September 4, 2023 • 32 mins
In 1826, William Morgan, who lived in Batavia, New York, advertised that he was writing a book that would expose the secrets of the Freemasons. And then he vanished.
Research:
- “An Old Story Revived.” New York Times. July 9, 1881. https://www.newspapers.com/image/20379152/?terms=%22william%20morgan%22&match=1
- “Another Morgan Story.” New York Times. July 22, 1881. https://www.newspapers.com/image/20381332/?terms=%22william%20morgan%22&match=1
- “Black Rock – Thursday Evening, October 5.” Black Rock Gazette. Oct. 5, 1826. https://www.newspapers.com/image/254877445/?terms=%22william%20morgan%22&match=1
- “Captain Morgan.” The Evening Post. Nov. 14, 1862. https://www.newspapers.com/image/40603708/?terms=%22william%20morgan%22&match=1
- “Captain William Morgan.” Black Rock Gazette. Nov. 9, 1826. https://www.newspapers.com/image/254877491/?terms=%22william%20morgan%22&match=1
- “A Good Enough Morgan Again.” The Evening Gazette. June 24, 1881. https://www.newspapers.com/image/10020603/?terms=%22william%20morgan%22&match=1
- Greene, Samuel D. “The Broken Seal: Or, Personal Reminiscenses of the Morgan Abduction and Murder.” Ezra A. Cook & Company. 1873. Accessed online: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=dw4AAAAAYAAJ&rdid=book-dw4AAAAAYAAJ&rdot=1
- Morgan, William. “Illustrations of Masonry.” Chicago. Ezra A. Cook Publications. 1827. (Digital copy.)
- “The Morgan Monument.” New York Times. Sept. 15, 1882. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1882/09/15/102787325.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
- Pritchard, Samuel. “Masonry Dissected.” London. Charles Corbett. 1730. Digital copy: https://archive.org/details/MasonryDissected/page/n3/mode/2up
- “Proclamation by DeWitt Clinton.” Black Rock Gazette. Nov. 16, 1826. https://www.newspapers.com/image/254877503/?terms=%22william%20morgan%22&match=1
- “The reported discovery of the remains of William Morgan … “ Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 27, 1881. https://www.newspapers.com/image/50402459/?terms=%22william%20morgan%22&match=1
- Riley, Kathleen L. “Lockport: Historic Jewel of the Erie Canal.” Arcadia Publishing. 2005.
- Ross, Peter. “A Standard History of Freemasonry in the State of New York: Including Lodge, Chapter, Council, Commandery and Scottish Rite Bodies, Volume 1.” Lewis Publishing Company. 1899. Accessed online: https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=-GciAAAAMAAJ
- “To the Public.” Black Rock Gazette. Oct. 12, 1826. https://www.newspapers.com/image/254877456/?terms=%22william%20morgan%22&match=1
- “William Morgan’s Bones.” New York Times. June 22, 1881. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1881/06/22/98562253.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
- “The masonic fraternity and others … “ Poughkeepsie Journal. August 23, 1826. https://www.newspapers.com/image/114416277/?terms=%22william%20morgan%22&match=1
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production
of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly
Frye and I'm Tracy V.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Wilson.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So every once in a while, I'm sure this has
happened to you as well. I'm looking through old newspapers
as I'm doing research for something, and then I see
an article like adjacent to the one I'm looking at
that really grabs my attention. And this is born of
one of those. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, sometimes it's a surreal headline and I can't find
anything else about it. Oh those won make me very frustrated.
Not what has happened here at all.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
I'm like, what do you mean? There was this person
who found out they were married to their sibling and
they because their parents lied about some stuff like those.
I've had one of those that I tried to track
down and I was like, this just buttered out. But
little did I know that this one unfurled into a
story with so much intrigue and cover up and weirdness,
(01:02):
and all of it comes together in a way that
kind of offers insights into the ways that people can
become really frenzied in their desire to achieve something, and
so much so that a line gets crossed, and then
another line gets crossed beyond that, and then the next line,
and it keeps kind of escalating to horrific and tragic ends.
(01:22):
And it shows just how far people will go to
protect their secrets, because some of this deals with freemasonry,
which today is kind of described as like a self
improvement association that's about like becoming a better person, doing
good for the community, et cetera. Freemasonry at this point
(01:44):
we're talking about, which is the early nineteenth century in
the United States, was much more about like being a
secret society and what that meant, and it felt a
little less demystified than it does today. They were all
in on the mistic even though it really when, as
we'll discuss throughout this story, i'm all that mystical, just secret.
(02:08):
And it also shows the ways that people will sometimes
justify really horrific behavior and kind of the strange power
of groupthink. Even today, this particular story stays a mystery.
Spoiler alert, It still divides people. If you read tellings
of it today, there are still people who are like
(02:28):
not having it and not buying into the villain story.
Of it. There are people that also believe that the
crimes involved never happened, even though there were trials and
some findings of guilt and sentences handed down, and there
(02:50):
is a lot to it. It is a two parter
because today what we're talking about is the life of
William Morgan and how he found himself in a very
dangerous position of having angered an entire group of people
right before he essentially vanished off the face of the earth.
And then the next part of this two parter, we're
going to talk about the book that he was writing
(03:10):
that catalyzed this entire chain of events and how those
events were perceived and framed and then retold in the
decades that followed. So in the summer of eighteen eighty one,
the New York Times ran the headline William Morgan's Bones,
and this story opened with quote, Batavia, New York, June
twenty first, this little town is filled with excitement today
(03:34):
over the discovery of what are believed to be the
remains of William Morgan, the man who betrayed the secrets
of the Freemasons, and his book entitled Morgan's Illustrations of
Masonry fifty five years ago and was abducted and made
away with before his work was given to the public.
The mystery surrounding the fate of William Morgan has defied
(03:55):
human ingenuity for over half a century, and now it
seems to be unraveled at last, when most, if not all,
the actors in the tragedy, like its victim, are laid
away in the grave. That is the story I stumbled
upon that maybe goes Jim excuse. William Morgan is one
of those historical figures about whose life we really only
(04:18):
have pretty basic and sparse facts, particularly his early life.
He was born in Culpeper County, Virginia in seventeen seventy
four or seventeen seventy five. As a young man, he
worked as a stonemason, and he was by some accounts,
in General Jackson's army as a captain and fought at
the Battle of New Orleans in eighteen fifteen. That military
(04:39):
service is disputed due to lack of records or supporting evidence.
You'll find that comes up a lot with Morgan because
many people told the story over and over and the
facts shifted along the way. Sometime during this period of
his life, when he was still a fairly young man.
Morgan joined the Masons probably in eighteen nineteen. William married
(05:00):
Lucinda Bendleton, a minister's daughter from Richmond, Virginia. The couple
moved to Canada in eighteen twenty one. William made a
living there as a brewer for a while, but then
the brewery burned down. Rather than rebuild that brewery, Morgan
moved to Rochester, New York, than to Leroy, which is
a place nobody agrees on how to pronounce. Then finally
(05:22):
they moved to Batavia. He had returned to his Stonemasonry career,
and he and Lucinda had two children. In New York.
He continued his association with the Masons, and he was
probably made a Royal arch Mason in eighteen twenty one.
As was written in eighteen ninety nine by Peter Ross,
We're going to talk about his account several times. Peter
(05:44):
Ross definitely not especially kind to William Morgan. He wrote, quote,
as to his Masonic affiliations, much diversity of statement exists.
Just how involved with the Freemasons William Morgan was is
pretty nebulous. That is something that becomes kind of central
to his story. According to one account, included in a
(06:07):
History of New York Freemasons. He was known to visit
the Wells Lodge in Batavia, and the royal arch degree
is on record in the lodge at Leroy, but the
Wells Lodge wasn't in Batavia. That particular lodge was in
a different town. Additionally, there are some accounts that suggest
that some of the documents of mason business which Morgan
(06:27):
was allowed to sign were destroyed when members quote had
become aware of his character and habits. Yet another version,
in a History of Freemasonry in Batavia, specifically states that
Morgan was never a member of the Lodge at Batavia
because he was refused admission and only ever visited the
lodge at Rochester, not becoming a member with a hint
(06:50):
that he did so. He managed that visit in some
sort of sneaky or underhanded way. There are also other
versions of this story that say that he was a
member in then had some sort of falling out with
the Batavial Lodge which caused him to be angry and vengeful.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
In early eighteen twenty six, William formed a partnership with
a man named Colonel David C. Miller. Miller owned a
printing office, and Morgan was working on a manuscript. Two
other men were brought onto the project to pay for
the printing and the distribution costs. These were Russell Dyer
and David Johns. David John's sometimes appears in the accounts
(07:29):
as John David's and sometimes as Daniel Johns. Just to
kind of keep things interesting, we are going to stick
with David Johns, just for the sake of consistency. In
their discussions. The men anticipated that this book would make
money and they were going to split the profits for ways.
They thought this was a sure thing because Morgan's manuscript
(07:50):
was going to reveal the secrets of Freemasonry. There are
accounts that indicate that David Johns was a Mason who
was in this whole inn with the intent of shutting
it down from the inside, and that's because the Freemasons
didn't want it to happen. William Morgan started telling people
(08:11):
that he intended to publish an expos on the Masons
to promote his upcoming book, and that intention was met
with great hostility. As for Morgan's motivation for writing such
a manuscript, he claimed that he had come to believe
that the organization was corrupt and that it needed to
be exposed. He was threatened with everything from imprisonment to
(08:32):
bodily harm, and it appears that those threats were carried out.
The New York Times in eighteen eighty one wrote of
the response quote The result was that some two fanatical
Masons in and around Batavia set themselves to work to
prevent the publication at all hazards had they paid no
attention to the announcement and allowed the work to proceed quietly.
(08:55):
The probability is that the book, when published, would have
fallen flat upon the market, but the scenes of violence
which preceded it heralded it to the world as no
other form of advertisement could have done. Before anything happened
directly to Morgan, there was a campaign to warn people
about him. There were short warnings placed in newspapers that read, quote,
(09:16):
the Masonic Fraternity and others are cautioned against a man
calling himself Captain William Morgan, as he is a swindler
and a dangerous man.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah, there are variations on that blurb, but they were
peppered throughout newspapers in the New York area. On August nineteenth,
eighteen twenty six, Morgan was arrested on a civil suit
and some of his papers were seized by the constable
that made that arrest. That constable was a Mason. Morgan
was released on bail two days later. I never found
(09:48):
a clear indication of what this suit was about, but
it seems as though it was a pretty minor complaint
between two people, like some of the others that we
are about to hear about. On September eighth, there was
a meeting in a tavern and a town several miles
away from Batavia. During that meeting, a plan was hatched
to burn down Miller's printing office. There was a fire,
(10:11):
but it was put out really quickly, not a lot
of damage was done. Miller was taken into custody by
Constable Jesse French, who was a Freemason, and he was
pressured during his imprisonment to give up the plan to
print Morgan's book. He was, after his friends interceded, taken
before a magistrate, but the men who captured him did
(10:32):
not appear at the hearing, and Miller was released. Ultimately,
French and three of his friends were indicted for riot,
assault and false imprisonment for their actions. Three of the
four men were found guilty and given jail time.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Then Morgan was arrested again. The claim was that he
owed a tavern keeper some clothes. According to his version
of the story, he borrowed a shirt and a cravat
from a tavern keeper name Kingsley, but then he was
accused of stealing them. Morgan was arrested under the charge
of petty larceny on September eleventh, but when he was arraigned,
(11:09):
the charge was dismissed.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
But soon, really soon, there was another charge against Morgan,
also by a tavern keeper. This time Aaron Ackley, said
that Morgan owed him money, which he did a small amount.
This is sometimes reported as two dollars, sometimes a three,
and various points in between, but it was enough because
this time Morgan was jailed of Note all of this
(11:34):
was happening very quickly. The initial arrest for the clothes,
the dismissal, and the second arrest all happened on the
same day, September eleventh. The black Rock Gazette reported a
month later on the details of these two arrests. Quote
on the eleventh of September, William Morgan, a native of
Virginia who had for about three years lived in this village,
(11:56):
was under pretext of a justice's warrant, hurried from from
his home and family and carried to Canadagua. The same night,
he was examined on a charge of petty larceny and
discharged by the justice. One of the persons who took
him away immediately obtained a warrant against him in a
civil suit for an alleged debt of two dollars on
(12:17):
which he was committed to the jail of Ontario County.
We'll take a break here and hear from some sponsors
when we get back. Well see how Morgan's situation escalated
to a far more dangerous level. Although he was incarcerated
(12:41):
for the money that he owed Aaron Aclee, William Morgan
did not stay in jail for long. On September twelfth,
Morgan was released when a man named Lowten Lawson paid
the amount that was owed to Aaron Aclee. He went
to the jail to pay it, but Lawson was not
Morgan's friend. Far from it. As William Morgan stepped outside
with him, he was grabbed and forcibly taken via carriage
(13:04):
to Rochester. The men who took him were Edward Sawyer,
Nicholas G. Cheesebro Lowten Lawson, and John Sheldon. Once the
carriage reached Rochester, Morgan was given over to a different
group of men. Their identities are unknown, and on September twelfth,
eighteen twenty six, William Morgan disappeared.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
After it became clear that Morgan was missing, pressure was
put on his wife to hand over any papers of
his that she had that could be damaging to freemasonry.
She was told that if she did this, she would
be taken to William. So Lucinda did. She turned over
whatever papers she could find, and she was taken to
Canadagua was not reunited with her husband. Though this piece
(13:50):
of information came from a news report that was published
about a month after the disappearance, it's not really clear
if she was just taken home again after not getting
sight of if William, or exactly what happened.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
There were some indications about what had happened to William
After his carriage ride. It became known that he was
taken to Fort Niagara and then into Canada. On the
road from Batavia to Fort Niagara, several stops were made
and the party changed carriages and even persons switched out
at various points in what seemed like kind of a relay.
(14:25):
Various witnesses saw the party on the roads or on
their stops, as well as at taverns and at a
toll house, which all revealed a piece together map of
their movement. The information about William's imprisonment at Fort Niagara
came to light when a man who admitted to having
been one of his jailers there was questioned about his
part in the story.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Edward Giddons was the keeper of the fort. Giddins gave
a statement that began with a description of the magazine
that's the area of the fort where Morgan was held quote.
This building stands on the south side of the fort.
Is built of stone, about the height of a common
two story building. The side and end walls are about
four feet thick. The wall over the top is eight
(15:10):
feet thick and considered bomb proof, covered with shingle roof.
There is but one door. There are no windows or
apertures in the walls, except a small ventilator for the
admission of air, and one small window in each end
about ten feet from the ground. They are usually closed
and locked on the outside with a padlock.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
In addition to this description, he stated that there had
been an attempted transfer of Morgan to Canadian Masons. According
to Giddons, Morgan himself had rowed alongside his captors to
cross the Niagara River, but when they reached the Canadian side,
it was discovered that the Masons there were not yet
ready to receive the captive, and back the boat went
(15:53):
to the US side, and it was at this point
that Giddons made the case to just let Morgan go.
He told authorities later that he and the other men
had argued over this issue for several days, and that
on September seventeenth, Giddons left the fort. When he returned
four days later on the twenty first, William Morgan was
no longer there, and Giddons did not know any more
(16:15):
than that. This account was contradicted by another man, Elisha Adams,
who had brought food to the fort for William Morgan.
He told investigators that on the night the boat left
carrying Morgan and five other men, the other five returned
via the same boat rather quickly without Morgan. But when
Adams testified at the eventual trial of the men involved,
(16:38):
he stated that he knew nothing about the matter. Adams
allegedly was told by the abductor's legal team that if
he shared his knowledge of the case, he would be implicated.
But even as this information came to light that he
had kind of been coerced into hiding the truth, none
of that was used in the case.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
There were two different people who gave sworn statements about
Morgan's abduction to investigators. There was the jailer's wife, Missus Hall,
who was the person who received the money from Lowton
Lawson that enabled Morgan to be released, and there was
a man named Willis Turner, who lived near the jail
and saw this happen. Both of them said they heard
(17:19):
William Morgan cry out murder as Lawson and his cohorts
wrestled him into the carriage. Turner said that he saw
the men put a cloth in William Morgan's mouth to
silence him. Turner had also seen Cheeseboro and Sawyer whispering
outside the jail. Both witnesses said that one of the
men wrapped the curve with a stick to signal the
(17:42):
carriage to pull up.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
The driver of that carriage was a man named Hibbard.
He also gave information about the journey. He was the
keeper of the nearby Livery Stable, and he had been
hired to drive to Rochester. He stated that the carriage
stopped many times along the way and he had not
seen any indication that an unwilling prisoner was involved, because
he thought there were ample opportunities for such a person
(18:06):
to raise an alarm. But he also said that he
didn't know who was in the carriage, Although the bill
for the journey was later paid for by cheesebro. One
of the stories that began to circulate after Hibbard said
he didn't see any sign of struggle from any prisoner
on the journey was that William Morgan's captors had kept
him heavily intoxicated and in a stupor, possibly hoping that
(18:29):
he might die of alcohol poisoning.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
In the days and weeks that followed the disappearance, plenty
of people gave their opinions on William Morgan's character, and
these opinions were all over the place. Some people echoed
the warnings that had been placed in the paper, suggesting
that he was dangerous. Others touted him as a man
quote gentlemanly and engaging above his equals. Others just kind
(18:53):
of called him worthless. The fact that he had planned
to break his Masonic promise to never betray the fraternity
with enough in his detractor's views to just prove that
he was of low character. The reason why he was
planning to publish such a book has generally been assumed
to be financial gain. This was also used as a
means to show his failings, that his lack of financial
(19:15):
stability was seen as a character flaw.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
On October fifth, the black Rock Gazette of Blackrock, New
York ran an account of a meeting that was held
the evening before quote to take into consideration the strange
proceedings which took place in Batavia Village on September eleventh.
Their committee statement from that meeting mentions that Morgan's quote
distressed wife and two infant children are left dependent on
(19:40):
charity for their sustenance, and states that the fears of
her present that Morgan was murdered, but there is lingering
hope he will be found in Canada. The news article
mentions that missus Morgan had been promised she would see
her husband, but that promise was not kept. The write
up also condemns the men who took Morgan. Quote.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
The origin of this terrible excitement, this kidnapping, this carrying off,
this taking the scepter of justice into the rude hands
of a mob, an unlawful assemblage at all times, is
said to have been in consequence of a book now
in progress of publication by mister Miller, containing an exposition
of Masonry. Whether this book is fully published would most
(20:24):
expose the Masonic Fraternity or its authors. We will not
pretend to say, but the rash proceedings of one party
can in no wise be justified by any supposed wickedness
of the other. There was a Where's Morgan campaign launched,
and groups of volunteers set out to try to find
him and also figure out who had abducted him. A
(20:46):
number of prominent citizens made the case that the Freemasons
should spearhead the investigation because their members were so heavily implicated.
There was also an appeal made to the state legislature
to form an official investigative committee, but that idea kind
of died on the vine. No one in the legislature
took such action. Coming up, we will talk about how
(21:08):
both Masons and non Masons reacted to the subduction first, though,
we'll hear from the sponsors that keep stuffiness in history
class going.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
This whole series of events and the vanishing of William
Morgan led to a surge and anti Mason sentiment, which
ultimately gave rise to the Anti Mason political party that's
considered the first third party in the United States. It
also caused rifts within the Masons. There was recognition that
this entire situation reflected really badly on the fraternity, and
(21:48):
the men involved were chastised as acting outside the ideology
of the group. But despite public denouncement from the Masons,
there was a lot of damage to the organization's reputation.
The governor of New York at the time was DeWitt Clinton,
who was a Freemason, and he put up a one
thousand dollars reward for the capture of Morgan's abductors. This
(22:09):
award was announced in the papers as a proclamation, and
it wasn't one lump sum. It was allocated out for
different pieces of information. According to the printed notice, Clinton
was offering quote, a reward of three hundred dollars for
the discovery of the offenders and a reward of one
hundred dollars for the discovery of any and every one
of them, to be paid on conviction, and also a
(22:31):
further reward of two hundred dollars for authentic information of
the place where this said William Morgan has been conveyed.
The governor also added quote, I do enjoin it upon
all sheriffs, magistrates, and other officers and ministers of justice
to be vigilant and active in the discharge of their
duties on this occasion. Some people viewed this proclamation as insufficient.
(22:55):
A different column in the same paper states, quote, the
reward offered for the discovery and a rest of those
who have violated the laws is sufficiently ample, but the
one proffered for the discovery and recovery of William Morgan
is not considered large enough. We live in a government
of laws, and shallaman under such government, no matter whether
(23:16):
he be certified to be the pattern of all the virtues,
or whether he be maker of certificate upon certificate, whether
he be guilty of the most gross instances of ingratitude,
whether he be guilty of crimes the recital of which
would shock the feelings of an ingrate, or whether he
be guilty of such behaviors, as to suffuse the cheek
of modesty and wring the hearts of his friends. We say,
(23:40):
to wrest a man from his family, his friends, from society,
or from his country, by no other warrant or mandate
than that of infuriated passions, is an assumption of power
and authority unknown in the administration of government, repugnant to
the feelings of men, and diametrically opposed to the less
(24:00):
the spirit and the genius of our institutions, and cannot
will not be permitted with impunity. The volunteer groups that
had assembled were able to track down information that led
to the arrests of Edward Sawyer, Nicholas G. Cheesebrow, Lowten Lawson,
and John Sheldon. All four men were tried for kidnapping
and were found guilty. Lawson was sentenced to two years
(24:23):
in jail. His penalty was the most severe. Cheesebro got
a year, Sheldon got three months, and Sawyer got just
one month of jail time as his sentence.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Immediately, stories spread about what people thought had happened to
William Morgan. The most popular and most widely accepted was
that he had been dumped into the Niagara river to drown,
and people speculated on the way he might have been
murdered and whare But a lot of rumors also sprang
up that suggested that some people believed he had not
(24:56):
been killed and had either escaped or been set or
maybe even had staged the whole thing himself. Among the
rumors were stories that he had decided to live a
better life and went somewhere to start fresh, free of
his creditors, which would mean that he left Lucenda and
his children behind that does not make much sense. Or
(25:17):
that he wandered into Quebec and became a drunkard, or
somehow ended up with a lot of money and was
living in Maine, or had been transferred from one Freemason
lodge to another until he was in Texas and then
managed to escape and fell in with an indigenous tribe there,
Or that he moved to the Caribbean or Australia, or
(25:37):
that he went into hiding in Turkey and taught English
and French there under the name Mustafa. This one actually
had a lot of traction for decades. Decades is gonna
come up again. There's also one that he lived in
the Cayman Islands. There were obviously no end of ideas
and rumors, and some of these stories people told just
(25:58):
certain that they were the truth. Also, because William Morgan
was a common enough name anytime it showed up in
the papers, even if it was in a far distant country,
it seemed like people started to think that they had
stumbled onto the real story of what had become of him.
A periodical called The Morgan Investigator was launched as the
(26:19):
search for clues continued. Colonel Miller supplied an article for
it the year after the abduction, and he mentioned that
in the months leading up to the fire at his
office in William Morgan's disappearance, he knew he was being watched.
He mostly use this opportunity to talk about the way
David Johns, who he refers to as Daniel, had infiltrated
(26:40):
their plan to print the book. He also made it
seem as though Johns was able to steal a portion
of the manuscript. According to Miller, there were multiple break
ins and thefts at the printing office in the months
leading up to the planned publication. There was a burial
for William Morgan a year after his disappearance. A body
had been found in Lake Ontario, and initial reports indicated
(27:04):
that it was believed to be Morgan. Once again. A
volunteer committee formed to have an inquest, and there were
public notices regarding the finding and the effort to determine
if it was truly Morgan. The body was buried near
where it was found, but was then exhumed for further investigation.
One of the investigators had been given details by William
(27:25):
Morgan's widow that could conclusively identify the body, in particular
a scar on his foot, his unusual habit of wearing
his fingernails long and trimmed to a point, and the
fact that he had hyperdnchia. Morgan apparently had two full
rows of teeth, a detail that was confirmed by his doctor,
(27:45):
a doctor Strong. Strong also gave details about a tooth
extraction that had been conducted on Morgan, and he even
had the tooth still on hand to match to the
mouth of the dead man, and according to the person
who used these details to examine the body, as well
as a coroner's jury, everything matched. The body was taken
(28:07):
to Batavia and buried as William Morgan, but its identity
was soon in question again. Word reached Batavia that it
was the body of a man named Timothy Monroe who
had drowned in the Niagara River. There was yet another inquest,
and Monroe's widow and son gave statements. Although details like
hair color and height didn't match up to the body
(28:29):
that had just been buried under the name William Morgan,
two specific things did match up. The clothing description down
to just the tiniest details, and then, oddly enough, double
teeth all around. Though this would seem more confusing than ever,
the body was declared to be that of Timothy Monroe,
even though there was an official ruling by a coroner's
(28:50):
jury to declare the body as Timothy Monroe and not
William Morgan. A lot of people still believe that it
was Morgan and that this whole Timoth theme and Roe
story was a cut. It does seem a little suspicious.
All of this honestly seems a little suspicious.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
There were also allegations that members of the committee that
first identified the body as Morgan's had mutilated it to
fit the description that was given by Lucinda Morgan. Yeah,
there is a lot of accusations from both people who
think the Freemasons did it and people who did not
that the other side was like falsifying evidence and stories
(29:30):
to support their side of it. No one on either
side of the question seemed to change their position on
the matter. One witness to the body, Samuel Green, who
were going to talk about in more detail later in
this story, stated of the found body, quote, let it
be understood that the proof of his death by violence
does not rest upon identification of the body. The fact
(29:52):
of his death was established on evidence entirely independent of this.
The finding of the body was only a strange and
unexpected sequel. It serves to make an ending for the story,
but its beginning and middle had already passed into history
when this Danumont came, and that's where we leave this story.
Next time we'll talk about the manuscript that likely led
(30:15):
to the end of Morgan's life. So weird, it's weird.
Do you have some listener mailer it stays weird? My
listener mail isn't weird. It's delightful.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Oh good, it's cracked me up. It's from our listener, Mary,
who writes, good morning, Tracy and Holly. I'm going to
try to do justice to the events that occurred while
listening to the Billy Burke episode with my ten year old.
She was doing her math homework while I was listening
to the episode. It got to the part about the
infidelity and she exclaims, ooh, drama, where's the popcorn. I
(30:47):
stopped the episode and explained that Hollywood at that time
was full of stories like this. I went about my
business without starting the episode, playing wrong thing to do.
She piped up with, mom, I want to listen to it.
This is history. I hope you get a giggle out
of her amazing reaction. Attached are pictures of my black
cat kitten who live to be twenty should passed last year.
(31:09):
Dante is the fluffy one who will talk your ears
off at anytime, day or night, and Lynn, the sweet calico.
Thank you for all you do, hugs, Mary. This is
such a fun story. I love the idea of you know, listen,
history is full of interesting stories. That's the whole premise
of our show essentially. So it's good that people recognize
(31:34):
these cats are so cute. Oh I love it. I
love a talkie kitty too, so that made me chuckle
and thank you, thank you, thank you. That was like
you have overpaid your text your cat text I have
to say, this is a lot of good cat action.
If you would like to write to us, you can
do so at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You
can also find us on social media as Missed in
(31:55):
History and if you have not subscribed yet, you can
do that on the iHeartRadio app. Whever you listen to
your favorite shows.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production
of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly
Frye and I'm Tracy V.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Wilson.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So every once in a while, I'm sure this has
happened to you as well. I'm looking through old newspapers
as I'm doing research for something, and then I see
an article like adjacent to the one I'm looking at
that really grabs my attention. And this is born of
one of those. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, sometimes it's a surreal headline and I can't find
anything else about it. Oh those won make me very frustrated.
Not what has happened here at all.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
I'm like, what do you mean? There was this person
who found out they were married to their sibling and
they because their parents lied about some stuff like those.
I've had one of those that I tried to track
down and I was like, this just buttered out. But
little did I know that this one unfurled into a
story with so much intrigue and cover up and weirdness,
(01:02):
and all of it comes together in a way that
kind of offers insights into the ways that people can
become really frenzied in their desire to achieve something, and
so much so that a line gets crossed, and then
another line gets crossed beyond that, and then the next line,
and it keeps kind of escalating to horrific and tragic ends.
(01:22):
And it shows just how far people will go to
protect their secrets, because some of this deals with freemasonry,
which today is kind of described as like a self
improvement association that's about like becoming a better person, doing
good for the community, et cetera. Freemasonry at this point
(01:44):
we're talking about, which is the early nineteenth century in
the United States, was much more about like being a
secret society and what that meant, and it felt a
little less demystified than it does today. They were all
in on the mistic even though it really when, as
we'll discuss throughout this story, i'm all that mystical, just secret.
(02:08):
And it also shows the ways that people will sometimes
justify really horrific behavior and kind of the strange power
of groupthink. Even today, this particular story stays a mystery.
Spoiler alert, It still divides people. If you read tellings
of it today, there are still people who are like
(02:28):
not having it and not buying into the villain story.
Of it. There are people that also believe that the
crimes involved never happened, even though there were trials and
some findings of guilt and sentences handed down, and there
(02:50):
is a lot to it. It is a two parter
because today what we're talking about is the life of
William Morgan and how he found himself in a very
dangerous position of having angered an entire group of people
right before he essentially vanished off the face of the earth.
And then the next part of this two parter, we're
going to talk about the book that he was writing
(03:10):
that catalyzed this entire chain of events and how those
events were perceived and framed and then retold in the
decades that followed. So in the summer of eighteen eighty one,
the New York Times ran the headline William Morgan's Bones,
and this story opened with quote, Batavia, New York, June
twenty first, this little town is filled with excitement today
(03:34):
over the discovery of what are believed to be the
remains of William Morgan, the man who betrayed the secrets
of the Freemasons, and his book entitled Morgan's Illustrations of
Masonry fifty five years ago and was abducted and made
away with before his work was given to the public.
The mystery surrounding the fate of William Morgan has defied
(03:55):
human ingenuity for over half a century, and now it
seems to be unraveled at last, when most, if not all,
the actors in the tragedy, like its victim, are laid
away in the grave. That is the story I stumbled
upon that maybe goes Jim excuse. William Morgan is one
of those historical figures about whose life we really only
(04:18):
have pretty basic and sparse facts, particularly his early life.
He was born in Culpeper County, Virginia in seventeen seventy
four or seventeen seventy five. As a young man, he
worked as a stonemason, and he was by some accounts,
in General Jackson's army as a captain and fought at
the Battle of New Orleans in eighteen fifteen. That military
(04:39):
service is disputed due to lack of records or supporting evidence.
You'll find that comes up a lot with Morgan because
many people told the story over and over and the
facts shifted along the way. Sometime during this period of
his life, when he was still a fairly young man.
Morgan joined the Masons probably in eighteen nineteen. William married
(05:00):
Lucinda Bendleton, a minister's daughter from Richmond, Virginia. The couple
moved to Canada in eighteen twenty one. William made a
living there as a brewer for a while, but then
the brewery burned down. Rather than rebuild that brewery, Morgan
moved to Rochester, New York, than to Leroy, which is
a place nobody agrees on how to pronounce. Then finally
(05:22):
they moved to Batavia. He had returned to his Stonemasonry career,
and he and Lucinda had two children. In New York.
He continued his association with the Masons, and he was
probably made a Royal arch Mason in eighteen twenty one.
As was written in eighteen ninety nine by Peter Ross,
We're going to talk about his account several times. Peter
(05:44):
Ross definitely not especially kind to William Morgan. He wrote, quote,
as to his Masonic affiliations, much diversity of statement exists.
Just how involved with the Freemasons William Morgan was is
pretty nebulous. That is something that becomes kind of central
to his story. According to one account, included in a
(06:07):
History of New York Freemasons. He was known to visit
the Wells Lodge in Batavia, and the royal arch degree
is on record in the lodge at Leroy, but the
Wells Lodge wasn't in Batavia. That particular lodge was in
a different town. Additionally, there are some accounts that suggest
that some of the documents of mason business which Morgan
(06:27):
was allowed to sign were destroyed when members quote had
become aware of his character and habits. Yet another version,
in a History of Freemasonry in Batavia, specifically states that
Morgan was never a member of the Lodge at Batavia
because he was refused admission and only ever visited the
lodge at Rochester, not becoming a member with a hint
(06:50):
that he did so. He managed that visit in some
sort of sneaky or underhanded way. There are also other
versions of this story that say that he was a
member in then had some sort of falling out with
the Batavial Lodge which caused him to be angry and vengeful.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
In early eighteen twenty six, William formed a partnership with
a man named Colonel David C. Miller. Miller owned a
printing office, and Morgan was working on a manuscript. Two
other men were brought onto the project to pay for
the printing and the distribution costs. These were Russell Dyer
and David Johns. David John's sometimes appears in the accounts
(07:29):
as John David's and sometimes as Daniel Johns. Just to
kind of keep things interesting, we are going to stick
with David Johns, just for the sake of consistency. In
their discussions. The men anticipated that this book would make
money and they were going to split the profits for ways.
They thought this was a sure thing because Morgan's manuscript
(07:50):
was going to reveal the secrets of Freemasonry. There are
accounts that indicate that David Johns was a Mason who
was in this whole inn with the intent of shutting
it down from the inside, and that's because the Freemasons
didn't want it to happen. William Morgan started telling people
(08:11):
that he intended to publish an expos on the Masons
to promote his upcoming book, and that intention was met
with great hostility. As for Morgan's motivation for writing such
a manuscript, he claimed that he had come to believe
that the organization was corrupt and that it needed to
be exposed. He was threatened with everything from imprisonment to
(08:32):
bodily harm, and it appears that those threats were carried out.
The New York Times in eighteen eighty one wrote of
the response quote The result was that some two fanatical
Masons in and around Batavia set themselves to work to
prevent the publication at all hazards had they paid no
attention to the announcement and allowed the work to proceed quietly.
(08:55):
The probability is that the book, when published, would have
fallen flat upon the market, but the scenes of violence
which preceded it heralded it to the world as no
other form of advertisement could have done. Before anything happened
directly to Morgan, there was a campaign to warn people
about him. There were short warnings placed in newspapers that read, quote,
(09:16):
the Masonic Fraternity and others are cautioned against a man
calling himself Captain William Morgan, as he is a swindler
and a dangerous man.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah, there are variations on that blurb, but they were
peppered throughout newspapers in the New York area. On August nineteenth,
eighteen twenty six, Morgan was arrested on a civil suit
and some of his papers were seized by the constable
that made that arrest. That constable was a Mason. Morgan
was released on bail two days later. I never found
(09:48):
a clear indication of what this suit was about, but
it seems as though it was a pretty minor complaint
between two people, like some of the others that we
are about to hear about. On September eighth, there was
a meeting in a tavern and a town several miles
away from Batavia. During that meeting, a plan was hatched
to burn down Miller's printing office. There was a fire,
(10:11):
but it was put out really quickly, not a lot
of damage was done. Miller was taken into custody by
Constable Jesse French, who was a Freemason, and he was
pressured during his imprisonment to give up the plan to
print Morgan's book. He was, after his friends interceded, taken
before a magistrate, but the men who captured him did
(10:32):
not appear at the hearing, and Miller was released. Ultimately,
French and three of his friends were indicted for riot,
assault and false imprisonment for their actions. Three of the
four men were found guilty and given jail time.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Then Morgan was arrested again. The claim was that he
owed a tavern keeper some clothes. According to his version
of the story, he borrowed a shirt and a cravat
from a tavern keeper name Kingsley, but then he was
accused of stealing them. Morgan was arrested under the charge
of petty larceny on September eleventh, but when he was arraigned,
(11:09):
the charge was dismissed.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
But soon, really soon, there was another charge against Morgan,
also by a tavern keeper. This time Aaron Ackley, said
that Morgan owed him money, which he did a small amount.
This is sometimes reported as two dollars, sometimes a three,
and various points in between, but it was enough because
this time Morgan was jailed of Note all of this
(11:34):
was happening very quickly. The initial arrest for the clothes,
the dismissal, and the second arrest all happened on the
same day, September eleventh. The black Rock Gazette reported a
month later on the details of these two arrests. Quote
on the eleventh of September, William Morgan, a native of
Virginia who had for about three years lived in this village,
(11:56):
was under pretext of a justice's warrant, hurried from from
his home and family and carried to Canadagua. The same night,
he was examined on a charge of petty larceny and
discharged by the justice. One of the persons who took
him away immediately obtained a warrant against him in a
civil suit for an alleged debt of two dollars on
(12:17):
which he was committed to the jail of Ontario County.
We'll take a break here and hear from some sponsors
when we get back. Well see how Morgan's situation escalated
to a far more dangerous level. Although he was incarcerated
(12:41):
for the money that he owed Aaron Aclee, William Morgan
did not stay in jail for long. On September twelfth,
Morgan was released when a man named Lowten Lawson paid
the amount that was owed to Aaron Aclee. He went
to the jail to pay it, but Lawson was not
Morgan's friend. Far from it. As William Morgan stepped outside
with him, he was grabbed and forcibly taken via carriage
(13:04):
to Rochester. The men who took him were Edward Sawyer,
Nicholas G. Cheesebro Lowten Lawson, and John Sheldon. Once the
carriage reached Rochester, Morgan was given over to a different
group of men. Their identities are unknown, and on September twelfth,
eighteen twenty six, William Morgan disappeared.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
After it became clear that Morgan was missing, pressure was
put on his wife to hand over any papers of
his that she had that could be damaging to freemasonry.
She was told that if she did this, she would
be taken to William. So Lucinda did. She turned over
whatever papers she could find, and she was taken to
Canadagua was not reunited with her husband. Though this piece
(13:50):
of information came from a news report that was published
about a month after the disappearance, it's not really clear
if she was just taken home again after not getting
sight of if William, or exactly what happened.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
There were some indications about what had happened to William
After his carriage ride. It became known that he was
taken to Fort Niagara and then into Canada. On the
road from Batavia to Fort Niagara, several stops were made
and the party changed carriages and even persons switched out
at various points in what seemed like kind of a relay.
(14:25):
Various witnesses saw the party on the roads or on
their stops, as well as at taverns and at a
toll house, which all revealed a piece together map of
their movement. The information about William's imprisonment at Fort Niagara
came to light when a man who admitted to having
been one of his jailers there was questioned about his
part in the story.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Edward Giddons was the keeper of the fort. Giddins gave
a statement that began with a description of the magazine
that's the area of the fort where Morgan was held quote.
This building stands on the south side of the fort.
Is built of stone, about the height of a common
two story building. The side and end walls are about
four feet thick. The wall over the top is eight
(15:10):
feet thick and considered bomb proof, covered with shingle roof.
There is but one door. There are no windows or
apertures in the walls, except a small ventilator for the
admission of air, and one small window in each end
about ten feet from the ground. They are usually closed
and locked on the outside with a padlock.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
In addition to this description, he stated that there had
been an attempted transfer of Morgan to Canadian Masons. According
to Giddons, Morgan himself had rowed alongside his captors to
cross the Niagara River, but when they reached the Canadian side,
it was discovered that the Masons there were not yet
ready to receive the captive, and back the boat went
(15:53):
to the US side, and it was at this point
that Giddons made the case to just let Morgan go.
He told authorities later that he and the other men
had argued over this issue for several days, and that
on September seventeenth, Giddons left the fort. When he returned
four days later on the twenty first, William Morgan was
no longer there, and Giddons did not know any more
(16:15):
than that. This account was contradicted by another man, Elisha Adams,
who had brought food to the fort for William Morgan.
He told investigators that on the night the boat left
carrying Morgan and five other men, the other five returned
via the same boat rather quickly without Morgan. But when
Adams testified at the eventual trial of the men involved,
(16:38):
he stated that he knew nothing about the matter. Adams
allegedly was told by the abductor's legal team that if
he shared his knowledge of the case, he would be implicated.
But even as this information came to light that he
had kind of been coerced into hiding the truth, none
of that was used in the case.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
There were two different people who gave sworn statements about
Morgan's abduction to investigators. There was the jailer's wife, Missus Hall,
who was the person who received the money from Lowton
Lawson that enabled Morgan to be released, and there was
a man named Willis Turner, who lived near the jail
and saw this happen. Both of them said they heard
(17:19):
William Morgan cry out murder as Lawson and his cohorts
wrestled him into the carriage. Turner said that he saw
the men put a cloth in William Morgan's mouth to
silence him. Turner had also seen Cheeseboro and Sawyer whispering
outside the jail. Both witnesses said that one of the
men wrapped the curve with a stick to signal the
(17:42):
carriage to pull up.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
The driver of that carriage was a man named Hibbard.
He also gave information about the journey. He was the
keeper of the nearby Livery Stable, and he had been
hired to drive to Rochester. He stated that the carriage
stopped many times along the way and he had not
seen any indication that an unwilling prisoner was involved, because
he thought there were ample opportunities for such a person
(18:06):
to raise an alarm. But he also said that he
didn't know who was in the carriage, Although the bill
for the journey was later paid for by cheesebro. One
of the stories that began to circulate after Hibbard said
he didn't see any sign of struggle from any prisoner
on the journey was that William Morgan's captors had kept
him heavily intoxicated and in a stupor, possibly hoping that
(18:29):
he might die of alcohol poisoning.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
In the days and weeks that followed the disappearance, plenty
of people gave their opinions on William Morgan's character, and
these opinions were all over the place. Some people echoed
the warnings that had been placed in the paper, suggesting
that he was dangerous. Others touted him as a man
quote gentlemanly and engaging above his equals. Others just kind
(18:53):
of called him worthless. The fact that he had planned
to break his Masonic promise to never betray the fraternity
with enough in his detractor's views to just prove that
he was of low character. The reason why he was
planning to publish such a book has generally been assumed
to be financial gain. This was also used as a
means to show his failings, that his lack of financial
(19:15):
stability was seen as a character flaw.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
On October fifth, the black Rock Gazette of Blackrock, New
York ran an account of a meeting that was held
the evening before quote to take into consideration the strange
proceedings which took place in Batavia Village on September eleventh.
Their committee statement from that meeting mentions that Morgan's quote
distressed wife and two infant children are left dependent on
(19:40):
charity for their sustenance, and states that the fears of
her present that Morgan was murdered, but there is lingering
hope he will be found in Canada. The news article
mentions that missus Morgan had been promised she would see
her husband, but that promise was not kept. The write
up also condemns the men who took Morgan. Quote.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
The origin of this terrible excitement, this kidnapping, this carrying off,
this taking the scepter of justice into the rude hands
of a mob, an unlawful assemblage at all times, is
said to have been in consequence of a book now
in progress of publication by mister Miller, containing an exposition
of Masonry. Whether this book is fully published would most
(20:24):
expose the Masonic Fraternity or its authors. We will not
pretend to say, but the rash proceedings of one party
can in no wise be justified by any supposed wickedness
of the other. There was a Where's Morgan campaign launched,
and groups of volunteers set out to try to find
him and also figure out who had abducted him. A
(20:46):
number of prominent citizens made the case that the Freemasons
should spearhead the investigation because their members were so heavily implicated.
There was also an appeal made to the state legislature
to form an official investigative committee, but that idea kind
of died on the vine. No one in the legislature
took such action. Coming up, we will talk about how
(21:08):
both Masons and non Masons reacted to the subduction first, though,
we'll hear from the sponsors that keep stuffiness in history
class going.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
This whole series of events and the vanishing of William
Morgan led to a surge and anti Mason sentiment, which
ultimately gave rise to the Anti Mason political party that's
considered the first third party in the United States. It
also caused rifts within the Masons. There was recognition that
this entire situation reflected really badly on the fraternity, and
(21:48):
the men involved were chastised as acting outside the ideology
of the group. But despite public denouncement from the Masons,
there was a lot of damage to the organization's reputation.
The governor of New York at the time was DeWitt Clinton,
who was a Freemason, and he put up a one
thousand dollars reward for the capture of Morgan's abductors. This
(22:09):
award was announced in the papers as a proclamation, and
it wasn't one lump sum. It was allocated out for
different pieces of information. According to the printed notice, Clinton
was offering quote, a reward of three hundred dollars for
the discovery of the offenders and a reward of one
hundred dollars for the discovery of any and every one
of them, to be paid on conviction, and also a
(22:31):
further reward of two hundred dollars for authentic information of
the place where this said William Morgan has been conveyed.
The governor also added quote, I do enjoin it upon
all sheriffs, magistrates, and other officers and ministers of justice
to be vigilant and active in the discharge of their
duties on this occasion. Some people viewed this proclamation as insufficient.
(22:55):
A different column in the same paper states, quote, the
reward offered for the discovery and a rest of those
who have violated the laws is sufficiently ample, but the
one proffered for the discovery and recovery of William Morgan
is not considered large enough. We live in a government
of laws, and shallaman under such government, no matter whether
(23:16):
he be certified to be the pattern of all the virtues,
or whether he be maker of certificate upon certificate, whether
he be guilty of the most gross instances of ingratitude,
whether he be guilty of crimes the recital of which
would shock the feelings of an ingrate, or whether he
be guilty of such behaviors, as to suffuse the cheek
of modesty and wring the hearts of his friends. We say,
(23:40):
to wrest a man from his family, his friends, from society,
or from his country, by no other warrant or mandate
than that of infuriated passions, is an assumption of power
and authority unknown in the administration of government, repugnant to
the feelings of men, and diametrically opposed to the less
(24:00):
the spirit and the genius of our institutions, and cannot
will not be permitted with impunity. The volunteer groups that
had assembled were able to track down information that led
to the arrests of Edward Sawyer, Nicholas G. Cheesebrow, Lowten Lawson,
and John Sheldon. All four men were tried for kidnapping
and were found guilty. Lawson was sentenced to two years
(24:23):
in jail. His penalty was the most severe. Cheesebro got
a year, Sheldon got three months, and Sawyer got just
one month of jail time as his sentence.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Immediately, stories spread about what people thought had happened to
William Morgan. The most popular and most widely accepted was
that he had been dumped into the Niagara river to drown,
and people speculated on the way he might have been
murdered and whare But a lot of rumors also sprang
up that suggested that some people believed he had not
(24:56):
been killed and had either escaped or been set or
maybe even had staged the whole thing himself. Among the
rumors were stories that he had decided to live a
better life and went somewhere to start fresh, free of
his creditors, which would mean that he left Lucenda and
his children behind that does not make much sense. Or
(25:17):
that he wandered into Quebec and became a drunkard, or
somehow ended up with a lot of money and was
living in Maine, or had been transferred from one Freemason
lodge to another until he was in Texas and then
managed to escape and fell in with an indigenous tribe there,
Or that he moved to the Caribbean or Australia, or
(25:37):
that he went into hiding in Turkey and taught English
and French there under the name Mustafa. This one actually
had a lot of traction for decades. Decades is gonna
come up again. There's also one that he lived in
the Cayman Islands. There were obviously no end of ideas
and rumors, and some of these stories people told just
(25:58):
certain that they were the truth. Also, because William Morgan
was a common enough name anytime it showed up in
the papers, even if it was in a far distant country,
it seemed like people started to think that they had
stumbled onto the real story of what had become of him.
A periodical called The Morgan Investigator was launched as the
(26:19):
search for clues continued. Colonel Miller supplied an article for
it the year after the abduction, and he mentioned that
in the months leading up to the fire at his
office in William Morgan's disappearance, he knew he was being watched.
He mostly use this opportunity to talk about the way
David Johns, who he refers to as Daniel, had infiltrated
(26:40):
their plan to print the book. He also made it
seem as though Johns was able to steal a portion
of the manuscript. According to Miller, there were multiple break
ins and thefts at the printing office in the months
leading up to the planned publication. There was a burial
for William Morgan a year after his disappearance. A body
had been found in Lake Ontario, and initial reports indicated
(27:04):
that it was believed to be Morgan. Once again. A
volunteer committee formed to have an inquest, and there were
public notices regarding the finding and the effort to determine
if it was truly Morgan. The body was buried near
where it was found, but was then exhumed for further investigation.
One of the investigators had been given details by William
(27:25):
Morgan's widow that could conclusively identify the body, in particular
a scar on his foot, his unusual habit of wearing
his fingernails long and trimmed to a point, and the
fact that he had hyperdnchia. Morgan apparently had two full
rows of teeth, a detail that was confirmed by his doctor,
(27:45):
a doctor Strong. Strong also gave details about a tooth
extraction that had been conducted on Morgan, and he even
had the tooth still on hand to match to the
mouth of the dead man, and according to the person
who used these details to examine the body, as well
as a coroner's jury, everything matched. The body was taken
(28:07):
to Batavia and buried as William Morgan, but its identity
was soon in question again. Word reached Batavia that it
was the body of a man named Timothy Monroe who
had drowned in the Niagara River. There was yet another inquest,
and Monroe's widow and son gave statements. Although details like
hair color and height didn't match up to the body
(28:29):
that had just been buried under the name William Morgan,
two specific things did match up. The clothing description down
to just the tiniest details, and then, oddly enough, double
teeth all around. Though this would seem more confusing than ever,
the body was declared to be that of Timothy Monroe,
even though there was an official ruling by a coroner's
(28:50):
jury to declare the body as Timothy Monroe and not
William Morgan. A lot of people still believe that it
was Morgan and that this whole Timoth theme and Roe
story was a cut. It does seem a little suspicious.
All of this honestly seems a little suspicious.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
There were also allegations that members of the committee that
first identified the body as Morgan's had mutilated it to
fit the description that was given by Lucinda Morgan. Yeah,
there is a lot of accusations from both people who
think the Freemasons did it and people who did not
that the other side was like falsifying evidence and stories
(29:30):
to support their side of it. No one on either
side of the question seemed to change their position on
the matter. One witness to the body, Samuel Green, who
were going to talk about in more detail later in
this story, stated of the found body, quote, let it
be understood that the proof of his death by violence
does not rest upon identification of the body. The fact
(29:52):
of his death was established on evidence entirely independent of this.
The finding of the body was only a strange and
unexpected sequel. It serves to make an ending for the story,
but its beginning and middle had already passed into history
when this Danumont came, and that's where we leave this story.
Next time we'll talk about the manuscript that likely led
(30:15):
to the end of Morgan's life. So weird, it's weird.
Do you have some listener mailer it stays weird? My
listener mail isn't weird. It's delightful.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Oh good, it's cracked me up. It's from our listener, Mary,
who writes, good morning, Tracy and Holly. I'm going to
try to do justice to the events that occurred while
listening to the Billy Burke episode with my ten year old.
She was doing her math homework while I was listening
to the episode. It got to the part about the
infidelity and she exclaims, ooh, drama, where's the popcorn. I
(30:47):
stopped the episode and explained that Hollywood at that time
was full of stories like this. I went about my
business without starting the episode, playing wrong thing to do.
She piped up with, mom, I want to listen to it.
This is history. I hope you get a giggle out
of her amazing reaction. Attached are pictures of my black
cat kitten who live to be twenty should passed last year.
(31:09):
Dante is the fluffy one who will talk your ears
off at anytime, day or night, and Lynn, the sweet calico.
Thank you for all you do, hugs, Mary. This is
such a fun story. I love the idea of you know, listen,
history is full of interesting stories. That's the whole premise
of our show essentially. So it's good that people recognize
(31:34):
these cats are so cute. Oh I love it. I
love a talkie kitty too, so that made me chuckle
and thank you, thank you, thank you. That was like
you have overpaid your text your cat text I have
to say, this is a lot of good cat action.
If you would like to write to us, you can
do so at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You
can also find us on social media as Missed in
(31:55):
History and if you have not subscribed yet, you can
do that on the iHeartRadio app. Whever you listen to
your favorite shows.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Stuff You Missed in History Class News
Hosts And Creators
Holly Frey
Tracy Wilson
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