Roy Elonzo Davis

Roy Elonzo Davis
Davis in 1950
8th Imperial Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
In office 1959–1964
Preceded by	Eldon Edwards
Succeeded by	Robert Shelton
Personal details
Born	April 24, 1890 Omaha, Texas, U.S.
Died	August 12, 1966 (aged 76) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Emma Sabina Dowdy (m. 1911) Elva Cotta Gravley (m. 1917) Allie Lee Garrison (m. 1930)
Children	4

Roy Elonzo Davis (April 24, 1890 – August 12, 1966) was an American preacher, white supremacist, and con artist who co-founded the second iteration of the Ku Klux Klan in 1915. Davis was Second Degree (second in command) of the KKK under William J. Simmons and later became National Imperial Wizard (leader) of the Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. He worked closely with Simmons, and was a co-author of the 1921 KKK constitution, bylaws and rituals. Davis spent decades as a KKK recruiter, at one point being named "Royal Ambassador" and an "Official Spokesperson" of the KKK by Simmons. Davis and Simmons were both expelled from the KKK in 1923 by Hiram Wesley Evans, who had ousted Simmons as leader. Simmons started the Knights of the Flaming Sword branch of the KKK and with Davis's help retained the loyalty of many KKK members. Davis was later reappointed second in command of the national KKK organization by Imperial Wizard Eldon Edwards, a position he held until being elected national leader by 1959.^[1]

Davis used religious meetings and revivals as a tool for KKK recruitment and was a traveling evangelist and pastor, founding churches in Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Indiana, and Kentucky. He baptized and ordained William Branham as a minister in 1929, who served as an elder in his church and participated in Davis's revival meetings. Davis was arrested and jailed at least 17 times between 1916 and 1961 on charges of fraud, grand theft, petty theft, forgery, illegal firearms possession, trafficking a minor, cross burning, and libel. Davis was convicted at least twice and served prison terms during 1917–1918 and 1940–1942. Based in Dallas during the 1950s and 1960s, Davis was also investigated in connection to the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy.