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Captain William M. Morgan of Batavia New York.
A Husband to Lucinda
Pendleton Morgan, and Father of two small children,
Lucinda Wesley Morgan
and Thomas Jefferson Morgan.
Morgan had practiced the craft of Free-masonry for over 30
years,
Morgan searved under the command of Freemason Andrew Jackson,
fought the British in the War of 1812.
Reverend Charles Finney in his book published 1869,
PRACTICAL WORKINGS OF FREEMASONRY
writes of Morgan’s opinion of Freemasonry:
“He regarded it as highly injurious to the cause of Christ,
and as eminently dangerous to the government of our country.”
Morgan was kidnapped 9/11/1826 by Masons for
writing: Illustrations of Masonry, He was
taken North, and Later
murdered by Freemason Henry L. Valance who
drowned Morgan in the Niagara River.
Valance had two other Mason brothers help him with this act.
This murder led to a great revival in Christian churches as many
Masons left the Masonry after this event became publicly known.
The public shame of this murder forced many Freemasons
to admit the sin of slavery that they had chained themselves to.
KJV Psa 118:22 The stone [which] the builders refused
is become the head [stone] of the corner.
Rejecting the Masonic Worshipful Masters, and
Repenting, they Accepted God the Father, Son (Jesus Christ)
and Holy Ghost as Their Single Master.
KJV John 08:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying,
I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in
darkness,
but shall have the light of life.
A great effort involving many masons to keep the death of Morgan
from meeting public justice caused many to join the Anti-Masonic
Political Party.
On October 7, 1827, a body was found on the beach of Lake Ontario.
A coroner's inquest was held on October 17, 1827. The report states
that "beyond any shadow of a doubt" the body was that of
Capt.
William Morgan. It further states that "he came to his death by
suffocation by drowning."
In 1882 a large monument to Morgan was placed
in
the Batavia City Cemetery. On four faces it reads:
Morgan
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
W.M. Morgan,
A NATIVE OF VIRGINIA,
A CAPT IN THE WAR OF 1812.
A RESPECTABLE CITIZEN OF
BATAVIA AND A MARTR
TO THE FREEDOM OF WRITING
PRINTING AND SPEAKING THE
TRUTH. HE WAS ABDUCTED
FROM NEAR THIS SPOT IN THE
YEAR 1826. BY FREEMASONS
AND MURDERED FOR REVEALING
THE SECRETS OF THEIR ORDER.
"The bane of our Civil Institutions
is to be found in masonry,
already powerful and daily becoming more so.
I owe to my country an exposure of its dangers."
Captain William Morgan
Erected by volunteer contributions
from over 2000 persons residing
in Canada, Ontario and 26 of
the US and territories.
THE COURT RECORDS OF
GENESEE COUNTY,
AND FILES OF THE
BATAVIA ADVOCATE.
KEPT IN THE RECORDER'S
OFFICE CONTAIN THE HISTORY
OF THE EVENTS THAT CAUSED
THE ERECTION OF THIS
MONUMENT
Below is a excerpt from chapter two of , THE CHARACTER,
CLAIMS AND
PRACTICAL WORKINGS OF
FREEMASONRY
"CONFESSION.
"THE
MURDER OF WILLIAM MORGAN, CONFESSED BY THE MAN WHO,
WITH
HIS OWN HANDS, PUSHED HIM OUT OF THE BOAT INTO NIAGARA RIVER!
"The
following account of that tragical scene is taken from a pamphlet entitled,
'Confession
of the murder of William Morgan, as taken down by Dr. John L. Emery,
of
Racine County, Wisconsin, in the summer of 1848, and now (1849) first given to
the public:'
"This
'Confession' was taken down as related by Henry L. Valance,
who
acknowledges himself to have been one of the three who were selected to make a
final
disposition
of the ill-fated victim of masonic vengeance. This confession it seems was made
to his
physicians, and in view of his approaching dissolution, and published after his
decease.
"After
committing that horrid deed he was as might well be expected, an unhappy man,
by day
and by
night. He was much like Cain--'a fugitive and a vagabond.' To use his own
words,
'Go
where I would, or do what I would, it was impossible for me to throw off the
consciousness
of crime. If the mark of Cain was not upon me, the curse of the first murderer
was--the
blood-stain was upon my hands and could not be washed out.
'He
therefore commences his confession thus:--'My last hour is approaching; and as
the
things
of this world fade from my mental sight, I feel the necessity of making, as far
as
in my power lies, that atonement which every
violator of the great law of right owes to
his
fellow men' In this violation of law, he says, 'I allude to the abduction and
murder of
the
ill-fated William Morgan.'
"He
proceeds with an interesting narrative of the proceedings of the fraternity in
reference
to
Morgan, while he was incarcerated in the magazine of Fort Niagara. I have room
for a
few
extracts only, showing the final disposition of their alleged criminal. Many
consultations
were
held, 'many plans proposed and discussed, and rejected.' At length being driven
to the
necessity
of doing something immediately for fear of being exposed, it was resolved in a
council
of eight, that he must die: must be consigned to a 'confinement from which
there is
no possibility of escape--THE GRAVE.' Three
of their number were to be selected by
ballot
to execute the deed. 'Eight pieces of paper were procured, five of which were
to remain
blank,
while the letter D was written on the others. These pieces of paper were placed
in a
large
box, from which each man was to draw one at the same moment. After drawing we
were
all to
separate, without looking at the paper that each held in his hand. So soon as
we had
arrived
at certain distances from the place of rendezvous, the tickets were to be
examined,
and
those who held blanks. were to return instantly to their homes; and those who
should
hold
marked tickets were to proceed to the fort at midnight, and there put Morgan to
death,
in
such a manner as should seem to themselves most fitting.' Mr. Yalance was one
of the
three
who drew the ballots on which was the signal letter. He returned to the fort,
where
he was
joined by his two companions, who had drawn the death tickets. Arrangements
were
made immediately for executing the sentence passed upon their prisoner, which
was
to
sink him in the river with weights; in hope, says Mr. Valance, 'that he and our
crime
alike
would thus be buried beneath the waves.' His part was to proceed to the
magazine
where
Morgan was confined, and announce to him his fate--theirs was to procure a boat
and
weights with which to sink him. Morgan, on being informed of their proceedings
against
him,
demanded by what authority they had condemned him, and who were his judges.
'He
commenced wringing his hands, and talking of his wife and children, the
recollections
of whom,
in that awful hour, terribly affected him. His wife, he said, was young and
inexperienced,
and his children were but infants; what would become of them were he cut off;
and
they even ignorant of his fate?' What husband and father would not be 'terribly
affected'
under
such circumstances--to be cut off from among the living in this inhuman manner?
"Mr.
V.'s comrades returned. and informed him that they had procured the boat and
weights,
and
that all things were in readiness on their part. Morgan was told that all his
remonstrances
were idle, that die he must, and that soon, even before the morning light.
The
feelings of the husband and father were still strong within him, and he
continued to
plead on
behalf of his family. They gave him one half hour to prepare for his
'inevitable fate.'
They
retired from the magazine and left him. "How Morgan passed that time,'
says
Mr.
Valance, 'I cannot tell, but everything was quiet as the tomb within.' At the expiration
of the
allotted time, they entered the magazine, laid hold of their victim, 'bound his
hands
behind
him, and placed a gag in his mouth.' They then led him forth to execution. 'A
short time,'
says
this murderer, 'brought us to the boat, and we all entered it--Morgan being
placed in the
bow
with myself, along side of him. My comrades took the oars, and the boat was
rapidly forced
out
into the river. The night was pitch dark, we could scarcely see a yard before
us and therefore
was
the time admirably adapted to our hellish purpose.' Having reached a proper
distance
from
the shore, the oarsmen ceased their labors. The weights were all secured
together by
a
strong cord, and another cord of equal strength, and of several yards in
length, proceeded
from that. 'This cord,' says Mr. V., 'I took
in my hand [did not that hand tremble ?] and fastened
it around the body of Morgan, just above his
hips, using all my skill to make it fast, so that it
would
hold. Then, in a whisper, I bade the unhappy man to stand up, and after a
momentary
hesitation
he complied with my order. He stood close to the head of the boat, and there
was
just
length enough of rope from his person to the weights to prevent any strain,
while he was
standing.
I then requested one of my associates to assist me in lifting the weights from
the
bottom
to the side of the boat, while the others steadied her from the stern. This was
done,
and,
as Morgan was standing with his back toward me, I approached him, and gave him
a
strong
push with both my hands, which were placed on the middle of his back. He fell
forward,
carrying
the weights with him, and the waters closed over the mass. We remained quiet
for
two or
three minutes, when my companions, without saying a word, resumed their places,
and
rowed the boat to the place from which they had taken it.'"
They
also kidnapped Mr. Miller, the publisher; but the citizens of Batavia, finding
it out,
pursued
the kidnappers, and finally rescued him.
The courts
of justice found themselves entirely unable to make any headway
against
the wide-spread conspiracy that was formed among Masons in respect to this
matter.
These
are matters of record. It was found that they could do nothing with the courts,
with the
sheriffs, with the witnesses, or with the jurors; and all their efforts were
for a
time
entirely impotent Indeed, they never were able to prove the murder of Morgan,
and
bring it home to the individuals who perpetrated it.
But
Mr. Morgan had published Freemasonry to the world.
The
greatest pains were taken by Masons to cover up the transaction,
and as
far as possible to deceive the public in regard to the fact that Mr. Morgan
had
published Masonry as it really is.
Masons
themselves, as is affirmed by the very best authority, published two spurious
editions
of Morgan's book, and circulated them as the true edition which Morgan had
published.
These
editions were designed to deceive Masons who had never seen Morgan's edition,
and
thus to enable them to say that it was not a true revelation of Masonry.