They would first try to scare them off by putting a large cross in their front yard and then set it on fire. This group of men had started out for the reason to go after men that were doing bad things to their wives or families, but they started going in a different direction after that.



If the cross burning didn't give them the answer they were looking for, they would start to kill off the family's livestock and maybe set their barns on fire and later their homes. They would also try to hurt them by going after their children. They would take these kids out into the woods and do terrible things to them. They would hang them by their feet or put burn marks on their skin. Or they would just take the father out into the woods and kill them outright.

They would let the towns people know that if they would help this family in any way, that they would be back to do something to them. They would hold secret meetings to talk over who was next, and then would call a town meeting in their regular street clothes to talk over town problems to keep these people in the dark about the group.

If one of their wives would help this black family or become friends with them, the other members would first tell their leader about this and if it wasn't handled by this member, the group as a whole would do something to this woman, and the husband would be kicked out of the group.

They would set traps for these people that they were going after. If they would try to tell someone in town about this happening to them it would fall on deaf ears, and it probably wouldn't help if they went to the police either. If a member of this group would brag about being in this group and the leaders found out about it, they would be killed at once.

So if you were a colored person in those days, you had better been on your guard and follow all the rules that pertained to you because if you didn't, your life could have been in danger.