David Curtiss “Steve” Stephenson (21 August 1891 – 28 June 1966) was an American Grand Dragon (state leader) of the Ku Klux Klan in the US state, Indiana and 22 other northern states. He is considered to have been one of the most successful Klan leaders up until the downfall of his conviction for murder which led to the end of the second wave of Klan activity.

He was born in Houston, Texas, moved with his family to Maysville, Oklahoma, where he worked as a printer's apprentice and was active in the Socialist Party. In 1920 he moved to Evansville, Indiana, where he became a salesman and joined the Democratic Party and the Ku Klux Klan.

In November 1922, Stephenson backed Hiram Wesley Evans in his attempt to unseat William J. Simmons as Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan; upon Evans' ascendancy, Stephenson was made Grand Dragon of Indiana and 22 other northern states.

Membership in the states for which he was Grand Dragon grew dramatically. In Indiana alone membership grew to nearly 300,000, or about one third of all white males in the state. Stephenson acquired great wealth, political power, and hubris.

In a speech to the 1923 Fourth of July gathering of the Ku Klux Klan in Elwood, Indiana, Stephenson began, “My worthy subjects, citizens of the Invisible Empire, Klansmen all, greetings. It grieves me to be late. The President of the United States kept me unduly long counseling on matters of state. Only my plea that this is the time and the place of my coronation obtained for me surcease from his prayers for guidance.”

Encouraged by his success, in September 1923, Stephenson severed his ties with the existing national organization of the Ku Klux Klan, and formed a rival Ku Klux Klan.

Stephenson changed his affiliation from the Democratic to the Republican Party; and notably supported Republican Ed Jackson when he ran (successfully) for Governor in 1924.

Publicly a Prohibitionist and a defender of “Protestant womanhood”, his spectacular 1925 trial for murder led to the downfall of the “Second Wave” of Klan activity. Stephenson was responsible for the abduction, forced intoxication, and sadistic rape of Madge Oberholtzer (who ran a state program to combat illiteracy), all leading to her death.

Amongst other things, Stephenson had ferociously bitten her so many times that one man who saw her described her condition as having been “chewed by a cannibal”. Stephenson was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison on 25 November 1925.

In vengeful response to his conviction and to the refusal of Governor Jackson to grant clemency or to commute his sentence, on 09 September 1927 Stephenson released lists of public officials who were or had been on the Klan payroll.

On 07 January 1941, the Valparaiso Vidette-Messenger reported that Democratic Governor Townsend was considering granting an early parole application by Stephenson; if so, this application was rejected.

Stephenson was paroled on 23 March 1950, but violated parole by disappearing on or before 25 September 1950. On 15 December 1950, he was captured in Minneapolis, and directed in 1951 to serve a further 10 years in prison.

In 1953, he plead for release from prison, denying that he had ever been a leader of the Klan. On 22 December 1956, he was paroled again, on condition that he leave Indiana and never return. In 1961, he was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a sixteen-year-old girl, but the charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence.

Stephenson is credited with the quote, “Everything is fine in politics as long as you don't get caught in bed with a live man, or a dead woman.” He was infamous for having claimed "I am the law in Indiana."

Stephenson died in Jonesborough, Tennessee. He is buried in Johnson City, Tennessee.

David Curtiss "Steve" Stephenson (21 August 1891–28 June 1966) was an American Grand Dragon (state leader) of the Ku Klux Klan in the U.S. state of Indiana and 22 other Northern states. He is considered to have been one of the most successful Klan leaders up until his downfall after his conviction for murder. His trial and imprisonment contributed to the end of the second wave of Klan activity in the 1920s.

Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan

Stephenson was born in Houston, Texas and moved with his family to Maysville, Oklahoma, where he worked as a printer's apprentice and was active in the Socialist Party. In 1920 he moved to Evansville, Indiana, where he became a salesman and joined the Democratic Party and the Ku Klux Klan. In that same year, he ran unsuccessfully for a Democratic Congressional nomination.

In November 1922, Stephenson backed Hiram Wesley Evans in his attempt to unseat William J. Simmons as Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan; upon Evans' ascendancy, Stephenson was made Grand Dragon of Indiana and 22 other northern states.

Membership in the states for which he was Grand Dragon grew dramatically. In Indiana alone membership grew to nearly 250,000 or about one third of all white males in the state. Stephenson acquired great wealth, political power, and hubris. In a speech to the 1923 Fourth of July gathering of the Ku Klux Klan in Kokomo, Indiana, Stephenson began, "My worthy subjects, citizens of the Invisible Empire, Klansmen all, greetings. It grieves me to be late. The President of the United States kept me unduly long counseling on matters of state. Only my plea that this is the time and the place of my coronation obtained for me surcease from his prayers for guidance."

Encouraged by his success, in September 1923, Stephenson severed his ties with the existing national organization of the Ku Klux Klan, and formed a rival Ku Klux Klan. Stephenson changed his affiliation from the Democratic to the Republican Party. He notably supported Republican Edward L. Jackson when he ran (successfully) for governor in 1924.

Convicted of murder

Publicly a Prohibitionist and a defender of "Protestant womanhood," his spectacular 1925 trial for murder led to the downfall of the "Second Wave" of Klan activity. Stephenson was responsible for the abduction, forced intoxication, and rape of Madge Oberholtzer (who ran a state program to combat illiteracy), all leading to her suicide attempt and eventual death. Among other atrocities, Stephenson had bitten her so many times that one man who saw her described her condition as having been “chewed by a cannibal."

The jury convicted Stephenson of second-degree murder on 14 November 1925, on its first ballot. Stephenson was sentenced to life in prison on 16 November 1925.

In vengeful response to his conviction and to the refusal of Governor Jackson to grant clemency or to commute his sentence, on 9 September 1927 Stephenson released lists of public officials who were or had been on the Klan payroll. This publicity and the state's crackdown on Klan activity speeded its decline by the end of the 1920s.

The aftermath was shocking, indictments were filed against Governor Ed Jackson, Marion County Republican chairman George V. "Cap" Coffin, and attorney Robert I. Marsh, charging them with conspiring to bribe former Governor Warren McCray. Even Mayor of Indianapolis John Duvall was convicted and sentenced to jail for 30 days (and barred from political service for 4 years). Some Republican commissioners of Marion County also resigned from their posts on charges of accepting bribes from the Klan and Stephenson.

On 7 January 1941, the Valparaiso Vidette-Messenger reported that Democratic Governor Townsend was considering granting an early parole application by Stephenson; if so, this application was rejected.

Stephenson was paroled on 23 March 1950, but violated parole by disappearing on or before 25 September 1950. On 15 December 1950, he was captured in Minneapolis, and directed in 1951 to serve a further 10 years in prison. In 1953, he pleaded for release from prison, denying that he had ever been a leader of the Klan. On 22 December 1956, he was paroled again, on condition that he leave Indiana and never return. In 1961, he was arrested on charges of attempting to sexually assault a sixteen-year-old girl, and released after paying a $300 fine.

Stephenson is credited with the quote, “Everything is fine in politics as long as you don't get caught in bed with a live man, or a dead woman." He was infamous for having claimed "I am the law in Indiana".

Stephenson died in Jonesborough, Tennessee. He is buried in Johnson City, Tennessee.

References

• Lutholtz, M. William (1991). Grand Dragon: D.C. Stephenson and the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press. ISBN 1557530106. 

• Moore, Leonard Joseph (1991). Citizen Klansmen: the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921-1928. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807819816. 

• Tucker, Todd (2004). Notre Dame vs. the Klan: how the Fighting Irish defeated the Ku Klux Klan. Chicago, IL: Loyola Press. ISBN 0829417710. 

Wikipedia.org

David Curtiss Stephenson

By Kit and Morgan Benson

Findagrave.com

Murderer. Once a rising political figure in Indiana and national politics, he was convicted of the rape and murder of Madge Oberholtzer. Born in Houston, Texas, he left school at the end of the 8th grade, to support his family. When he turned twenty, he joined the Texas National Guard, and during World War I, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant, serving in Company D, 36th Infantry Regiment in France. In his spare hours, he would read psychology books, and took public speaking courses to improve his ability to talk. He soon developed the ability to captivate audiences with his speaking.

In 1922, he became a partner in the coal business, and moved to Indiana. The next year, he joined the local Ku Klux Klan, and his speaking ability quickly enabled him to become its Grand Dragon (State head of the KKK). He also became active in the state's Republican Party, and soon became so powerful that he was considered a contender for President of the United States, with the intention of entering the Presidential race of 1928.

In 1924, by the age of 33, he was a multi-millionaire, lived in a large mansion, and had a staff of several bodyguards, a small fleet of cars, a personal train, and even a yacht on Lake Erie. His oratory soon expanded the Indiana KKK membership to an estimated 180,000 members. His newspaper, "The Fiery Cross," had a circulation of 500,000. His influence was so strong that he was often a guest of the governor, and often boasted, "I am the law in Indiana." As much as Stephenson would speak out against Blacks and Jews, promiscuity, alcohol, and immoral books and movies, he would hypocritically have orgies in his mansion, was an alcoholic and sexual deviate that enjoyed degrading and humiliating women.

In early 1924, one woman charged him with seduction and he paid off his accuser. Other women came forward, and he bribed local officials to look the other way.

In late 1924, he attended a dinner at the Governor's Mansion, where he met Madge Oberholtzer. Instantly attracted to her, they went on a couple of dates together, but when he revealed that he was the Grand Dragon of the Indiana KKK, she immediately broke off the relationship.

A few days later, he tricked her into coming to his home, where he forced her into unconsciousness with liquor. When she woke up, she was on his private train going to Chicago. There he raped her several times, also mutilating her until she blacked out. When she woke up in Chicago, she asked to go to the drug store, where she purchased a small supply of mercuric chloride tablets, and when no one was looking, swallowed six of the poison tablets. That evening she became extremely sick, and Stephenson discovered what she had done, but refused to call a doctor.

The next afternoon, she was so sick that he directed his bodyguards to hire a car and drive her home to her parents back in Indiana. When the men dropped her off at her parents' home, her parents immediately called a doctor, but it was too late to do anything, and Madge died ten days later in extreme pain.

Stephenson was indicted on charges of kidnapping, rape, and second-degree murder. Although his lawyers argued that she committed suicide, the doctor testified that her mutilation injuries alone were sufficient to cause her death. By failing to take any action to help her for 24 hours, he ensured her death. The jury convicted Stephenson of all counts, and he was sentenced to life in prison. Stephenson requested a pardon from the Governor, who owed his election to Stephenson's influence, but the Governor ignored all of his letters. So Stephenson sent copies of letters and checks that told of his years of bribing public officials to the newspapers.

The resulting scandal destroyed both the political structure and the KKK in Indiana. Within two years, the KKK in Indiana went from 180,000 members to virtual non-existence. On March 23, 1956, Stephenson, aged 65, was paroled. Five years later, he was arrested for sexually assaulting a 16 year-old girl, found guilty, and sentenced to four months in jail. He died in 1966 in Jonesboro, Tennessee, of a heart attack.

Madge Augustine Oberholtzer

By Kit and Morgan Benson

Findagrave.com

Murder Victim. She was kidnapped, tortured, raped and murdered by David C. Stephenson, then head of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, a strong political leader and considered a contender for President of the United States. The sensational case sent him to prison for most of his life and destroyed the KKK in Indiana.

Born Madge Augustine Oberholtzer in Clay City, Indiana, she grew up in Fulton County, Indiana. After earning a degree as a teacher, she worked for the Indiana Department of Education in the Indiana State Program for Literacy, helping illiterate adults learn to read. She also taught black children how to read.

One evening in 1924, she attended a dinner at the Governor's mansion, where she met David Curtiss "D.C." Stephenson, and he was instantly attracted to her. Madge would go on two dates with D.C.; on the second date, he revealed that he was the Grand Dragon (state leader) of the Indiana Branch of the Ku Klux Klan. Incensed, she immediately broke off the relationship.

On March 27, 1925, Stephenson called her, and asked her to come to his home about a new, important job. When she arrived at his home, he overpowered her, forcing her to drink several glasses of alcohol (she was a teetotaler), until she became sick and nearly passed out. Stephenson then had two of his bodyguards carry her into a car, where she fainted. When she awoke, she was on Stephenson's private train, on its way to Chicago. There he raped her several times, also mutilating her, until she blacked out.

In Chicago, he let her and his body guards go to a drug store under the guise of purchasing some feminine hygiene items, where she purchased mercuric chloride tablets, and when no one was watching, she swallowed six of the poison tablets.

When she was discovered vomiting blood that night, Stephenson waited until the next afternoon (nearly 24 hours), and when she didn't recover, he had his two bodyguards rent a car and drive her back to her parents' home in Indiana, where they dropped her off late that night without an explanation. Her parents immediately called a doctor, but there was little he could do. Madge told her mother what had happened to her, which her mother wrote down, and Madge signed her confession. Madge died on April 14, and Stephenson was indicted on charges of kidnapping, rape and second-degree murder.

At his trial, the doctor who had examined her testified that the injuries she received during her rape would be sufficient alone to kill her. He described her wounds as similar to having been "chewed by a cannibal."

The doctor also testified that since Stephenson had failed to seek immediate medical attention for her once he discovered she had taken poison, choosing to wait over 24 hours before returning her to her parents, he had made certain that she would die. Stephenson was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. The resulting scandal destroyed the KKK in Indiana; within the next two years, the Indiana KKK lost over 178,000 members, becoming virtually non-existent. 

Madge Augustine Oberholtzer (10 November 1896 – 14 April 1925) was an American schoolteacher who worked and lived in Indianapolis. Abducted and assaulted, she achieved national attention by naming D.C. Stephenson, Grand Dragon of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan, as her assailant before she died of poisoning. Her testimony was key to his conviction at trial and to the decline of the 1920s KKK in Indiana.

Early life

Oberholzer was born in Clay City, Indiana and grew up in Fulton County, Indiana. After college, she worked as a teacher in an Indiana state program for literacy. Like many young single women, she continued to live with her parents, then in the Irvington neighborhood of Indianapolis.

Events of the case

On 15 March 1925, David Curtiss Stephenson, a powerful political figure and high-ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan, kidnapped Oberholtzer after meeting her through Governor Ed Jackson, whom he had helped get elected in 1924. Then a member of the Republican Party, Stephenson had been a Democrat and was a Grand Dragon of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan and 22 other northern states. He was wealthy and had great political power.

Stephenson took Oberholtzer into his private train car and forced her to drink. He raped her while his train traveled toward Chicago. Stephenson was said to have chewed and bitten Oberholtzer all over her body. On the second day at an Indiana hotel, Oberholtzer attempted to shoot herself but was foiled by Stephenson. Oberholtzer managed to purchase mercuric chloride tablets and consumed them in another attempt at escape by suicide.

Stephenson and his companions discovered her vomiting blood, and drove her back to Indianapolis. Before leaving his house, Oberholtzer threatened him, saying “The law will get their hands on you!” He laughed and said, “I am the law.” Stephenson's Klan connections gave him tremendous political power in the state when the KKK was at a height of membership and influence.

When Oberholtzer got home, she sought medical attention, but it was too late. With what strength she had left, she accused Stephenson in a deathbed statement on 28 March that detailed her treatment at his hands. Oberholtzer died on 14 April from an infection and kidney failure from mercury poisoning.

Stephenson was indicted on charges of rape and second-degree murder. His lawyer's defense was that Oberholtzer had committed suicide. The prosecution pointed out that Oberholtzer had vomited so violently that prompt medical attention may have saved her. During closing statements, Stephenson was decried as a “destroyer of virtue and womanhood”. He was found guilty of second degree murder, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Stephenson's assault of Oberholtzer so outraged many members of the Klan that entire lodges left the organization. In addition, Indiana and other states stepped up efforts to publicize Klan members (who had depended on secrecy to hide their activities) and prosecute infractions. By 20 February 1928, Indiana Klan rosters had decreased dramatically from more a peak of 250,000 members to approximately 4,000.

Stephenson was paroled on 23 March 1950, but violated parole by disappearing on or before 25 September 1950. On 15 December 1950, he was captured in Minneapolis. In 1951 he was directed to serve a further 10 years in prison. On 22 December 1956, Stephenson was paroled again, on the condition that he leave Indiana and never return. In 1961, he was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a sixteen-year-old girl, but the charges were dropped on grounds of insufficient evidence. He died in 1966.

Wikipedia.org

David Curtiss Stephenson

The victim, Magde Augustine Oberholtzer