The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-05-14
polttical INTERPRETATION and Int.
resting Reminisccnces-Weed ana
Masonry.

uThurlow Weed has lately purchased
~ rn,,,oe,c;ol advertiser, q New York
aron;nr nancr. In his salutatory, few
go go Mr.. Weed entered into review
oSb;s mast political history. 1t contains
,.nr nf his "reminiscences, but omits the
nr;nc;nal incident Of the beginning OF MS
snoccss-his connection with the anti .aa.
sonic excitement in 1926. Throw Weeds
little paper at Rochester was about ex-
piring wher ne Jumped aboard of the Nor
90, excitement, and changed the name OF
bic naner 10 that of the Anti- Masonic In
o,,;rer II omits the handsome donation,
ibrongh pious motives, to aid his Washing
tom project: it omits the receipt, August
%. 1928, of Sl93.55 for pursuing Elisha
Adams to Vermont and bringing him back
TO New York il omits another $3.50. so for
pursuing to Vermont and experimenting
Orson Parkhurst it omits many reminis-
cences of this kind. While Thurlow
Weed may have used the corpse of Tim
Monroe as a good enough Morgan until
after the election and by his reputed
operation upon the corpse may have de-
served the title Of State barber, it is
strange that he should omit all reference
TO this part of his history"
paiaSiapu, uihttuS
through our exchanges, turning the me-
mory great many revolutions backward,
recalls both a tragedy and romance. The
bitterness of feeling which it engendered
has been Soothed by the lapse of years; so
that now the survivors of those who then
were angrily arrayed against each other
not only meet as friends, but derive salts
faction in talking over with entire frank
ness the occurrence, its details, and its re-
suit. Indeed. the only man of the .tiue ,rho
had The final disposition of Morgan, aohen-
erer IRE meet, says that ii relieves his mind to
talk II 0uer.
This reference to elisha Adams" and
"Orson Parkhurst" brings back trooping
memories; takes us Through deep snows)
to the summit of the Green mountains of
Vermont, where, before daylight one morn
ing, we raped at the door of log cabin.
A voice inquired, "Who is there ?' We
asked for elisha Adams" The instant
response from aloft was, 81 am here, and
ready" The door was opened. A glow
ing bed of Goals in the immense fireplace
were most welcome, after drive of nine
miles in the cold. Adams came down
ladder, said goodbye to his relations, and,
with military promptnesS, led the way,
going with us to Canandaigua. The Incl
dents connected with that journey were
full of interest. At Burlington, VT, for
example, where we remained from Satur-
dav till Monday, the host, Colonel Thomas
Ia most excellent gentleman) said to us on
Monday morning: g. am sorry to see you
taking such an active part in this Morgan
business. / am as Jealous an Adams man
as YOU are, but would rather see General
Jackson elected than to have Mr.. Adams
succeed by such wicked conspiracy"
He then added that an intimate friend,
living in Western New York, had told him
that we had concealed Morgan, raised a
false cry of abduction for political effect,
and that the object of hunting up cold
Adams" who was stationed at Fort Niagara
at the time, was merely to "keep alive the
excitement"
Without denying or affirming anything,
we asked Colonel Thomas to take Adams
aside and talk with him, as he knew how
to talk, and if, after that conversation, he
adhered to the belief that we were polti-
cal conSpirators," to denounce me as
such, but that, on the other hand, if his
conversation with "AdamS" changed his
opinions, to say nothing. Colonel Thomas
had his conversation with the old soldier
When leaving his hotel he took us cor
daily by the hand, but spoke no word.
For Parkhurst- we travelled through
seven States, finding him at last at work in
town (Rcdtield, if we remember right
near Windsor, Vt. On our way to Roches-
ter, with him all went. smoothly until,
having reached the MonteZuma marshes
by canal, needing rest, and after our prl-
soner had retired, as there was no landing
place, for several hours. we turned in, and
refreshed 10y three hours sleep, woke up
to learn TO our CONSERVATION that the
"bird had flown ~ 1t was accomplished
in this wise: At Albany, Mrs. Ezra
Platt was Informed that We had found
Parkhurst, and were going with him
to Rochester, where. it was sup
posed, his testimony would convict her
husband. Mrs. Platt Immediately assumed
mans apparel, took the telegraph line OF
stages, reached Montezuma before us, and
lust at dusk came on board the boat.
While we slept, Mrs. Plat woke up Park
hurst, who had been in the employment of
her husband, boarded with them, and been
kindly taken care of when sick. The
captain of the boat iwho was known to
Mrs. Platt) sent his steerSman to bed, took
the nelm himself, uuu iaudCo oui PiioohS
within few miles of the residence OF
brother of Mr.. Patt. We went, bewilder-
ed and mortified, to Rochester, broodng
for months over the mysterious circum-
stance. But when General Mathews, one
of the counsel on the other side, informed
us how it was done, admiration for noble.
hearted woman abundantly consoled us.
Years afterward, Mr.. Parkhurst, then re-
spected and cnterprising manufacturer at
Cohoes, and our personal and political
friend, used to talk and laugh over the in
cident as often as we met. The circum-
stance is related in the late Colonel Will
liam l.. Stones history of the Morgan
trials.
During the exciting political campaign
of 1886 Governor Marcy avenged himself
handsomely for a rent and "patch F" which
we had discovered in his "pantaloons."
As Comptroller of the State, in making
up his report to the Legislature, he dis
covered in the accounts of the late John
C. Spencer, who was employed by the
State to prosecute the abductors OF Nor
gan, the following item:
For transporting Thurlow Weed to Auburn. 81 SO
This item included stage fare from Ro-
chester to Auburn, and gig hire from Au-
burn to Owasco Lake, where we obtained
from acting Governor Throop arequisition
for Parkhurst.
Governor Marcy sent the "item " to the
Albany Argus. In publishing it, Mr.. Cros-
~ 1. H.. I'D. DIAL t1n