In the summer of 1826, William Morgan of Batavia, New York, announced his intention to publish a book exposing the secrets of Freemasonry.

On September 11 of that year, he was abducted and never seen again.

Morgan was considered a traitor by the Masons and a “Christian martyr” by their opponents. 54 Masons were indicted for his abduction and 10 were found guilty.

Morgan’s disappearance led to the formation of America’s first “third party”, the Anti-Masonic Party.

But was it Morgan's body that washed ashore on Lake Ontario a year later, and were the Masons responsible for his death?

Date: September 1826

Location: Batavia, New York

Victim: William Morgan

Cause of Death:  Drowning

Accused:  Freemasons

Synopsis:

Nearly two centuries after his death, it is still difficult to find an impartial rendition of William Morgan’s story.

In the 19th Century, several books were written and published by Masonic organizations that depicted Morgan as a drunk, a thief and generally a man of low moral character.

They denied that he ever was a Mason, and that Masons had anything to do with his murder.

In fact, they denied that William Morgan was murdered at all.

This tradition continues today on Masonic web sites.

Another tradition that continues on the internet is the belief that Freemasonry has a sinister influence on all facets of world politics going far deeper and wider than their public face would suggest.

To these adherents, William Morgan was a hero who died for free speech.

Even the portraits of Morgan used by the two groups are different.

Anti-masonic groups tend to use a portrait depicting Morgan as studious and refined, while the Masons prefer a portrait of Morgan as a disgruntled old man in tattered clothes.

We know that William Morgan was born in Culpepper, Virginia in 1774 or 1775.

He married Lucinda Pendleton of Richmond, Virginia in 1819 and they had two children.

Morgan claimed he was a Captain in the War of 1812, fighting with Andrew Jackson, but that has never been verified.

He later moved to Little York, Ontario (now Toronto), where he opened a brewery.

It was there, Morgan claimed, that he was inducted into the Freemasons.

When his brewery burned down, he left Canada and moved to Rochester, New York, then to Batavia, New York.

The Masons question whether he was ever a Mason in Canada, and in fact question whether he ever owned a brewery.

In New York he attended a Masonic lodge in Leroy and there became a Royal Arch Mason, though the Masons claim there is no record that he had ever received the preceding degrees.

When a new chapter was proposed in Batavia, Morgan signed the petition, however before it was presented to the Grand Chapter, his name was removed, and he was not allowed membership in the Batavia chapter.

This, presumably, was the event that prompted Morgan to write a book exposing the secrets of Freemasonry.

He teamed up with a printer named David Cade Miller, and two other men, John Davids and Russel Dyer, to publish the book.

In the summer of 1826 Morgan published an advertisement saying that a book would soon be available revealing the secrets of the Masons for a dollar a copy.

Soon after, there were mysterious fires at Miller’s print shop.

It was alleged that the fires were set by Freemasons, though they accused Miller of starting the fires himself as advertisement for the upcoming book.

On September 11, 1826, William Morgan was arrested for stealing a shirt and tie, and taken to a jail in Canandaigua, NY.

He was soon released for lack of evidence but immediately re-arrested for failure to pay a $2.69 debt to an innkeeper.

On September 12, a group of men came and paid Morgan’s fine.

As they took him away Morgan was heard hollering “Murder!”

William Morgan was never seen alive again.

Trials:

54 Masons were indicted for Morgan’s kidnapping.

In 15 separate trials 10 Masons, including Niagara County Sheriff, Eli Bruce, were convicted and given sentences ranging from 30 days to 28 months.

Because Morgan’s death could not be confirmed, murder charges were never brought.

Verdict:  Guilty of kidnapping

In October 1827, a body washed up on the shore of Lake Ontario.

Three inquests were held for the corpse.

The first said the body was unidentified.

In the second, the corpse was shown to William Morgan’s wife who identified her husband primarily by his distinctive teeth--Morgan had two rows of teeth and several of them were broken. 

is doctor also identified the body as Morgan.

Thurlow Weed, a New York politician opposed to the Masons was on the inquest committee. 

The Freemasons accused Weed of mutilating the corpse to resemble Morgan.

At the third inquest, the body was shown to the wife of Timothy Monroe, another unrelated missing man.

Mrs. Monroe positively identified the corpse as her husband and that is the ruling that stood.

The Freemasons (then and now) admitted that a misguided group of their members did kidnap William Morgan but did not kill him.

They claimed he was given $500 and set free in Canada.

Morgan was supposedly seen alive in such exotic places as Smyrna in the Ottoman Empire, and the Cayman Islands.

New York Governor DeWitt Clinton (a Mason) offered a $1000 reward for information proving that Morgan was alive.

DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769 – February 11, 1828) was an American politician and naturalist. He served as a United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the seventh and ninth governor of New York. In the last capacity, he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal. Clinton was a major candidate for the American presidency in the election of 1812, challenging incumbent James Madison.  A nephew of two-term U.S. vice president and New York governor George Clinton, DeWitt Clinton was his uncle's secretary before launching his own political career. As a Democratic-Republican, Clinton won election to the New York State legislature in 1798 before briefly serving as a U.S. Senator. Returning to New York, Clinton served three terms as the appointed Mayor of New York City and the lieutenant governor of New York State. In the 1812 presidential election, Clinton won support from the Federalists as well as from a group of Democratic-Republicans who were dissatisfied with Madison. Though Madison won re-election, Clinton carried most of the Northeastern United States and fared significantly better than the previous two Federalist-supported tickets. After the presidential election, Clinton continued to be affiliated with the Democratic-Republican Party.  Clinton was governor of New York from 1817 to 1822 and from 1825 to 1828, and presided over the construction of the Erie Canal. Clinton believed that infrastructure improvements could transform American life, drive economic growth, and encourage political participation. He heavily influenced the development of infrastructure both in New York State and in the United States as a whole.

It was never collected.

Shortly after his disappearance Morgan’s book, Illustrations of Masonry, was published (It was republished later under other titles, e.g.: Morgan’s Freemasonry Exposed and Explained, The Mysteries of Freemasonry).

The publication, together with outrage over the light sentences given the kidnappers fired up a wave of anti-Masonic sentiment that spread across the country.

Thurlow Weed and others formed the short-lived Anti-Masonic Party and ran a candidate in the 1832 presidential election won by Andrew Jackson (a Mason).

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States, serving from 1829 to 1837. Before his presidency, he gained fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. Often praised as an advocate for ordinary Americans and for his work in preserving the union of states, Jackson has also been criticized for his racial policies, particularly his treatment of Native Americans.  Jackson was born in the colonial Carolinas before the American Revolutionary War. He became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson Robards. He briefly served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, representing Tennessee. After resigning, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Superior Court from 1798 until 1804. Jackson purchased a property later known as the Hermitage, becoming a wealthy planter who owned hundreds of African American slaves during his lifetime. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander. He led troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and negotiating the Treaty of Fort Jackson that required the indigenous Creek population to surrender vast tracts of present-day Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 made him a national hero. He later commanded U.S. forces in the First Seminole War, which led to the annexation of Florida from Spain. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824. He won a plurality of the popular and electoral vote, but no candidate won the electoral majority. With the help of Henry Clay, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams in a contingent election. Jackson's supporters alleged that there was a "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Clay and began creating their own political organization that would eventually become the Democratic Party.  Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide. In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act. This act, which has been described as ethnic cleansing, displaced tens of thousands of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands east of the Mississippi and resulted in thousands of deaths. Jackson faced a challenge to the integrity of the federal union when South Carolina threatened to nullify a high protective tariff set by the federal government. He threatened the use of military force to enforce the tariff, but the crisis was defused when it was amended. In 1832, he vetoed a bill by Congress to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States, arguing that it was a corrupt institution. After a lengthy struggle, the Bank was dismantled. In 1835, Jackson became the only president to pay off the national debt. He survived the first assassination attempt on a sitting president. In one of his final presidential acts, he recognized the Republic of Texas.  After leaving office, Jackson supported the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk, as well as the annexation of Texas. Jackson's legacy remains controversial, and opinions on his legacy are frequently polarized. Supporters characterize him as a defender of democracy and the Constitution, while critics point to his reputation as a demagogue who ignored the law when it suited him. Scholarly rankings of presidents historically rated Jackson's presidency as above average. Since the late 20th century, his reputation declined, and in the 21st century his placement in rankings of presidents fell.

In that election the Anti-Masonic party carried the state of Vermont.

The Anti-Masonic party was eventually absorbed by the Whigs and some of their members were instrumental in the founding of the Republican Party.

Freemasons refer to this as the “Lie in Granite”.

The Abduction and Murder of Captain William Morgan (anti-Masonic)

The Morgan Affair

Freemasons Kidnapped; Murdered Capt. William Morgan in 1826 (anti-Masonic)

Morgan, William, The Mysteries of Freemasonry, BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008

Bentley, A. P. History of the Abduction of William Morgan and the Anti-Masonic Excitement of 1826-30. Van Cise & Throop, 1874

Morris, Robert, William Morgan; or Political Anti-Masonry, Its Rise, Growth and Decadence. R. Macoy, 1883

Cross, Whitney R. The Burned-over District: The Social and Intellectual History of Enthusiastic Religion in Western New York, 1800-1850. New York: Cornell UP, 2006.