On April 3, 1925, one hundred years ago today, the legal system finally caught up with one of the most powerful and dangerous men in Indiana. D.C. Stephenson, the Grand Dragon of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan, was indicted on multiple charges, including kidnapping, assault, and malicious mayhem. His victim, Madge Oberholtzer, was an Indiana state employee whom he abducted, forcibly intoxicated, and brutally assaulted. She attempted suicide during her captivity and later died as a result of his crimes.
Stephenson’s conviction sent shockwaves through Indiana politics. Many officials tied to him lost their positions, and some faced legal consequences. The trial also exposed the extent of the KKK’s influence in state government, sparking a decline in the organization’s power.
After serving time, Stephenson was paroled on the condition that he leave Indiana and never return. He moved to Missouri, where he was accused of attempting to sexually assault a 16-year-old girl. Though he escaped conviction, Missouri authorities ordered him to leave the state permanently.
By the early 1960s, he had settled in Jonesborough, Tennessee. There, he married his fourth wife and worked for the Jonesborough Herald and Tribune. His dark past faded into the quiet life of a small Appalachian town.
D.C. Stephenson died on June 28, 1966, and was buried in the veterans’ cemetery at Mountain Home, in Johnson City, Tennessee.
Even in the peaceful landscapes of Appalachia, echoes of history, quite literally, lie beneath the surface.
