In 1921, the Ontario Street (Riverside) United Presbyterian Church hired the Rev. Littleton E. H. Smith who had previously been a minister in Philadelphia. He was opposed to sports on Sundays and to alcohol and all the vices it brought. In the 1953 history of the Riverside church, he was described as "quiet and sincere, but he was fearless in his stand against vice and alcholo. So eager was he to have a better and cleaner city, that he became known as the 'Crusading Pastor.' His efforts made such an mpression on the forces of evil that they were to lead to bomb the parsonage in their indeavor to stop his investigations."

"I am not a reformer nor an investigator, just a plain American born in Baltimore, who has been shown that vice is rampant in my own city and county and who believes it is his duty to change those conditions if he can." - Statement made during a speech by Rev. Smith at the Broadway Auditorium on April 21, 1924, 3 days after the Riverside Presbyterian parsonage was bombed and severely damaged. (He and his family were not at home at the time.)

Historical record shows that Rev. Smith was in fact a reformer, an investigator, and one of the most prominent members of Buffalo Klavern Number 5 of the Knights of the Klu Klux Klan.

Rev. Smith became involved with the Klan after it began to hold membership meetings in Buffalo in 1921. He helped mold the message that the Klan was morally opposed to Mayor Frank Schwab and his anti-prohibition policies. He led Klan raids into roadhouses where the fully-robed Klansmen warned the customers that they were breaking the law. These well-publicized actions were intended to shame the city and county governments into enforcing the prohibition laws.

The membership of religious leaders in the Buffalo Klan numbered around 11, most of them evangelical Protestant ministers. A number of other Protestant ministers spoke out against the Klan from its earliest notice in the area. The Buffalo Klan appealed primarily to heads of households in Western New York, with a suprising number of professional men among the 1,910 members (the known total in 1924). The Klan's attraction for them seemed to have been the law-and-order stance promoted by the Klan and the anti-Catholic bigotry the group promoted.

The Klan in Buffalo used publicity in an attempt to garner public support and help the organization gain a foothold in public office. This failed, however. The Schwab administration, after several years of a public war of words with the Klan which had singled him out as a public figure who should be removed from office, took action in 1924. The Klan was cited for failing to adhere to the terms of the Walker Law* and, as this charge was making its way through the courts, unknown persons broke into the headquarters of the Buffalo Klan in the Calumet building and stole the membership files. Through ingenious and legal steps, the Mayor managed to make public names of Buffalo Klan members. The organization collapsed in a matter of months as members hurried to disassociate themselves with the Klan.

Rev. Littleton E.H. Smith attempted to reinvigorate the Klan leadership to resume crusading against his list of moral wrongs, but the leaders (who were not Buffalonians) refused and he resigned in 1924. His final public words on the organization were published in 1925: "I am loyal to the Klan. I fought its battle. I suffered for it. But I tell you, in this country there's no place for a monarchial government. This kleagle and titan business never did appeal to me but the idealism is here... in this country, which was raised up to be an asylum for the oppressed and down-trodden of the earth, there is no place for religious hatred or bigotry."

Rev. Smith remained pastor of the Riverside United Presbyterian Church until he died in 1943. During that time, the congregation grew and prospered, constructing a new church complex and seeding 8 new Presbyterian churches in Western New York.

For information on the Riverside United Presbyterian Church, look here.

Information for this photo-of-the-week was taken from the excellent history of the Ku Klux Klan in Western New York, "Hooded Knights on the Niagara," by Shawn Lay.

To view more of the above expose on the Buffalonian web, look here.

* The Walker Law, passed in 1923, actually targeted the KKK but was written to apply to any organization requiring an oath and operating in secrecy. It stipulated that such organizations must provide a copy of its constitution, by-laws, regulations, oath of membership, and a roster of members and list of officers for the the current year. The law remains on the books.