Trivia 8-27-19 Scams are nothing new! Three part question.

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During the Gettysburg campaign, Confederate cavalrymen were surprised to see locals flashing "secret" hand jestures to them. Locals also handed the confederates "tickets" that ultimately were also part of this scam.

What group was responsible for this scam?
How much did the group charge for the secret hand jestures and tickets?
What was supposed to happen when the locals flashed the hand jestures and handed over their tickets?

credit: @Wallyfish
 
The only version I have ever read of this was the Dutch farmers were the targets, but I suppose scam artists don't care who their victim is.

During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, scam artists in south-central Pennsylvania sold Pennsylvania Dutch farmers $1 paper tickets purported to be from the Knights of the Golden Circle. Along with a series of secret hand gestures, these tickets were supposed to protect the horses and other possessions of ticket holders from seizure by invading Confederate soldiers.

Source 1
Source 2
 
What Group; Knights of the Golden Circle soon to be re-named Order of the American Knights
How Much: $1.00 to acquire ticket and the “secrets”
What Would Happen: The ticket, along with the secret hand gestures/passwords/special handshakes, were supposed to protect all those participating from having their possessions and horses taken by the approaching Confederate Army.
 
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As the Confederate soldiers marched or rode through York County during the invasion of June 1863, many of them were astounded at seeing multiple farmers along their route making strange hand gestures. At times, these Pennsylvanians also cried out, “Peace! Peace!” Some of these citizens also presented golden-colored pieces of paper purporting to be membership cards in the Knights of the Golden Circle, a secretive society reportedly founded in Kentucky in 1854 to advocate the extension of slavery into Mexico and the West Indies. During the war, pockets of the mysterious organization appeared in various Northern states promoting the Southern cause. Some period newspaper accounts suggest attempts to organize a KGC chapter in Berks County and elsewhere in Pennsylvania.

In York County, for some time before the Rebels arrived, a group of strangers had traveled throughout south-central Pennsylvania selling these annual membership cards for $1 and teaching the buyers the password and secret signs and grips (special handshakes).

They were not authorized recruiters from the Knights of the Golden Circle.

They were, in reality, clever con men and greedy shysters from New York City who preyed on the fears of the naive farmers, telling them that when the Rebels arrived, all they had to do was show them the secret gestures, recite the password, and/or show the membership cards (often mentioned as “golden tickets.”).

But, these devious hucksters were not alone. Others since the beginning of the war had tried to take advantage of the strong anti-Lincoln feelings in the region. The press likened them, and their adherents, to the proverbial Trojan wooden horse, seemingly innocent but fraught with potential real danger.

In Part 1 of this Cannonball story, we will look at an article that 19th-century local historian George Reeser Prowell wrote for the June 23, 1905, edition of the York Daily. In subsequent blog entries in this brief series, we will look at various contemporary accounts of the Knights of the Golden Circle specifically in York County and the surrounded region.

Edit - I don't see an answer to the third part of the question here.

hoosier
 
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1. During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, scam artists or shysters in south-central Pennsylvania and maybe New York sold Pennsylvania Dutch farmers $1 paper tickets purported to be from the Knights of the Golden Circle.
2. One dollar
3. Along with a series of secret hand gestures, these tickets were supposed to protect the horses and other possessions of ticket holders from seizure by invading Confederate soldiers.
source-wiki
source-https://scottmingus.wordpress.com/category/civil-war-sites/gettysburg/page/11/
 
What group was responsible for this scam? Scam artists purporting to be members of the Knights of the Golden Circle.
How much did the group charge for the secret hand jestures and tickets? $1.00
What was supposed to happen when the locals flashed the hand jestures and handed over their tickets? Their possessions and livestock would not be confiscated by the Confederate Army.
 
Not sure how close this is to the answer but its a great story,

"Many of these residents came out of their homes waving tickets they had bought weeks before for $1 from New York City con men, who promised the rebels would not steal from anyone who owned one. But the Confederates ignored the shiny papers. "

 
1) Depends on what is meant by the word "responsible". There was a group of (Pfanz says "two") New York artists who sold the fake tickets and knowledge of certain hand signs to the Pennsylvania farmers - but the obviously seen as being very powerful group in the background, which through their reputation only made that scam working were the Knights of the Golden Circle.

2) The locals were charged one Dollar

3) The locals hoped that flashing the signs or showing the tickets would protect them from having their property, horses and cattles seized by the invading Confederates
(similar to the Masonic sign of distress that Confederate General Armistead gave when, severely wounded, he wanted that someone transmitted his message to his best friend, Union General Hancock).

Sources:

"During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, scam artists in south-central Pennsylvania sold Pennsylvania Dutch farmers $1 paper tickets purported to be from the Knights of the Golden Circle. Along with a series of secret hand gestures, these tickets were supposed to protect the horses and other possessions of ticket holders from seizure by invading Confederate soldiers.[12] When Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's infantry division passed through York County, Pennsylvania, they took what they needed anyway. They often paid with Confederate States dollars or with drafts on the Confederate government. The Confederate cavalry commander J.E.B. Stuart also reported the alleged KGC tickets when documenting the campaign. "
From Wikipedia

"I have been fascinated by the June 1863 shenanigans of several New York con artists here in York County, Pennsylvania. These men traveled to York, set up headquarters there (presumably in a local hotel), and then canvassed the county to sell worthless certificates / tickets from the Knights of the Golden Circle, a secret pro-Confederate organization with alleged ties to the Copperhead or peace movement. The buyer would pay a buck for the golden paper, and would in turn be instructed in secret hand signals similar in concept to the Masons or other secret societies of the day. Of more interest to the farmers and residents, the tickets came with the promise that the Confederates would leave their property and horses alone should war come to southern Pennsylvania. The same con game was played on residents of Franklin and Adams County, and both Jubal Early and J.E.B. Stuart commented on the unusual hand gestures in their post-Gettysburg reports.
In March and April of 1863, reports circulated in Berks County that the Rebels would be invading Pennsylvania at harvest time (mid-summer) and that the payment of $1 would protect the livestock and crops (the same con as was perpetrated in southern PA). I have also read of similar accounts elsewhere."

Scott Mingus in: https://yorkblog.com/cannonball/the-knights-of-the-golden-circ-1/

1566911239565.png

Henry Pfanz in: Gettysburg - The First Day, page 18
https://books.google.de/books?id=7kBDDO4Hcd8C&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=knights+golden+circle+gettysburg+campaign+gestures&source=bl&ots=4ZZ76vWpFa&sig=ACfU3U3LL7z_7QW6Y02RruSsUPAAzWbekA&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwia6OTvjqPkAhUMJlAKHSpMCHk4ChDoATAAegQICRAB#v=onepage&q&f=false
 
scam artists in south-central Pennsylvania sold Pennsylvania Dutch farmers $1 paper tickets purported to be from the Knights of the Golden Circle. Along with a series of secret hand gestures, these tickets were supposed to protect the horses and other possessions of ticket holders from seizure by invading Confederate soldiers.[12] When Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's infantry division passed through York County, Pennsylvania, they took what they needed anyway. They often paid with Confederate States dollars or with drafts on the Confederate government. The Confederate cavalry commander J.E.B. Stuart also reported the alleged KGC tickets when documenting the campaign.
 
During the Gettysburg campaign, Confederate cavalrymen were surprised to see locals flashing "secret" hand jestures to them. Locals also handed the confederates "tickets" that ultimately were also part of this scam.

What group was responsible for this scam?
How much did the group charge for the secret hand jestures and tickets?
What was supposed to happen when the locals flashed the hand jestures and handed over their tickets?

credit: @Wallyfish
During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, scam artists in south-central Pennsylvania sold Pennsylvania Dutch farmers $1 paper tickets allegedly to be from the Knights of the Golden Circle. Along with a series of secret hand gestures, these tickets were supposed to protect the horses and other possessions of ticket holders from seizure by invading Confederate soldiers. However, they took what they needed anyway.
<https://civilwarandreconstructionsecretorgs.weebly.com/knights-of-the-golden-circle.html>
 
1. A group of New York shysters sold membership cards to the Knights of the Golden Circle to unwitting farmers
2. They charged one buck for the cards and some secret hand signals
3. The locals' livestock and personal effects were supposed to be protected from the Confederates

Great question, never heard about that scam!
 
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