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William Morgan

William Morgan image
Parent Issue
Day
3
Month
September
Year
1875
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

I did not personally know William Morgan, who wan for more; Uimi lwo moiilhs writing his book iu a house uljoiinují niy residonco, nt Rochepter. Wkon applied to by Mr. Dyer, my noxt door ik -ifrlil'iii-, whcic Morgan boarded, to print tho book pjürparting to disclose the .secreta oí Masonry, I deolined to do so, bi'Jicving that a man who liad taken un oatb to keep a secret had no right to disclose it. Althougli net a Free Masón, I bad entertained ñivorable opinious of au in.stitution to whicli Washington, Franklin and Lafayette, belonged. On my refusal to print his book Morgan removed to Entapia, wliere he made the acíiuaiutaucc of D. C. Miller, editor of tho Advócale, also a Masón, who V)ecamo his publiaker. I pass bricily ovor a serien of faets which wcre judicially cstablishcd, embracing tho arrest of Mor gan, his convoy anee to nnd confíneme - in the eounty j'ail at Cauandaigna, Irnni which he yaa released and conveyed by night ín cióse ctojagea tlivough Kochester, Ctaífkeop, and nlong the lvidge road to Fort .Niágara, in the magazine of which lio was coniined. Whilo thus contined a Kiiight Templar encampment was instixlled at Lewiston. When at suppcr, tho zoal of tho Templara haying been arousod by speeches and wine, üoloncl Williiim King, o f Lockport, iuvited four men (Whitnoy, lloward, Ohiibbuck and Garside) f rom their scats at the banquoting table into an adjoining apartment, wlierc he informed them tlxat ho had an order from tho Grand Master (De Witt Clinton), thc exocution of which required their assistance. This party was then drivon to Niágara, roaching tho fort a littlo bofore 12 o'clock. Upon ontering the magazine Coloncl King informed Morgan tluit his friends had complctcd thcir arrangements for his rcmoval to a residenco iipon a farm in Canada. Morgan walkod with them to thc wharf, where a boat was held in readiness for them by Klislia Adama, an invíilid soldier, iuto which tho party passed and roired away, Adams remaming to wam the boat oiï by signal if, on its return, any alarm had been givcn. It was nearly 2 o'olock in tlie morning when tl 10 boat carne back, having, as Adams expressed it, lost onc man, only live of the six being on board when the boat returncd. When the boat reached a poiut where the Niágara river emptics into Lako Ontario, a ropo being wouiid around Morgan's body, to either end of wMcli a sinker was attacliod, he was thrown overboard. It is doe to the mernory of Governor Clinton to say that Colonel King had fio such order, and no authority to make uso of his name. It is proper, also, to add that none of tlieso men survivo. John Whitnoy, of Kochester, whom I know well, related all the cirenmstances connoctcd with tho last act in that tragedy to me at Albaiiy in 1831, in the presence of Simeón 13. Jewett, of Clarkson, and öamuol Barton, of Lewiston. In Üotober, 1827, moro than a year after the abduction of Morgan, a body drifted on shoro near a small creek whioh entered into Lr.tkc Ontario. A coroner's inqiicst was held, and a verdict rpnderod that it was tho body of an unknown pcrHon. The coroncr wrote out a minuto description of the }ody, and published it, aloug with the iinding of the jury, in an Orlcans county newspaper. That description attweting tho attentioa of persons wcll acquainted with Morgan, exoiteá considerable interest. The widow mul soveral inlimato friends of Morgan Beemed o confident that it was liis ï)ody that tho commitlee apppintëd to investígale the abduction dotermined to hold another iuquest, of wliich public notice was given. O:i the day ippointcd ome sïxty or sevoity people assembied at the mouth of Oak Orchard creek, where the body of tho nnknown man was interrod. licfore opening the grave Mrs. Morgan and Dr. Strong deseribed certoin marks upon Morgan's body, by means of whicli it could be ideutifted. Wlien the mde coffla was oponed the body it contained disclosed the peculiarities doscribod, and after a deliborate oxamination, the jurora lilared tt uuaniinously tho body of William Morgan. From this verdict no one present daeentod, aod ïor a week or ten days tho qucsüon seemoil to bc settled. Later in October there camc ft report that tho body declared to be that of William Morgan was claimed by hia family to bc that of Timothy Monroe, a Canadian, who wa8 swept in a small boat over Niágara Falls eleve dayíi previous to tho timo that the body was washed ashoro at tho niouth of O:ik Ovohard creek. Tho remains in the mean time had been taken by Mrs. Morgan to Batavia. A third infinost was now to be held for the pm-poa; of cstablMiing theelaim of Mrs. Monroe. A largo conconrse of peoplo werein attendanco. Mrs. Monroe apppnvi'd, and gavo a description of her hiisbauil's persen, and of tho clothing in wliich he lit homo on the morning of tho day he was drowned. Previons to her ex'aiuination Batefl Oooko, chairman of tho Morgan Invostigating Committee, oxamined tho clothes taken from the body, and oorefnllypreserved Dyne uoroner, with grcat minutcncss. Xtkib euabled hira to test tlio aoeuraey of Mrs. Mom-ou's knuwlodge and rnernory. Neither Mrs. Monroe uor any porson sympathizing with hor or interested in the identinatioii of tho body as that of Monroe had access to it oi had Been MUT of tho weai'ing apparal of tho disoascd. And yot Mrs. Monroe not only gavo a general dcscription of oach garment, bat nndorwcnt a rigid cross-oxamination by Mr. Cooko of mor than hour, in whiofa she dcscribod with singular accuraoy evoi-y rent and patoh fovuid in oaeh garment. Sho indicatod buttons he had sewed on the pautaloons to reTilaoe those which clid not match the crs. Sha also áesoribed one stocking that lnul been daraod with yarn of a different color. In a word, her desoription of tho clotliing was so accurate in every particular as to loavo uo doubt that each nrtiole bad been nader hor special oare. üut, wonderfnlly accurate m iba had been on this point, ohe was most strangoly wrong in her deecription of the body, Monroe being at lea.st threo iftchis t'ailov than iha coiise. She deBOtiböd her luisband's heil and whiskera as coaree and black, adding tbat his hair liad V)een cut quite short a fow days be fore lic was drowned, whilo that iipou the heod of the deceased wvs long, silky Bad of a chestnut color. Mouroo's son oonflrmed his mother's testimony rcIflting both to tho clothes and tho body. No attempt was made to impeach oither, nor was thero any doubt that Monroe had been drownecl, as all!ged. It was diflicult to reconcilo these conilicting statements. Mr. Monroo was as clearly right about the clothes as sho was wrong about the body found in them. Thethírd inquest reMdtwl in fladiag tli at the body proviotisly adjudgod to bc Morgan'? vb tliat of Timothy Mom-o.'. Thero other tárcumstarioes connoctod wit li Hio disappearaftëe óf bolh Morgan and Monroe, assuming tliat both hftá boon drowin-d in Lake Ontario, calculated to complioato tho queations of Ldeniity. The body was found nt Oak Orclmril creek, a fiill yéar af kt Moraa'a disappearance ; of courso it could Qot i;ivc been drUtísg ftbout Üiat length pi time. It was kuown, liuwcvcr, tliat Morgan waa weighed lu-avily when tJirown into tho lake ; and, tWö montlis before tliat body was found, tho mouth of tho rivcr and tbat nnrt of tlio Iakfi whero was snpposed to have boori thrown Qverboard had been thöKrtgMy rakod; In this wfty it was Kuppoücd tl uit the body was rêlciiöcd from itn weight, rison ti) hc surfaco and drifted to Oak Orchard crook. Monroo was drownod on tho 25th or 27th of SepetBbcir, The body nt OrIc Ovchard raeekwop found on tho 8th day of Octobor, loaving but oleven or twolvo days to drift a distance Of forty milos, whor'o it waa found. It WUB understood that drpiwfld peüsona remnin aeren] days undor water. It was ascertainedby meteorolpgioal ron pda that, during tho interval betwèeb Monroo's doath and tho flnding of the body at Oak Orehnrd croek, ÜÍ wind blew most of the time up tho lake. Now, as thero ia no onrront in Lake Ontario, and as objeets iloat with rather than against the wind, it seemed improbable that tho body found should bo that of Monroo ; whiio, on tho other hand, it seemed cqually improbable that a man drowned in the latter part of September, 1826, could havo been found in a tolerable state of preservation in October, 1827. So that there were irroconcilablc facts and circumstances connocted with this strange history. Mrs. Morgan and tho intimate frieuds of Morgan doscribcd marka upon his perton before sceing that body, which leftjio doubt in the niinds of all present that it was the remains of hor husbmid. Strangcly enough, howover, sho repudiated ovory artielo of clotlnng fouud upon tho body. And yet Mrs. Monroo, who camo from Canada, readily described overv article, garment after mout, with minute and startling accumcy. Whilo, thercforc, up to tho time that Mrs. Monroe appeared, tliero were no grounds for discroditiug the oorrectnesa of the second inquest, yet aftor tho third inquest had been held at Batavia there was a strong rcaetion in public opinión. Although the gentlemen associated with me in tho investigation wore still strongly oí (he opinión that tho body was that' of William Morgan, my own proviously clear and strong convictions wero a good doal distnrbed. Nor can I now, after nearly fifty years' anxious inqtliry and rellection, say that I am Batisfied that it was or was not tho body of William Morgan. ïho discrepancias abouthair and board betweeu Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Monroe, ttftèt tho conclusión of the third or Batavia inquest, indnead those who claimod tho body to be that of Timothy Mouroo to say that the hair was pulled out and the whiskers sliaven oft' to make it resemblo Morgan. That could only havo been dono in tho presonce of between sixty and seventy persons, somo of whom were Demócrata and others Freeinasons, and yct all must havo seen and conseutcd to tho fraud. The last inquest was held only a few days beforo the election. No other quesiion entered into thcf canvass. The exeitement was greater Üiun I had previously orhave sinco witnessed.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus