William Morgan (anti-Mason)

William Morgan
1829 illustration of Morgan by The Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon
Born1774
Culpeper, Colony of Virginia
Disappearedc. 1826 (aged 51–52)
Near Youngstown, New York
Occupation(s)Stone cutter
Bricklayer
Storekeeper
Author
Known forAnti-Masonic writings
Spouse
​
(m. 1819)​
Children2

William Morgan (born 1774 – disappeared c. 1826) was a resident of Batavia, New York, whose disappearance and presumed murder in 1826 ignited a powerful movement against the Freemasons, a fraternal society that had become influential in the United States.[1] After Morgan announced his intention to publish a book exposing Freemasonry's secrets, he was arrested on trumped-up charges.[2] He disappeared soon after and was believed to have been kidnapped and killed by Masons from western New York.[3]

The allegations surrounding Morgan's disappearance and presumed death sparked a public outcry and inspired Thurlow Weed and others to harness the discontent by founding the new Anti-Masonic Party in opposition to President Andrew Jackson's Democrats.[4] It ran a presidential candidate in 1832 but was nearly defunct by 1835.[5]

  1. ^ Buel Jr., Richard (2006). The A to Z of the Early American Republic. Plymouth, UK: Scarecrow Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-8108-6840-3.
  2. ^ Ashcraft, W. Michael; Gallagher, Eugene V. (2006). Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-275-98713-8.
  3. ^ Roth, Randolph A. (2002). The Democratic Dilemma: Religion, Reform, and the Social Order in the Connecticut River Valley of Vermont. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-521-30183-1. william morgan kidnapped murdered masons.
  4. ^ Epstein, David A. (2012). Left, Right, Out: The History of Third Parties in America. New York: Arts and Letters Imperium Publishing. pp. 34–35, 43. ISBN 978-0-578-10654-0.
  5. ^ The History Channel, Mysteries of the Freemasons: America, video documentary, 1 August 2006, written by Noah Nicholas and Molly Bedell