courier and Villa Grove News:

Within months, O. K. Doney was openly participating in Klan events. An early example was an event honoring local WWI veteran Lt. Ennis G. Stillwell. From the 5/30/1923 Champaign News-Gazette:

One of the tactics by the second Klan in the 1920s was setting up a debate platform, often with a local Catholic leader, that helped amplify the Klan position regardless of the event itself. From the announcements in the 8/23/1923 Courier and the coverage in the Rantoul Weekly Press on 8/30/1923:

In the early days of mass marketing, these tactics may not have appeared so obvious, but the effect was the same as modern extremist groups using the platform itself as a tool of propaganda. Reverend McMahan would use the same tactic in Mattoon where he was based. From the 9/24/1923 Mattoon Journal-Gazette a few weeks later:

I don't have any information on Thomas Sunderland being anything other than a well-intentioned and good faith participant in these debates. It's quite possible he was hoping his engagement would help shine a light on the Klan's ideological flaws. Unfortunately, any such arguments did not appear in the local coverage that I could find.

O. K. Doney would also be involved in the massive naturalization, parade, and Klan meeting at Crystal Lake Park in September of that year. From the 9/25/1923 Courier coverage:

O. K. Doney would also mingle with the Imperial Wizard of the national Klan organization and the Grand Dragon of Illinois during the massive convention here in 1923. He performed the Klan wedding ceremony that completed that convention. From the 11/20 and 11/24/1923 Courier:

Other Klan ministers also participated in that convention, including J. F. McMahan covered in another post here. From the Courier coverage of the convention on 11/24/1923 and a 11/20/1923 advertisement for the events in the same paper:

As a well known figure for the local Klan, the Courier would sometimes treat him like a spokesman on local Klan matters. From the 1/7/1924 Courier:

The Klansman in this case was a local business man and grocery store owner, separated from his wife, who claimed he was in the inescapable "clutches" of a local white-passing Black prostitute. From the 12/28/1923 Courier:

As one can imagine, the marriage ended in divorce soon after.

In another unusual twist, O. K. Doney's Civil War veteran father received a Klan funeral, with full regalia and Klan drum corps. In the 8/7/1925 Courier coverage, his memberships are listed as "the Church of Christ, the Odd Fellows and at heart a Klansman." It's hard to know if he would have appreciated that description as a Union veteran or if his son inserted that on his behalf. The bizarre nature of 1920s politics make either a possibility.

The next local coverage I could find on O. K. Doney was with the passing of his wife, who had apparently been ill for some time. From the 1/13 and 1/14/1931 News-Gazette:

It's after this funeral that it appears that O. K. Doney may have soon moved to Chatham, IL according to his later obituaries (below). He pops up in local coverage, however, while working for the WPA (Works Progress Administration) under FDR's New Deal programs. In the 12/23/1935 Courier it's noted that he's working on collecting local information for the Illinois issue of the American Guide Series of the WPA.

A couple years later he's noted in the 10/13/1937 Courier organizing local government archives for the WPA:

No mention of his prominent Klan activities, support of the Klan, or even his membership were noted in his obituaries locally. Below are the mentions of his death in the 6/23/1941 Courier and News-Gazette as well as the 6/26/1941 Villa Grove News:

There may be an addendum to this post if I receive additional information on his final years in Chatham. From the information I have locally, it appears that like other Klan ministers, he went on to live a normal life. His public Klan background wasn't a hindrance or even an awkward mention in his obituary. It was just left in the past.

McMahan, National and Mattoon Politics

This post includes local letters of opposition to the Klan that are important for the record and full account of this moment in history. The vocal opposition may have often been small or tempered, but it was relevant then and today. The 1925 local elections in Mattoon, Il may have been a personal loss for Reverend Jesse Forrest McMahan when it came to his run for school board president. But he was also credited with the mayoral victory that brought us the above headline from the 4/22/1925 Mattoon Journal-Gazette. The article explains McMahan's role in the campaign:

The article notes the mayor-elect had Klan support in spite of being a Democratic Party candidate. This may seem like an odd point to highlight to those who associate the Klan primarily with the Democratic Party, especially the original Klan and southern Klan history. In the north and especially the Midwest, the Klan was commonly a part of Republican politics. As noted previously here, the Exalted Cyclops of the Champaign County Ku Klux Klan was a prominent Republican. 

Charles G. Palmer, the Grand Dragon of the Illinois Klan matter-of-factly boasted of the Klan's dominance in Illinois politics in the 10/24/1924 Chicago Tribune. The Klan was openly supporting Republican candidate and Governor Len Smalls. Infamous Klan raider S. Glenn Young stumped for Republican candidates, though not without causing a stir:  

NPR had an overview of the nuance of Illinois politics during the 2nd Klan here with helpful citations. Excerpt:

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, says four to seven million men and women throughout the country joined the Klan in the 1920s. Among them, were up to 200,000 Illinoisans, and they were political.

A Chicago Klan newspaper called, “Dawn: A Journal for True American Patriots,“ encouraged members to recommend candidates and run for office.

The June sixth, 1923 Rockford paper, the Republic, reported:

“The klan is said to have been active in Springfield elections since last fall, supporting candidates backed by (Republican) Governor Len Small.”

Tension over the Klan’s involvement with Illinois government peaked that year. Chicago Representative Thomas J. O’Grady, a Democrat, requested an investigation into Statehouse employees’ Klan membership.

More at the full article here. The "Klan question" was a fairly divisive issue within both major parties' 1924 political conventions. The divisions and infighting among Klan and anti-Klan Democrats was a notorious party disaster for their convention that year. The Republican convention avoided taking a stand for or against Klan candidates. The Courier had coverage explaining the pragmatic political decision on 5/23/1924:

An editorial in the Courier on 9/10/1924 highlighted the political advantage of avoiding a fight on the issue in states where the Klan was more dominant in the Republican Party. In this example, the Courier lamented the influence of groups like the Klan and disputed whether such overt support helped or hurt Republican wins in Maine:

Indiana political trends and influence are probably more relevant here, especially as we see a lot of cross-over, both physically and organizationally across the boarder with Klan leaders in East Central Illinois. From the 6/6/1924 Courier:

This is the national and regional context for Klan politics heading into the local 1925 elections. And also just prior to some of the more headline grabbing scandals and attention the Klan would receive that year. This isn't an indictment of one party over another. The Klan had varying influence in both major parties at the local and national levels. There was also varying levels of opposition within each party. Letters to the editor in the Mattoon Journal-Gazette help highlight some of that contemporary opposition locally. These letters help show that some people at the time "knew better" and openly opposed the Klan, even while most may have remained silent, complicit, or welcoming of the Klan. From 4/7/1925:

From the 4/9/1925 Journal-Gazette (click to enlarge):

And the 4/10/1925 Journal-Gazette:

McMahan lost the school board race by roughly 600 votes, a pretty decent margin in a smaller local election, especially considering how the mayoral race went later. From the 4/13/1925 Journal-Gazette: