Before the Civil war, a Masonic society of Democrats called
Knights of the Golden Circle
planned to organize a new country consisting
of the southern states of the USA, Mexico, Central America
And the Caribbean. The economy would be based on slaves
Working huge plantations for the elite class of wealthy powerful men
Who could never be deposed.
Albert Pike was one of these knights
And after the Civil War, they obscured their name
Using the Greek word for Circle, Kuklos
And became the Ku Klux Klan
They organized themselves into castles
One Castle was even in Greencastle, IN.
The town where the founder lived was later rennamed
To Castlewood, VA.
Attached is some Indiana history as PDF
And George Bickley's story can be read on the web here:
http://sites.rootsweb.com/~vahsswv/historicalsketches/bickley%20gwl-earlyyears.html
Maybe the core of the KGC still exists?
Maybe it was always an offshoot of a European group
Of people known for living in castles.