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The History of Freemasonry

by Albert Gallatin Mackey

Chapter 60 - The Anti-Masonic Excitement

GENERAL history of Masonry in the United States would be incomplete if a notice of the anti-Masonic episode were left out; we shall, therefore, devote a few pages to this subject.

There have been, generaly diffused among the people, very erroneous ideas in regard to the sudden disappearance of one William Morgan, of whom it was said, that in consequence of a threatened publication of an exposure of the secret work of Freemasonry, he was either murdered or kidnaped and conveyed surreptitiously out of the country, and was never heard of afterward. It was an undeniable fact that he suddenly disappeared from the State of New York, and there is no satisfactory evidence that he was ever seen by anyone again.

Volumes have been published, both by anti-Masons and Masons, in, apparently, a vain effort to establish the charge on one side, that he was either murdered or transported out of the country, and, on the other side, that he came to no harm from the Masons, who were accused of his "sudden taking off."

The latest publication was prepared by Past Grand Master Jesse B. Anthony, 33 degree, of New York, (1) who availed himself of the excellent account by Hon. Josiah H. Drummond, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Maine, and the pamphlets published, several years since, by Past Grand Master Rob. Morris, of Kentucky, who spent much time and money in the State of New York, and other writers who had investigated all the circumstances connected with the affair. Our limits in this work do not admit of so extended an examination as that of Brother Anthony; nevertheless, it will be necessary, for a proper understanding of the case, to devote considerable

(1) "History of Masonry and Concordant Orders," p. 514.

space to a clear statement of all the ascertainable facts, and leave all speculations and conjectures to our readers.

William Morgan, it is said, was from Virginia; (1) born in 1775 or 1776; was a stone mason by trade. In 1821 he resided near York in Upper Canada and was engaged as a brewer. His brewery being destroyed by fire, from thence he found his way to Rochester, N.Y., and worked at his trade as a stone mason, and in 1823 went to Batavia. (3)

In the "Letters to John Qudncy Adams" it is related that "he was a hard drinker and his nights, and sometimes his days also, were spent in tippling-houses, while occasionally, to the still greater neglect of his family, he joined in the drinking carousals of the vilest and most worthless men; and his disposition was envious, malicious, and vindictive."

Some persons doubt if he ever was regularly made a Mason; but it is nevertheless true that, after reaching Batavia, he was admitted as a visitor in Wells Lodge of that place. After this he was made a Royal Arch Mason in Western Star Chapter, at Le Roy, N.Y., May 23, 1825. His name was on the first petition for the establishment of a Royal Arch Chapter in Batavia. Some others seeing his name on the petition, declined signing it, and a new one was gotten up, leaving his name off. After the chapter was organized, upon his application for membership he was rejected. (4)

There was at that time a weekly newspaper the - "Republican Advocate," conducted by one David C. Miller. It is said he had been initiated in a lodge in Albany, N.Y., but owing to his noted character, ascertained thereafter, he had been refused advancement. (5)

These two worthies, and companions in dissipation, both impecunious and greatly in financial difficulties, concocted the scheme to divulge what they knew of Masonry. (6) Morgan having advanced further in the degrees, was to furnish the information, and Miller was to do the editing, printing, and publishing.

This scheme, by some means, became known to the Masons. No doubt, in the drunken orgies of Morgan he had boasted of his contemplated revenge. Articles also crept into the paper; (7) one of which was publicly read in a bar-room in 1826, which stated: " There

(1) H. Brown's "Narrative, Batavia, New York, 1829," P. 15. (2) Ibid., p. 16. (3) Ibid., p. 16. (4) Ibid., p. 17. (5) Ibid., p. 15. (6) Ibid., p. 15. (7) Ibid., p. 18.

will be issued from the press in this place, in a short time, a work of rare interest to the uninitiated, being an exposition of Ancient Craft Masonry, by one who has been a member of the institution for years.

Morgan having had some transaction in Canandaigua with the tavern-keeper - we think it was simply borrowing some clothing, and having failed to return the articles, a warrant was taken out for larceny, upon which his arrest followed, and he was carried to Canandaigua by a posse; among them were several conspicuous Masons. He was acquited of the charge, because he had borrowed the clothing, and had not stolen them. He was again arrested for a debt to another tavern-keeper, and upon confession of judgment he was sent to jail. Miller was also arrested, September 12, 1826, and carried to Le Roy; (1) he was discharged, as the plaintiff did not appear in time. (2)

A few days previous to Miller's arrest, a warrant in behalf of the plaintiff (Johns) was issued by a justice of the Peace residing in Le Roy against Miller and John Davids, his partner in the printing office, for the purpose of collecting money before then advanced by Johns in the prosecution of their undertaking. The officer in whose hands the warrant was placed for execution was a constable of the town of Stafford, who, having learned that the office of Miller was strictly guarder and that he was fully determined to resist all attempts to serve any process upon him, engaged a number of assistants. On September 12th he and his posse, who were followed by a large number of people, went to Batavia to make the arrest. So many strangers, without any ostensible business, making their appearance in Batavia, aroused the most fearful apprehension among the citizens. Miller received a note early in the morning from some unknown person that an effort would be made to take by force the papers intended for publication. He showed this note to a few of the citizens of the town, some of whom were Masons, and asked their opinion. They advised him to look upon the matter as idle rumor, as to attempt such a measure was impracticable and foolish. So many unknown persons, however, suddenly making their presence known, and as if by concert, those who had advised him to take no notice of the warning; received by Miller began

(1) H. Brown's "Narrative, Batavia,, New York, 1829," P. 54. (2) Ibid., p. 56.

to fear that it was indeed a preconcerted plan to carry out the intention of obtaining, by violence if necessary, the aforesaid papers. The magistrates were all absent from the village, and this also increased the suspicions. Very soon a number of the citizens, Masons as well as others, offered their services to prevent any violence. Morgan had gone from Batavia the day before this in the charge of an officer, but no news of him had yet been received. Consternation and apprehension pervaded that small community, but as nothing further transpired, order and quietness soon prevailed. Soon after this the constable, with a single individual accompanying him, went to the office to arrest Miller and Davids with a civil process. The office was fortified by "two swivels," fifteen or more guns, and six pistols, all being loaded, but was at that time undefended, except by Miller, Davids, and a son of Miller.

The assistant arrested Davids, who called for a pistol; the constable arrested Miller. Both of them submitted and were carried through an armed crowd of their friends to a tavern across the street. A very large number of persons, nearly fifty, were there assembled. They gave no sign of any hostility whatever, and in conversation with others showed that no intention on their part existed of any violence or wrong. Subsequent disclosures, however, clearly showed that in the minds at least of a few an intention had existed of obtaining possession of the "papers" by force if necessary. Those Masons in Batavia to whom this design had been communicated severely condemned such intention, which was conceived in folly and would be fraught with mischief and ruinous in consequences. These views having been communicated to the leaders, the whole scheme was abandoned. The absence of the justices was caused by their being subpoenaed as witnesses in a trial at Bethany on that day. (1)

From the evidence produced it was clearly shown that certain indiscreet and overzealous Masons did inaugurate a scheme to get rid of Morgan and prevent the publication of his pretended "exposure." He was conveyed out of the State, by his own consent, from a fear that someone would murder him. A promise was made to take care of his wife and children, and with $500 in hand he was taken into Canada. There were a great many incidents connected

(1) The above account is condensed from Brown's "Narrative," pp. 51 - 55.

with the expedition to transport him out of the State, which we deem it unnecessary to mention in detail.

This affair created wonderful excitement in allthe New England States and in New York and Pennsylvania, among the Masons particularly; it extended, in a milder form, southwardly, and reached as far as the District of Columbia, but its effects, morally and politically, south of the famous historical "line of Mason and Dixon," was very slight indeed. In New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, however, the loyal members of the Craft sustained their integrity against political, religious, and social persecutions. A new political party was organized, and that party made a national issue at the next presidential canvass in 1832, and William Wirt was their candidate for the office of Chief Magistrate, and the canvass resulted in his receiving the electoral vote of Vermont, the only State to cast their votes for him. We are glad to announce that when Masonry again revived and came forth from that terrible time of persecution, under the leadership of that grand and magnanimous MAN, Philip C. Tucker, as we have shown in preceding chapters, he brought order out of confusion and re-established Masonry in all its branches. At the present day there can not be found more enthusiastic Masons in any State of our Union, than now exist in the Green Mountain State.

The official examinations of parties who were directly or remotely connected with the abduction of Morgan, aroused and continued to excite the sentiments of hostility to the Masonic Institution; it was once well said that the "fice-dog always barks at what he does not understand," so with that similar class in ever community, they are always ready and constantly seeking opportunities to oppose what is beyond their linmited comprehension. Charges were constantly found against those Masons who were suspected of any complicity in those affairs, and suits were brought against them for several years. Among those who were arrested and imprisoned was Eli Bruce. From 1827 to 1831 there was always some one or more confined in the jail at Canandaigua.

Eli Bruce was charged with the abduction of Morgan, and was acquitted, for it was not proved that anyone had been abducted. De Witt Clinton was then Governor of New York, as well as one of the most prominent and distinguished Masons in the United States, and was of course eminently desirous of ascertaining the truth in all these matters. He formulated certain questions to Eli Bruce, who was the High Sheriff of the County, as to his agency in these matters: Bruce declined to answer them and he was promptly removed from his office. Governor Clinton, it is well known, both in his private and public utterances, condemned the whole transaction of the removal of Morgan. The official account of Bruce's trial shows that complaint was made to the Governor, and Bruce was summoned to Albany in answer to the charges and show cause why he should not be removed. The reply by his counsel did not satisfy the Governor, and he was tried in the court at Canandaigua, in August, 1828. He was convicted and sentenced to twenty-eight months in jail. The execution of the sentence was postponed until May 13, 1829, upon his appeal, but on May 20, 1829, he was imprisoned until September 23, 1831. The evidence at the trial showed that Bruce understood that Morgan voluntarily consented to his removal and that a cell at Lockport was prepared for him until he could be carried to Canada. He at first declined to have anything to do with the affair, but at last gave in, and, with the others, conveyed Morgan over the river to Canada. Matters having been delayed for Morgan's removal, he was reconveyed to the State and concealed in the old magazine at Fort Niagara, until the time was suitable for his conveyance to the farm provided for him in Canada. From that time Morgan, it appears, was never seen by anyone, and Bruce testified that he did not know when or how he disappeared.

Other parties were implicated, and upon trial of each, they were punished by imprisonment.

The anti-Masonic spirit was not satisfied with the punishment of those immediately concerned in this nefarious transaction. Many conventions were held, and self-constituted Missionaries sprang up, like toadstools in a night, and scattered their venomous seed broadcast and found favorite soil, in the debased condition of many polluted minds, in which to foster these seeds of opposition to an Institution which, in all its principles and daily practices, had demonstrated its utter abhorrence to any such transactions as the Morgan affair, and also as being subversive of public order, private human rights, and the clearly enunciated precepts of Masonry - whose Theological virtues are Faith, Hope, and Charity, whose cardinal virtues are Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude, and Justice, whose principal Tenets are Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth.

A convention of delegates from several Baptist churches was held at Le Roy, N. Y., January, 1827, and

"Resolved, That all such members as belong to Baptist churches and who also belong to the Society of Freemasons, be requested to renounce publicly all communication with that order, and if the request is not complied with in a reasonable time, to excommunicate all those who neglect to do so." If the present writer be permitted to publicly express his private opinion, it would be, that all such loyal members who refused to comply with so outrageous a resolution would, after the "excommunication," be immediately received into the church of an all merciful Savior, and welcomed out of so bigoted and benighted a congregation; as time has subsequently proved they were.

At the famous Lewiston Convention they published the following discoveries:

1. That the unhappy Morgan was taken to Newark, Upper Canada, gagged, bound, and blindfolded.

2. That he was then offered to the British Masons of that place, with the request that they should get him on board a British Man-of-War or turn him over to Brandt, the Indian Chief and a Mason, to be executed with savage cruelty.

3. That the Newark Lodge assembled on this proposition, and sent for Brandt, who came accordingly.

4. Brandt proved himself too noble of nature to have anything to do with so cowardly, inhuman, and wicked a transaction. The savage hero disdained to do that which conwardly white monsters urged him to do.

5. The Newark Masons, thus rebuked by savage justice and magnanimity, likewise finally declined to take charge of the miserable victim.

6. The diabolical wretches, who had him in custody, brought him back as far as Fort Niagam, and then murdered him in cold blood, cutting his throat from ear to ear, cutting out his tongue, and burying him in the sand, and concluding the hellish rites by sinking the body in the lake.

Brandt denied the charge so far as it related to him, "false in one, false in all." The 6th is a clincher for mendacity - the whole statement is contrary to all the legal testimony in the case, and does not tally with a subsequent account of finding Morgan's body in the Niagara River, but was put forth by the political party of the day; and when Thurlow Weed was told that it did not prove to be Morgan's body, he said very pertinently, "It's good enough Morgan till after election."

September 11, 1830, a convention was held in Philadelphia. A committee reported an address, stating that Morgan was murdered, notwithstanding that in all the legal proceedings there was not a single witness to prove that Morgan was murdered. This address, however, demanded the suppression of the Institution of Masonry.

The following extract will show the spirit which prevailed:

"To this government Freemasonry is wholly opposed. It requires submission to its own authority in contempt of public opinion, the claim of conscience, and the rights of private judgment. It would dam up the majestic currents of improving thought, among all its subjects throughout the earth, by restricting beneficial communication. In attempting to do this it has stained our country with a brother's blood, tempted many of our influential citizens into the most degraded forms of falsehood, and burst away with its powers undiminished, its vengeance provoked, and its pollution manifest, from the strong arm of retributive justice. The means of overthrowing Masonry cannot be found in any, or in all our executive authorities. They cannot be found in our judicial establishment

"The only adequate corrective of Freemasonry - that prolific source of the worst abuses is to be found in the right of election, and to this we must resort.

"There is therefore no impropriety in resorting to the elective franchise to correct the evils of Freemasonry.

"It, Freemasonry, ought to be abolished; it should certainly be so abolished as to prevent its restoration. No means of doing this can be conceived so competent as those furnished by the ballot boxes." We here see what prejudice, ignorance of the subject, and a spirit of persecution can effect upon the minds of men, when prompted by ambition for public office. The first paragraph is a long tissue of falsehoods, as time proved those utterances to have been; not a sentence was predicated upon a single fact which had been or could be proven. Every Mason will at once declare that every charge made in that address was maliciously false and mis-leading.

In 1836 a National Convention of anti-Masons was held in Philadelphia and nominated William H. Harrison for President, and Francis Granger for Vice-President, and this ended the political influence of that party.

The writer of this article was old enough to remember that contest and the prominent actors therein. Their failure at that time did not dishearten most of the leaders, as very soon thereafter they became prominent leaders of the newly organized Anti-Slavery party, a subject with which we have nothing to do whatever.

All the Grand Lodges within the States affected by this unto-ward anti-Masonic persecution, passed such resolutions as to, and did, satisfy most people, that Masonry as an institution had nothing to do with the Morgan affair, but condemned the injudicious and unauthorized individuals who were participants, nor made any efforts to screen them from merited justice; nevertheless, the persecution of individuals continued, and many who were socially so situated as to render their lives unbearable, surrendered their memberships and withdrew from the Institution. At length, in some of these States, particularly in Vermont, the lodges and other bodies ceased to hold their meetings, as has been shown in our different histories of those bodies.

In 1840 there were signs of renewal of activities in Masonic affairs; thirteen years of persecution had passed and there came a revival.

We learn from the authorities in New York that the lodge at Le Roy, Olive Branch, No. 39, never ceased its meetings, although located in the immediate neighborhood of the place where the whole difficulty originated, and is considered as the preserver of Masonry in Western New York during all those years of persecution and excitement.

Governor Clinton wrote to the Governors of Upper and Lower Canada asking that inquiry be made in regard to Morgan, and said in his letters :

"During the last year he (Morgan) put a manuscript into the hands of a printer at Batavia, purporting to be a promulgation of the secrets of Freemasonry. This was passed over by the great body of the Fraternity without notice and silent contempt; but a few desperate fanatics engaged in a plan of carrying him off, and on the 12th of September last (1826) they took him from Canandaigua by force, as it is understood, (1)and conveyed him to the Niagara River, from which it is supposed that he was taken to his Britannic Majesty's dominions. Some of the offenders have been apprehended and punished; but no intelligence has been obtained respecting Morgan since his abduction."

In response to this request of Governor Clinton, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada issued his proclamation:

"50 pounds Reward. - His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor having received a communication from His Excellency the Governor of the State of New York, by which it appears that William Morgan who some years ago exercised the calling of a brewer in this place, and who has recently resided in Canandaigua, in the State of New York, was some time in the last year conveyed by force from that place, and is supposed to be forcibly detained in some part of this Province; any person who may be able to offer any information respecting the said William Morgan, shall, upon communicating the same to the Private Secretary of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, receive the reward above offered.

"Government House, January 31, 1827." (2)

The Grand Lodge of New York adopted the following:

"Whereas, It is alleged that an outrage has been committed on the body of William Morgan, and

Whereas, Proceedings in consequence of such allegations have been made in Courts of justice in relation to the subject, and

"Whereas, By reason of foul misrepresentation an effort has been made to impress the public mind with an opinion that the Grand Lodge and the Fraternity in general have attempted to screen, if not to protect, the perpetrators of this alleged outrage; therefore be it

"Resolved, That the Grand Secretary be instructed to ascertain from the public record a statement of the facts in relation to the persons said to have been Masons, charged and convicted of the abduction of Morgan, (3) and report to this Grand Lodge at its next annual communication."

A supplemental report was adopted (June 2, 1832): (4)

"That participating with the members of this Grand Lodge, and the Great Body of the Masonic Fraternity, in a feeling of deep

(1) The weight of evidence was that he went voluntarily. - EDITOR. (2) "History of Masonry and Concordant Orders," P. 516. (3) "History of Grand Lodge of New York vol. iii., p 2. (4) Ibid.

abhorrence of the outrage, which was a violation alike of Masonic obligation and the law of the land, they (the Committee) have examined the papers submitted thereto with that attention which the importance of the subject demands.

The voluminous nature of the papers presented and the shortness of the time have, however, prevented them from investigating the subject as fully as they would desire, and further time was asked in which to formulate a report."

At the communication of the Grand Lodge of New York held March 7, 1832, Mordecai Meyers presiding, twelve experienced and capable members of the Grand Lodge, together with the Grand Officers, were appointed to visit all the Lodges in the City of New York, Brooklyn, and Staten Island, to arouse them to a sense of their duty, instruct the officers of said lodges in their work, to advise and encourage them to a strict adherence to the Constitution and Regulation of this Grand Lodge, and to inspect their books.

EXTRACTS from the "Proceedings of the Triennial Session of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templars for the United States of America assembled at the Asylum in Masonic Temple, in the City of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, on Tuesday, the 19th of September, A.D. 1871 A.O. 753."

"Grand Master Gardner then read the following Address:

"Knights, Companions: On Thursday, the 29th of November, 1832, fourteen bold and valiant Knights assembled in the Masonic Temple in this city, and proceeded to open the General Grand Encampment of the United States. The Rev. Sir Jonathan Nye, of New Hampshire, presided over the deliberations, and welcomed his associates by an affectionate and fraternal address. The illustrious Sir James Herring, of New York, recorded the proceedings; while the venerable Prelate, Rev. Sir Paul Dean, of Massachusetts, implored the blessings of heaven upon the brave Knights and their doings. Of these fourteen good men, and true, two were from New Hampshire, five from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, one from Connecticut, two from New York, one from Maryland, and three from the District of Columbia.

"The General Grand Chapter met at the same time in Baltimore, that distinguished man and Mason, Edward Livingston, of Louisiana, being its presiding officer. He was re-elected to the high office which he had so honorably filled for the preceding three years.

"No session of the National Grand Bodies, held before or since that time, has so attracted public attention as did this of 1832. John Quincy Adams, ex-President of the United States, did not consider this meeting of a mere handful of men in Baltimore beneath his notice, or unworthy the abuse of his caustic pen; and page after page of his letters, then published in the newspapers of the day, since collected into a volume, attest the interest which that meeting occasioned.

"The period was indeed a peculiar one. For six years the excitement and frenzy of anti-Masonry had been gathering strength and fury, until at last, in a national convention of anti-Masons held here in the City of Baltimore, candidates were nominated for the two highest offices of the Republic. The election took place in 1832, and William Wirt of Maryland, and Amos Ellmaker, of Pennsylvania, the nominees of the anti-Masonic, political party for President and Vice-President, received the seven electoral votes of Vermont, and no more. The power of anti-Masonry culminated in 1832; and when the General Grand Encampment assembled here, in the waning days of autumn, and found the fires around which the national Council of anti-Masons had been held, and read by their uncertain and unsteady light the strength and weakness of Anti-masonry in the Union, they knew that the battle had been fought, and that the night of agony was over. The hate and bitterness and fiendish hostility they knew would still remain - powerful in localities to infinite harm - but the Nation had repudiated antiMasonry, and had elected, as President, Andrew Jackson, an acknowledged, out-spoken, well-known Freemason; so well known that on the 23d of May, 1833, John Quincy Adams, in a published letter to Edward Livingston, then Secretary of State, paid a merited compliment to the Past Grand Master of Tennessee, in words intended to be severe and censurable.

"'The President of the United States,' said Adams, 'is a Brother of the Craft, bound by its oaths, obligations, and penalties, to the exclusive favors, be they more or less, of which they give the mutual pledge. That in the troubles and difficulties which, within the last seven years, have befallen the craft, they have availed themselves of his name, and authority, and influence, to sustain their drooping fortunes, as far as it has been in their power, has been matter of public notoriety. A sense of justice has restrained him from joining in their processions, as he has been importunately urged by invitations to do, but he has not withheld from them his support'"

Almost forty years have passed away since the National Grand Bodies assembled in Triennial Session in the City of Baltimore. Behold the change! Those fourteen brave Knights have gone to their reward - not one of them now lives to rejoice at this triumphant return to Baltimore. They sleep peacefully and serenely the last great sleep: peace to their ashes; honor to their names. The railroad and telegraph now traverse populous States, then scarcely known. The Union stretches from ocean to ocean, and holds in its fast embrace great States, whose territory was then unexplored.

From all parts of this wide extended country - from the Atlantic and the Pacific - from the great rivers, with their fertile valleys - from the mountain ranges, with their verdant slopes - from the rugged North and the sunny South - from the great West, whither the star of empire is taking its course, and from the sea-girt populous East - come up here to Baltimore to this Eighteenth Triennial Session of the Grand Encampment of the United States, in companies, in battalions, in regiments, thousands of true Knights, bearing the banners of the Cross, living witnesses of the truth of the resolutions passed by the General Grand Encampment in 1832, that "Political Parties, in assailing the orders of Knighthood, aim a blow at all the free institutions of the country."

The institution which in 1832, was abused and maligned, its members insulted and degraded, and which could then gather in its National Convention but fourteen tried souls, has survived the abuse, the malignity, the insults, and degradation, and stands before you today in its wisdom, strength, and beauty.

In 1832 those fourteen Knights did not disturb the usual tranquillity of Baltimore, and their presence here was unrecognized. Quiet in demeanor, unobtrusive in manner, they came with a firm determination to fully perform their devoirs to Temple Masonry.

In 1871 the authorities of Baltimore, with a liberality of sentiment and a heartiness of greeting which will be gratefully appreciated by every Templar of the United States, welcome us as guests of their municipality. The Templar Knights throng the city - its houses, streets, and squares, and are received by brethren and citizens with a warmth of fraternal, generous hospitality, unbounded and catholic as the principles of Freemasonry.

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