Orbison New Klaliff of Klan Organization

From The Indianapolis News, Monday, January 25, 1926:  Indianapolis attorney Charles Orbison was appointed imperial klaliff (vice president) of the Ku Klux Klan national organization by imperial wizard Hiram Evans at a Hotel Lincoln banquet attended by 300 Indiana Klansman yesterday evening.  Orbison will receive an annual salary of $12,000 (2024:  $217,000).   He succeeds local attorney Walter Bossert who had relinquished the office as well as the position of Indiana grand dragon.  Before the banquet, 5,000 Klansmen met at Tomlinson Hall and ratified the nomination by the imperial wizard of W. Lee Smith, of Evansville, as Indiana grand dragon.  There was a move to block the nomination, but it was explained the Klan constitution gives the imperial wizard the sole right to nominate grand dragons.  James Jackson, brother of the governor, was reported to be leading the opposition to Smith.

“Orbison New Klaliff of Klan Organization,” The Indianapolis News, 25 January 1926, p. 7:2