Templar Knights. Several members of President James Buchanan's administration were members of the order,[8] as well as Virginia's secessionist Senator James M. The Golden Knights are one of only three Department of Defense-sanctioned aerial demonstration teams, along with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. . Pinkerton persuaded Lincoln to allow him to surreptitiously sneak the President-elect through Baltimore in the dead of night, allowing Abe to quietly and safely arrive at the White House. The K.G.C. About the Author: Jack Myers is the author of several books, including Row House Days, Row House Blues, and The Delco Files as well as his book Knights Gold. These Knights of the Golden Circle [15] In May 1861, members of the KGC and the Confederate Rangers attacked a building which housed a pro-Union newspaper, the Alamo Express, owned by J. P. Newcomb, and burned it down. Many Knights of the Golden Circle fought for the Confederacy, including Bickley himself, who participated as an army surgeon before his capture for espionage and subsequent death in 1867. The hope was that in establishing a large and successful domain run on slavery, the South could then secure the use of slavery nationwide. Knights of the Golden Circle, a semi-military secret society that was active in the Midwestern states during the American Civil War. [16] Other KGC members followed Brig. The Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret military organization created in 1859 by George W. L. Bickley in Cincinnati, Ohio. Kane would serve over a year in prison. DAILY GAZETTE & COMET [BATON ROUGE, LA], April 6, 1860, p. 2, c. 3 Knights of the Golden Circle.This organization, whose sole aim at presents seems the invasion of Mexico and assists in the establishment of a new government, has caused some interest, especially among the young men of the city, many of whom are unemployed.They have formed an association, and for some time past have been . 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. Saulsbury, only 46, died suddenly at his Eden Street home with his wife knowing nothing of the 5,000 gold coins buried in their basement. noun plural Knights of the Golden Circle : a member of a former American secret organization formed about 1855 to promote the interests of the South and the slavery cause Love words? Kane remained in Danville for nearly four years. Knights of the Golden Circle, a semi-military secret society that was active in the Midwestern states during the American Civil War. ), a secretive organization created in 1854, proposed to establish a slaveholding empire encompassing the southern United States, the West Indies, Mexico, and parts of Central America. He sued, unsuccessfully, for the freedom of himself and his family as they were living in the free state of Illinois. The Brownwood, Texas photo below has Henry Ford's name written above the man with his hat over his shoulder. Fresh hordes will be down on us tomorrow. Wikimedia CommonsDred Scott in 1857. 7What companies use the Golden Circle? This enormous empire would have a diameter of 2,400 miles. did not have the strength attributed to it in such reports. The Knights of the Golden Circle (K.G.C. Pinkertons report included the astonishing detail that Marshal Kane himself was likely involved with the plot or at least would offer Lincoln little or no protection because of hisloyalty to the rebel cause. However, that hasn't stopped some people from suggesting that the organization is still active as an underground society . During this time, the pro-slavery South and the anti-slavery North wanted to expand their borders and create new states aligned with their respective causes. 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. Do Knights of the Golden Circle still exist? Nearly a century after its founding, more than 300 people have been knighted and today there are still around 50 active KGOT members. Many plots, including the plot to infect the North with a yellow fever epidemic, would be hatched at The Fountain. An army of 16,000 men would protect the emigrants and the terms of the treaty with Mexico, thus ensuring American dominance. But that is exactly what happened to two Baltimore boys in 1934. The sum of these treasures has been figured at about $2 million in the 19th century, which would make the mythic gold worth as much as $160 million today. I dont know what their designs are. Their early purposes included expanding southern imperial interests into the "golden circle" of Mexico, Central America . If such a plot existed, nothing came of it, suggesting that the rumors were just that or that the K.G.C. Adagio Overview; Examples (videos) decided to send undercover New York City detectives to Baltimore to root out the conspiracy. They often paid with Confederate States dollars or with drafts on the Confederate government. 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. So did 39 very heavy barrels (9,000 pounds total) filled with Mexican silver coins, the profits from the sale of Confederate cotton. https://www.tshaonline.org, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/knights-of-the-golden-circle. KGC Meeting. Booth, who had lived just four blocks from the treasure site, was already long dead. Alexander the Greats epitaph expressed the sentiment that the world is not enough. In the mid 19th century United States, a group of Southern men known as the Knights of the Golden Circle subscribed to a similar philosophy. The free labor of slaves propped up the Souths economy and indeed, as an 1860 census showed, the region exploited the free labor of around three to four million slaves. Allegedly, Sam Houston the Texas politician after whom the city of Houston is named was also a member during the Knights early days, but left after becoming disillusioned with their perspective towards the Union States. Not by chance, on South Central Avenue at this time just 4/10th of a mile from Booths home lived a candle and soap company executive named Andrew Saulsbury. In late 1863, the Knights of the Golden Circle were reorganized ( sans Bickley) as the Order of American Knights and again, early in 1864, as the Order of the Sons of Liberty, with Clement Vallandigham, the most prominent of the Copperheads, as its supreme commander, dissolved in 1864 after being exposed and members arrested and tried for treason. Bickley never did organize a successful raid and oftentimes, while he was off raising funds for the group, the Knights dissolved into anarchy. April 9, 1865 Some of that money was set aside (buried) in anticipation of funding Latin American expeditions that never materialized. Section 107 related to Copyright and Fair Use for Non-Profit educational institutions, which permits the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), to utilize copyrighted materials to further scholarship, education, and inform the public. True to his word, Kane rounded up a party of rebels that evening to burn bridges and tear up the track leading from the North. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/knights-of-the-golden-circle. Many of them were not willing to give it up, however, and dreamt of expanding the use of slaves such that it could never be extricated from them. Henry Grob and Theodore Jones showing off their find. Perhaps this should be expected, after all, for a secret society. Centering on Havana, this empire would be some 2,400 miles in diameterhence the name Golden Circle. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. They opposed the abolitionists, Northern churches, and other Yankee movements that sought to "interfere" with the Southern economy, Southern society, and way of life. As he promoted his organization, Bickley focused on the annexation of Mexico as an essential first step. With the early 1900s death of Thomas Armstrong, the man likely responsible for the stash of coins found on-site at The Fountain Hotel in 1870, no one is left who was originally involved with the burial of the coins in the cellar at the treasure house on South Eden. According to the records of the K.G.C. Texas State Historical Association Handbook of Texas. The Knights of the Golden Circle (K.G.C. I presume we will receive orders soon to arrest them, to prevent them from going into Mexico.. 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. "The Pacific Squadron of 18611866", in Aurora Hunt, C.S.A. Who were the Knights of the Golden Circle? Why did President Lincoln jail opponents of the war? The K.G.C., which boasted some 3,000 members in Baltimore alone, was known to collect dues and initiation fees in the form of gold coinage. Bickley of Ohio, a charlatan jack-of-all-trades with . 9What is the Order of the Golden Circle? ISBN 0-7432-1968-6. The Crash of 29 heralds the beginning of the Great Depression. He fundraised for the group here in Cincinnati before the Civil War and envisioned it as a para-military organization. Gen. George Bickley assembled a group of five men whose names have since been lost. California became a free state, slavery in Utah and New Mexico territories would be determined by popular sovereignty, and the slave trade in Washington, D.C. was dissolved. His case galvanized abolitionists in the North. Stuart, reported encountering Pennsylvania farmers who frantically made strange hand gestures, often while waving yellow pieces of printed paper and/or exclaiming certain words. activity circulated for a few more years, but there is no dependable evidence that the organization survived the war in any meaningful way. [citation needed] The membership, scattered from New York to California and into Latin America, was never large. . 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. An Authentic Exposition of the K.G.C. Knights of the Golden Circle, or, A History of Secession from 1834 to 1861, by A Member of the Order (Indianapolis, Indiana: C. O. Perrine, Publisher, 1861). [8] The plan was to prevent Lincoln from reaching Washington by capturing him in Baltimore. heard rumors that a plot was afoot to murder Lincoln in Baltimore before he could ever reach the White House. That C.E.O. References: Ollinger Crenshaw, "The Knights of the Golden Circle: The Career of George Bickley," American Historical Review 47 (1941). Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. This convention adopted a largely Copperhead platform and selected Ohio Representative George Pendleton (a known Peace Democrat) as the vice presidential candidate. 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 (1819 . Armstrong, Saulsbury, and the Webbs just werent fellow employees, they were blood brothers in unison for a cause, the Confederate States of America. Could this somehow all be a coincidence?? The Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret society formed in 1854 by sympathizers of Southern causes, dedicated to supporting pro-slavery policies and promoting the conquest of Mexico. Booth had lived on Exeter Street and is said to have been inducted into the K.G.C. The Knights of the Golden Circle really did exist. The markers are on the south side of Virginia Route 33 in the Swift Run Gap, roughly at the intersection of . We know this because Saulsburys daughter would testify to this as an elderly woman at the 1935 trial for ownership of the 5,000 gold coins. The banking panic of 1907 comes and goes. It amassed billions in stolen gold and silver. is its contribution to creating the emotional excitement necessary to persuading southerners to rebel against the United States. Victory by the Union in the Civil War destroyed the cause for which the K.G.C. Eyewitness evidence says a young John Wilkes Booth was an enthused participant. Problem was, the troops were viciously attacked in Baltimore as the passed over the Pratt Street Bridge. The Knights of the Golden Circle (K. G. C.) was a secret society founded by George W. L. Bickley on July 4, 1854. The slave population there had continued to grow due to natural increase even after the ban on international trade. http://knightsofthegoldencircle.webs.com/ Reactions:Wallyfish, damYankee, Deleted User CSand 18 others donna ), a secretive organization created in 1854, proposed to establish a slaveholding empire encompassing the southern United States, the West Indies, Mexico, and parts of Central America. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Both Baylor and Trevanion Teel, Sibley's captain of artillery, had been among the KGC members who rode with Ben McCulloch. Dante The Opera Artists; Dante Virtual Opera; Divine Comedy; About IOT. Fellow candle executive Thomas Armstrong, the company founders nephew, lived at a local hotel known as the Fountain Hotel. The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry. For their assistance, Maximilian rewarded the Knights of the Golden Circle $12.5 million in gold, and Jesse James $5 million. However, this dream of the Golden Circle would never be realized. (the "Golden Circle") for the purpose of bringing new slave territories into the Union. Omissions? Knights Of The Golden Circle. [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." But Brewer has found evidence enough that this legend is based in some reality. had been created and, therefore, ended its life. . Seasoned scholars will find new ground trod here, particularly regarding the origins of the Knights. In 1877, Kane would run for and win the office of Mayor of Baltimore. One of the angry Baltimoreans who joined the K.G.C. Bickley responded by calling a general convention of the K.G.C., which met in Raleigh, North Carolina, on May 711, 1860. Included within the circle were individuals from some of the Northern States who sympathized with the south and their belief in slavery. It was created directly out of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry and linked to the highest circles of American Freemasons. [9], In 1859, future Confederate States Army brigadier general Elkanah Greer established KGC castles in East Texas and Louisiana. This would, according to Bickley, protect the Southern states from being overwhelmed by the industrial and commercial interests of the North. The order itself had little influence in the South and had few or no Northern adherents. The secret societys aim was to annex the entire peninsula to the United States and provide each American emigrant with 640 acres of land to farm by way of slaves, of course. The Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic. during a ceremony at a house in his neighborhood. Many top Baltimore officials are said to have attended Booths swearing-in, done in the houses parlor which was decorated with busts and paintings of Southern politicians and heroes. According to the Texas State Historical Association, the Knights of the Golden Circle originated in Lexington, Kentucky, fittingly on July 4, 1854. These clubs were inspired by the philosophies of John C. Calhoun (1782-1850). The Texas KGC supported President of the United States James Buchanan's policy of, and draft treaty for, protecting routes for U.S commerce across Mexico, which also failed to be approved by the U.S. The TSHA makes every effort to conform to the principles of fair use and to comply with copyright law. They decided to hire Allan Pinkerton and his Pinkerton Detective Agency to spy on the Baltimore conspirators. The overarching goal of Bickleys secret organization was simple, if not a little grandiose: to create a slavery-fueled empire known as the Golden Circle.. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The Golden Circle is a concept that explains how a business might provide maximum value to consumers by changing the way it thinks. What was meant to diffuse the situation between pro-slavery and non-slavery states only added fuel to this fiery discrepancy. [4] Membership increased slowly until 1859 and reached its height in 1860. He likely secured this appointment with the blessing of Charles Webb. A New York railroad C.E.O. Randolph B. Plots were hatched to invade Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, and other lightly-defended Latin American countries. The legend of this ill-gotten treasure lives on perhaps most strikingly in a man named Bob Brewer, who believes his ancestors may have hidden the gold in Arkansas and has since devoted his lifes work to finding it. Library of CongressOn the left is George W. L. Bickley, head of the Knights of the Golden Circle. After he retired, Bob Brewer embarked on an adventure to find the missing Confederate gold, supposedly hidden by the mysterious Knights of the Golden Circle of the late 1800s to finance a second Civil War. In Baltimore, American Northern Biography reveals , Booth even joined the Knights of the Golden Circle, a secret society against the North, which he did not share with his mother after promising her he would not join any military groups. The Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret society founded in 1854, the objective of which was to create a new country, known as the Golden Circle (Spanish: Crculo Dorado), where slavery would be legal. Kane would be replaced on the Jones Falls Commission by Webb employee Andrew J. Saulsbury, now owner of the home with 5,000 gold coins buried in the basement. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. He even served as a consultant to the 2007 movie, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which touches on this legend. Knights were grouped into three divisionsmilitary, commercial and financial, and politicaleach of which was in turn divided into two classes. The Knights of the Golden Circle was a mysterious southern-based society that set out in 1859 to establish a slave empire in Mexico. Dred Scott in 1857. Corrections? As Washington exploded in celebration, Booth attended another Lincoln speech on April 11, reacting strongly to Lincolns suggestion that he would pursue voting rights for blacks. This circle of countries would represent the golden circle of the KGC, the knights of the golden circle. Is the Knights of the Golden Circle real? Keehn, David (2013). 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. had an elaborate ritual with codes, signs, and passwords, and complicated plans for its military and governing operations. [6], Hounded by creditors, Bickley left Cincinnati in the late 1850s and traveled through the East and South, promoting an armed expedition to Mexico. Research also pointed towards a society known as the Knights of the Golden Circle or 'K.G.C.' which was a pro-Confederate organization founded in the mid-1850s with the goal of preserving slavery and creating an empire based on agriculture with labour provided by slaves.. It's clear from David Keehn's study that the Knights of the Golden Circle infiltrated deeply into American political processes by 1861 and widely advocated a pro-slavery expansionist agenda. The board of directors of that insurance company included old man Armstrong himself, Charles Webb, Jr., James Webb, and retired ship captain John J. Mattison. While the North was certainly not slavery-free, its economic system did not rely solely on the forced labor of enslaved African-Americans. YOUR WHY. Bickley created, on paper at least, an army of 16,000 men. Andrew Saulsbury, who bought the Eden Street treasure home from Captain Mattison, would one day have a grandson named Charles Webb Saulsbury. George Washington Lafayette Bickley is often referred to as a Cincinnati Conman as he tried to pass for a medical doctor in the alternative field of electric medicine but he was discovered to be without a degree. One such cache was actually discovered by two Baltimore boys in 1934 who found 5,000 gold coins worth $10 million in todays dollars. Cassandra Morris Small letters, York County (PA) Heritage Trust files. Find out more amazing stories of Civil War-era America, from John Wilkes Booths supposed sex addiction, to Harriet Tubmans never-before-seen photo. A journalist reported that: This section of the country is filled with members of this mysterious organization, and their campfires are increased every night by new parties arriving during the dayIt is reported that 300 of them are in this vicinity and on the way to GoliadA company of thirty came in today from Baltimore, under Lieut. The Knights of the Golden Circle or KGC were a secret society during the American Civil War period. Library of Congress via Getty Images. Often, histories of the Civil War Era portray the creation of the Knights as chronologically concurrent with early and mid-1850s filibustering expeditions. Charles Webb and his brother James were high-ranking Freemasons, with Charles having been selected to be Marylands youngest-ever Grand Master of Freemasonry in 1853. There, a military wing of the Knights planned to march onto the Rio Grande, the river that separates Mexico and the United States and, at first, it appeared that their mission was picking up support. Donald S. Frazier, Blood & Treasure: Confederate Empire in the Southwest (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1996). The K.G.C. Booth had performed for President Lincoln at Fords Theatre in November 1863. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. It was one of the 3 lodges that would become the Grand Lodge of Nebraska. His case galvanized abolitionists in the North. And if that drastic plan failed, the K.G.C. And none of the Knights in the photo are clean shaven, so it must be a different Henry Ford than the auto magnate. In September 1857, Masters and Wardens from those three lodges assembled and organized the Grand Lodge of Nebraska. Captain Mattison, the secret slaver, lived just around the corner from Southern sympathizer Saulsbury on adjoining Eden Street, site of the 5,000 gold coins. What was the ultimate goal for the Knights of the Golden Circle? Meanwhile, Colonel Kane was waiting patiently in a remote, out of the way location in rebel-held Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. Kane was suspected of being the mastermind behind an aborted plot to free two thousand rebel prisoners from a Union military prison on Lake Eerie. Alternate titles: Order of American Knights. would spring into action to bring about Southern secession and the formation of the Confederate States of America. Local chapters were known as castles and by the 1860s, Bickley claimed the group had over 100,000 members, but such numbers are almost certainly exaggerated. In an angry letter to Seward, Pierce denied that he knew anything about the KGC, and demanded that his letter be made public. Milligan, they were imprisoned for their activities.