Knoxville Whig and chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1875-1882, 1875-09-08
THE MORGAN MYSTERY.
Sea Captain who Met the Supposed
victim, Dressed Like u TURK
| Troy Timas. 2Atl

Troy Times. 24th.l
The statement published in the
| Times of the 18th inst, over the sigma
ture of Captain Samuel /. Masters. of
| Greenwich. in relation To the fate of
| William Morgan, whose supposed
abduction and murder by the Masonic
fraternity in 1926 caused great excite
ment in this country, has brought to
| pubic notice another witness, whose
testimony Is corroborative of that of
Capt Andrew Hitchcock, of West Troy,
residing on the corner of West and
Canal street.
Captain Hitchcock is 90 wears of age,
ana still retains not only his health i'm
a great degree, but also an excellent
memory, as the following facts will
prove. He read Mr.. Masters commu-
nication, and, because 1t allied ex-
actly with knowledge possessed by
him and hight aid in settling "a long
mooted question, he has consented to
the publication of his statement. He
Was sailor in 1880, and in the month
oi February was ON board the United
states man-Of-war Java then at
smyrna Asia Minor. He, with 200
ntuefs, had been transferred from the
Delaware, on which vessel he shipped,
TO the Java. when the Delaware was
ordered home, and his vessel had re-
NAMED il Asiatic waters ali winter.
Frequent excursions were of course
made to the shore, but it was not until
on or about the 9Th of February, 1880,
that the second cutter, of which he was
one OF the crew, was ordered bv the
commandment, Capt. Skinner, to 90
ashore with some of the officers.
, Upon reaching the land an Ameri-
can, wearing the habiliments of a
Turk, appeared to meet them. He
conversed with the officers, but Mr..
Hitchcock heard him admit that his
name was Morgan, aud that he was
the person whose disappearance had
created such excitement in America.
He appeared to be in good circumstan-
ces and contented with his life He
was asked to 20 on board the Java but
refused, although he promised to go on
board at some future time That time
never came, however, for during the
stay OF Java at that place Morgan
could not be persuaded to leave the
shore.
The affair caused great excitement
on shipbOard at the time, especially
among the officers, all If whom firmly
Believed in the identity of the Turk
ana Morgan. Whether or not he ever
stated to the officers how he got TO
smyrna, or what caused him to be.
come Turk, Mr.. Hitchcock does not
know. He never saw him but once,
although he was frequently seen by
others.
The Java sailed for America in Jan
uary, 1881, and Mr.. Hitchcock, upon
beng paid off at Norfork, Virginia,
came directly home. He told his sto-
rieS in relation To Morgan, but so great
was the excitement AZ the time that
no one believed him. He is convinced
That william Morgan, was the man
seen in Asia Minor in February, 1880.
The captain says he is dsinteres-
ted witness. He j. not a Mason, and
has no interest in the matter except 10
ay the truth before the public. He
distinctly remembers the date of the
occurrence, fixing it hy the time of the
destruction the mau Of war Hornet,
md the hanging of old shipmate,
Namsdell, on Gibbet island, New
I ork, which occurred one year after
lie saw Morgan.
II the statement of Captain Masters
nd Hitchcock are to be taken for the
ruth, aud no evidence has ever been
dduced To contradict them, then the
question of the Morgan mystery must
e considered AZ definitely settled, the
My conclusion being that Morgan
lther went OF his own accord, or was
= some manner transported to Asia
1lnor, became Turk, and doubtless
led a natural death