William Morgan, whose disappearance and probable death led to creation of the Anti-Masonic Party. The opponents of Freemasonry formed a political party after the Morgan affair convinced them the Masons were murdering men who spoke out against them. This key episode was the mysterious 1826 disappearance of William Morgan, a Freemason of Batavia, New York. Morgan had been a member of the lodge in Rochester, New York, but was denied admission in Batavia.[5] He intended to retaliate by publishing a book detailing the supposed secrets of Masonrys initiation rituals. When his intentions became known to the Batavia lodge, an attempt was made to burn down the business of the printer who planned to publish Morgans book.[6] In September 1826 Morgan was arrested on flimsy allegations of theft in an effort to prevent publication of his book by keeping him in jail. The individual who intended to publish Morgans book paid his bail, and he was released from custody. Shortly afterwards, Morgan disappeared.[7] Some researchers argued that Morgan had left the Batavia area on his own, either because he had been paid not to publish his book, or to escape Masonic retaliation for attempting to publish the book, or to generate publicity that would boost the books sales.[8] The generally believed version of events was that Masons killed Morgan by drowning him in the Niagara River.[9][10] Whether he fled or was murdered, Morgans disappearance led many to believe that Freemasonry was in conflict with good citizenship.[11] Because judges, businessmen, bankers, and politicians were often Masons, ordinary citizens began to think of it as an elitist group.[12] Moreover, many claimed that the lodges secret oaths bound the brethren to favor each other against outsiders, in the courts and elsewhere.[13] Because the trial of the Morgan conspirators was mishandled, and the Masons resisted further inquiries, many New Yorkers concluded that Masons controlled key offices and used their official authority to promoting the goals of the fraternity by ensuring that Morgans supposed killers escaped punishment.[14] When a member sought to reveal its secrets, so ran the conclusion, the Freemasons had done away with him. Because they controlled the courts and other offices, they were supposedly capable of obstructing the investigation. True Americans, they said, had to organize and defeat this conspiracy. If good government was to be restored all Masons must be purged from public office.[15] Formation of a political party
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 01:54:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015