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Col. Billie Mayfield ( William Nicholas Mayfield II; 26 September 1875 Burton, Texas – 14 April 1963 Brenham, Texas) was a Texas newspaper journalist who had been an exponent of the Ku Klux Klan. In the 1910s and 1920s, he was a reporter for the Houston Chronicle. From 1922 to 1924, he published and edited his own pro-Ku Klux Klan newspaper, Billie Mayfield's Weekly – variously called Col. Billy Mayfield's Weekly, and Col. Billy's Fiery Cross. Billy Mayfield was not related to to Earle Mayfield (1881–1964), a Klansman who became a Texas (1907–1913) and U.S. Senator (1923–1929).

Attempted arrest of C.V. Sanders
On August 30, 1920, Col. Billie Mayfield attempted to arrest C.V. Mayfield, editor of the Houston Press. Mayfield was accused of overstepping an imposed Marshall Law was charged under 96th Article of War (see Uniform Code of Military Justice) "for conspiracy to commit an act tending to bring the military service into disrepute," through the attempted arrest of G.V. Sanders, editor of the Houston Press at the Houston Country Club.

In a court-martial trial, on September 8, 1920, he signed a statement accepting full responsibility for the mishap.




 * §1: Putative Articles. Article 96: General Article. Articles of War. (on June 4, 1920, Congress enacted 121 Articles of War that went into effect on February 4, 1921, except for Articles 2, 23, and 45, which became effective immediately). Article 96 remained.


 * Note: In 1916, Congress, for the first time, explicitly authorized peacetime court-martial jurisdiction for specific non-capital offenses. (a non-capital offense is a crime that is not punishable by death).


 * ARTICLE. 96. GENERAL ARTICLE. – Though not mentioned in these articles, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the military service, and all crimes or offenses not capital, of which persons subject to military law may be guilty, are to be taken cognizance of by a general or special or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and punished at the discretion of the court.



Career
Mayfield, beginning around 1942, was editor of the Coleman County Chronicle, while Milton Robert Autry (1915–1998) served in the Armed Forces. Roy Allen Autry, Sr. (1892–1965) was owner-manager. Mayfield resigned January 1, 1943.


 * Note: Before editing Billie Mayfield's Weekly, he had been a reporter for the Houston Chronicle. Mayfield was a friend of George W. Armstrong. link → another clip another clip on racism


 * From Cameron's dissertation: "former colonel in the Texas National Guard, filled his paper with religious and racial bigotry and targeted African Americans, Mexican Americans, Catholics, Jews, and Anglos who did not conform to Klan ideals.31 It was through the pages of Colonel Mayfield’s Weekly that the Klan’s push for political dominance became entangled in white Houston Baptists’ role as the custodians of morality in the city."

Colonel Mayfield's Weekly

 * Colonel Mayfield's Weekly, Houston, 1921–1925. Billie Mayfield, Jr. (ed.) LCCN sn86089397, . (Mayfield was publisher from inception until he sold it to Charles K. Diggs of San Antonio in September 1924). Also, a member from San Antonio was Charles K. Diggs, publisher of the weekly Klan paper, American Forum, who purchased Colonel Mayfield's Weekly from Houstonian Billie Mayfield, a veteran of World War I and the Spanish-American War.


 * The American Forum. LCCN sn86089551,.


 * "Billie Mayfield, Jr., Chroniclings of Billie" (Houston: Southwestern Press, 1916).

Galveston longshoreman's strike
He had formerly been a Colonel in the Texas National Guard and a veteran of the Spanish-American War and World War I. Col. Mayfield, in 1920, had been appointed by Governor Hobby to enforce the imposed martial law in Galveston where he attempted to arrest the editor of the Galveston News.

Lieutenant Governor Willard Arnold Johnson (1862–1923) opposed what he regarded as autocracy. Brig. Gen. Jacob Franklin Wolters (1871–1935) – whose brother, Edmund Theodore Wolters (1875–1942), was a Klansman from Lane City – commanded more than one thousand Texas National Guardsmen during a four-month occupation of Galveston. Col. Mayfield was appointed Provost Marshall.

Re: Stumble for overstepping his authority as Provost Marshall in the arrest of G.V. Sanders, editor of the Houston Press, for opining, "Governor Hobby has been led into a number of bonehead plays during his administration, but his declaration of martial law is by far the worst of all.

Quote from G.V. Sanders
 * G. V. Sanders, editor of the Houston Press, opined, "Governor Hobby has been led into a number of bonehead plays during his administration, but his declaration of martial law is by far the worst of all." In Galveston, an anonymous "large businessman" stated that 90 percent of the city's employers were satisfied with their workers and opposed the open shop. They had no desire to stir up labor trouble. Even some of the national guardsmen appeared to be dissatisfied with Hobby's decision. In Houston, officials issued arrest warrants for forty-nine soldiers who refused to report for duty in Galveston. When asked why, many of the men stated they had signed up to fight overseas, not against strikers in their own state.



From Maroney's article
 * "In September, the Houston Labor Journal charged Colonel Billie Mayfield of the Texas National Guard with attempting to kidnap the editor of the Houston Press, G.V. Sanders, at the Houston Country Club, some fifty miles away from the Galveston military zone. Sanders allegedly had published articles which Mayfield claimed might incite Galveston residents to riot. According to the Labor Journal, a subsequent military court-martial acquitted Mayfield. Several labor papers made countercharges, contending that Wolters and Mayfield staged a fake riot with troops impersonating union longshoremen, while uniformed guardsmen rushed in with fixed bayonets to crush 'a great riot' as motion pictures were taken of the whole scene."


 * From the Cameron Herald – "Brigadier General Jacob F. Wolters, the Guard commander, was sarcastically nicknamed 'King Jake' and 'General Dissappointement'. A thin-skinned National Guard officer ordered the arrest of The Press editor, G.V. Sanders. The result was a bizzar episode staight out of slap-stick comedy".



References – Longshoremen's strike of 1920







 * Labor Journal..
 * Weekly Dispatch. LCCN sn86089535,,.
 * Labor Advocate..
 * Labor Advocate..

References – Longshoremen's strike of 1920







 * Labor Journal..
 * Weekly Dispatch. LCCN sn86089535,,.
 * Labor Advocate..
 * Labor Advocate..

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References – Longshoremen's strike of 1920







 * Labor Journal..
 * Weekly Dispatch. LCCN sn86089535,,.
 * Labor Advocate..
 * Labor Advocate..