The Twenty - Five Things That Made Genesee County Famous
Number 3
The Disappearance of William Morgan
Before there was OJ, before the Lindburgh Baby Kidnapping, before Lizzie Borden there was William Morgan. William Morgan was a Batavian who was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by Free Masons in September 1826.
Morgan was a bricklayer who wanted to become a member of the Masonic Fraternity. When a Masonic lodge opened in Batavia, Morgan applied for membership, saying he was a member in the LeRoy lodge. It was discovered that Morgan lied about his membership and his application was denied.
In order to get revenge for his denial, Morgan began to write a book disclosing the secrets of the society. Members of the fraternity threatened Morgan and even set fire to David Miller’s print shop where the book was being published.
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After Morgan's disappearance, the book was published and still in print today. It is available at the Joseph Ellicott Museum Store (click the picture for a larger image) |
Morgan was walking down Main Street when he was arrested on a debt warrant and taken to Canandaigua. The charge was dismissed and he was rearrested for failing to return a shirt and tie he had borrowed. Morgan was in the Canandaigua jail, when three men came to post his bail. The jailer was away, the men paid his $2.69 fine and convinced the jailer’s wife to release Morgan. When Morgan walked out of the jail, the two men grabbed him, threw him into a carriage, the carriage took off, and Morgan disappeared forever.
Historians agree that the men took Morgan to Fort Niagara. Near Fort Niagara there was a convention of Masons from New York State and Canada. At the time, the Masons claimed that they paid William Morgan $500 in gold and instead of settling on a farm in Hamilton, Ontario, with his family, he took off and disappeared so that he wouldn’t have to payoff his investors. Citizens throughout Western New York believed the Masons murdered Morgan by throwing him into the Niagara River or Lake Ontario.
How Did It Make Genesee County Famous?
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Morgan Monument at the Batavia Cemetery (Click the picture for a larger image) |
In 1926, Stanley Upton Mock wrote, “the affair has been referred to in the press, and discussed by the firesides, and touched upon in the pulpits for just one hundred years. No other event ever created such a hullabaloo in the political world, stirred up such contention in religious organizations, or poisoned and inflamed the public mind to a frenzy, as did this occurrence.”
Morgan’s disappearance was met with a public uproar. Outraged citizens accused the Masons of the crime. Thurlow Weed, the publisher of the Rochester based newspaper, The Telegraph, started an anti-Masonic movement that, while created in Western New York, spread to other states. An Anti-Masonic party arose and it elected forty congressman and two state governors.
The media of the time focused on Batavia as everyone asked the same question, “Where is William Morgan?” Many theories were floated, but his body was never found.
The media and the establishment of anti-Masonic newspapers across the country kept Morgan’s story in the forefront for years afterward. Even to this day, documentaries on the history of Freemasonry nearly always include a segment on the Morgan disappearance and mention Batavia.
Fifty-six years after Morgan’s disappearance, The National Christian Association erected and dedicated a monument to Morgan’s memory. The monument is located in the southwest corner of the Batavia Cemetery. It is inscribed that more than 2000 people from 26 states and Canada contributed to the building of the monument. Local lore states that the monument was guarded by Batavia Masons who feared that any damage to the statue would blamed on them.
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Magazine at Fort Niagara. Its where William Morgan alledgedly spent that last few days of his life. (Click on the pictures for larger images) |
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Video of the Morgan Story from our friends at thebatavian.com (In three parts) |
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Part One (4:13) The Vanishing of William Morgan |
Part Two (1:35) Theories: Masons vs. Anti-Masons |
Part Three (3:05) Origins of the Republican Party |
Visit the Holland Land Office Museum and see our Morgan Exhibit!
Do you agree or disagree? Comment on our blog Here
Download a Morgan Lecture Podcast Here (Audio Podcast) or (Enhanced Podcast (best viewed with iTunes or Quicktime))
NOW AVAILABLE at the |
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| The Bright Mason: An American Mystery by Robert Berry |
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| $15.95 | |
| Click Here to Find out more about the book |