Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1869-10-19

The Hon. ,. NJ. Gates of New York, at
the request of a friend, gave the following
testimony thirteen years ago for pub
LEGATION. The original paper has been pre-
served, and the integrity of the man is be-
yond question.
WARSAW, July 18th, 1856.
Dear Sir Your letter has been unan-
swered nearly month, because l did not
readily lay my hand on some old anti-Ma-
sonic documents in my possession and
when an answer was once deferred other
matters interviewed to put it off.
| have no more favorable opinion of
Masonry than you have. At the instance
of fellow clerks in law office, became a
| Free Mason, only a little while before
| MOrgan's abduction and murder | was
| disguised with its rude ceremonies, and
abominable obligations, on taking the first
degree; but was assured this was only as
the hOd-carrier's office to that of the Mas
ter Mason, and that when ! took the third
degree / should be satisfied. Lured on by
these assurances and the respectable men
with whom | was surrounded, and being
also assured that it would conduce greatly
to the benefit and advantages of Il young
man just coming into business, went on
to the third degree.
Very soon Morgan was abducted Mil
ler's printing office, where Morgan's book
was printed, was fired Miller was himself
seized, and brought forcibly to Leroy, by
band of Masons headed by Johns, a high
mason from Canada and |, as deputy
sheriff, had a writ for Johns, and went
with Talbot, the attorney for the people,
through the crowd of Masons in search OF
him in vain. | was in the midst Of the
whole Morgan and Miller outrages, and
know whereof affirm. | found Masons
everywhere justifying these outrages pri-
, vately in in the lOdge-room, and in private
conversation among themselves; and de-
nying the truthfulness of Morgan's publ
cations openly-and denying openly thai
Masons had carried him off found such
an outrageous system of falsehood abound
ing in reference to the whole matter, as t.
lead me to see the pernicious influence o
the obligations, and to abandon and re
! nounce the whole thing; and | declared
l then, as | do now, that the revelations by
Morgan of the secrets of Masonry wer,
literally true and correct The obligations o
the various degrees were exposed lc0rd f0
lc0rd, as | have given, and my partner
I Il
church, and now, had taken twenty-on,
1 degrees, and he, and others then declare,
l they erere correct and they exposed the Sc
crets of the order in full, and renounced j
!, also. The abduction of Morgan and al
\ the circumstances connected with it wer
i fully established in the court of justice b.
u II legal testimony; and several persons wer
= convicted for having more or less hand i
it, and paid the penalty by lying in iai
/ He was taken first to Canandaigua, an
{ put in Jail under pretense that he had sto
en- q shirt, charge trumped up for the OF
casion; was discharged by the justices
4. was put in Jail for debt; was let out
re night, violently seized, gagged, put in
r close carriage, carried to Rochester, take
lie rapidly relays Of horses being ready alOn
e. the route along the ridge road to Lewi
- town, and was taken to the old fort at y
T. agara, shut up there awhile, and a counc
to Of high Masons was held, and it was agree
o. he should be taken out into the river an
i'd sunk with weights attached to him; al
TO secret lots were cast as to which one shou
I'd do it; and that was the last that was ev
e heard ofhim No doubt he was thus di
Id posed of. 1t is astonishing that men shou
We be found so soon to deny the truthfulne
m Oh Iuese lnluSS. our SldIc TeCOTuS nave
ed abundance Of evidence in regard to the
r. matters. Two governors proclamatio
ed on the subject; a special council appoint
nd twice to conduct investigations, and ass
nv in public trials in reference to his abdu
er ton; the reports of J. c. Spencer, yet
lv Jail and the results of those trials, are
r. a matter of widespread public notoriety
a and get the Chole thing is denounced as
AS sham and an imposition | knew Morg
lis personally, as l did David c. Miller, a
de multitudes engaged in their carrying {
lr.
nd For more than twenty-five years Masc
ry has been entirely out of date in Weste
New York, except with a few of the {
No. kidnapping veterans who defed pub
~ opinion, and occasionally assembled il
,in secret garret-holding on out of spite
Nc, Odd Fellowship, however, sprung up
h ho some extent in lieu of it. Now a new %
ln Grafton are on the stage. Almost all I
he anti-MasOnic publications and revelatiC
ms are destroyed, so far as they are in
al hands of the people.
a., Yours truly, SETH NJ. GATE,