On 1/16, John Schmitz [FN1] did a negative FB post Democrats. [FN2] My reply disparaged the GOP. [FN3] A “David Ford” replied to me. [FN4] (full thread is in the footnotes)
I felt that I must reply to “David Ford”: 1/18

I. You say “check your facts” & you assert that “Stephenson was NEVER a Republican. He was ALWAYS a registered Democrat.” (sic) You suggest if I don't believe you, “then you are arguing against the Indiana Historical Society who can confirm all of this.” 2/18

Stephenson explained why he converted to the GOP in a letter to a candidate for Elkhart mayor: “I felt my own reputation and business future was psychologically interwoven with the success or failure of the Republican ticket.” [FN5] You should be able to find this letter in 3/18

D.C. Stephenson Collection, 1922-1978, at the Indiana Historical Society, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis. [FN6] This fits with other authorities who note that Stephenson switched parties to GOP not long after a falling out w/the klan in Georgia. [FN7] 4/18

II. You assert: “Edward L. Jackson was himself not a Klansman.” Jackson went on trips to hunt & fish w/Stephenson & partied on his yacht. He campaigned around IN in Steve’s car [FN8] & had won Statewide office w/o Stephenson. [FN9] Jackson was a Kluxer. 5/18

III. You failed to address “the GOP can't claim to be the ‘Party of Lincoln’” & “the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia in the Capitol on January 6.”
In debate and appellate law, failure to address an argument constitutes waiver. [FN10] 6/18

IV. To call someone a “pretend Republican” who refuses to embrace Christofascism is crap. If you are the David Ford who ran in 2014's Democratic primary for INCD5 as a tea party/stealth candidate, you’re also a hypocrite. 7/18

We can compare past and future & learn from history. Hoosiers have watched a con man, serial rapist espouse hate and grab power. And a hundred years ago, Hoosiers watched a similar tableau in D.C. Stephenson. Have fun at the library. 8/18

Footnotes:
FN1. GOP PC (2019- ); 2nd in vote for Marion County GOP chair (2021); GOP nominee IN House Distr 97 (2020, 2022); GOP nominee INCD7 (2024). Sought to be placed on ballot as independent for Indy Mayor (2019). 9/18

FN2. “I used to understand why someone is a democrat. Democrats have become so obtuse I don’t recognize them.” 10/18

FN3. “I actually tried to become a Republican. I understand now why D.C. Stephenson chose the GOP. It's also why the GOP can't claim to be the ‘Party of Lincoln.’ The battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia was in the Capitol on January 6.” 11/18

FN4. “Check your facts. Davis Curtis Stephenson was NEVER a Republican. He was ALWAYS a registered Democrat. He got Klansmen Democrats who pretended to be Republicans into office (think Mike Braun or Jim Brainard who for years voted Democrat until they decided ... 12/18

FN4a. to run for office, switching to GOP). Edward L. Jackson was himself not a Klansman but courted Stephenson's power base to shore up his support. That is where the myth of the Klan being GOP originates. Grand Wizards like Robert Byrd of West Virigina ...13/18

FN4b. have been exclusively Democrat, never Republican. If you don't believe me, then you are arguing against the Indiana Historical Society who can confirm all of this.” 14/18

FN5. Letter, 3/7/1925 from D.C. Stephenson to David M Hoover, who had announced he was running for Mayor of Elkhart in the GOP. The Elkhart Public Library references that letter. “The Klan wanted influence. One Elkhart leader took a stand.” accessed 1/18/26. 15/18

FN6. The letter should be in Box 1, file 7. You probably should call and ask for their hours. This is a weekend and Monday is a holiday (but a holiday that you probably don’t recognize). 16/18

FN7. See also, John F Fink, “History of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana during the 1920s,” The Criterion, 9/8/17, accessed 1/17/26; Kit and Morgan Benson, “David Curtiss Stephenson,” Findagrave.com, accessed 1/17/26. 17/18

FN8. M. William Lutholtz, “Grand Dragon,” (1993), p. 123.
FN9. Doug Masson, “Indiana Bicentennial 8.10: Edward Jackson (1925-1929),” Masson’s Blog, 8/1/2016, accessed 1/18/26.
FN10. See, Laux v Chopin Land Associates, Inc., 615 N.E.2d 902 (Ind.Ct.App. 1993), reh’g denied. 18/18