Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1875-09-04
me Third INQUEST

7 to reconcile these conflicting statements
. Mrs. Monroe was as clearly right about
/ the clothes As she was wrong about the
| body found in them.
THE THIRD INQUEST
resulted in finding that the body previ-
ously adjudged 10 be MOrgan's was that
Of Timothy Monroe. There were other
circumstances connected with the disap-
pearance of both Morgan and Monroe,
assuming that both had been drowned in
Lake Ontario, calculated to cOmplicate
the questions of identity. The body was
found at Oak Orchard Greek full year
after MOrgan's disappearance Of course
it could not have been drifting about
that length Of time. IL was known how
ever, that Morgan was weighted heavily
when thrown into the lake; and, two
months before that body was found, the
mouth of the river and that part of the
lake where Morgan was supposed To have
been thrown overheard, had been thor
oughly raked. In this way IL was sup
posed that the body had been released
from its weight, risen 10 the surface and
drifted TO Oak Orchard Greek. Monroe
was drowned on the 25th or 27th Of Sep
temtSu. The body at Oak Orchard Greek
was fund on the Sth day - October,
leaving but eicsoll % twelve days ~
drift distance OF forty miles, where il
was found. II is understood that drown
ed persons remain several days under the
water. II was aScertained by meteorO-
logical records that, during the interval
between MOnroe's death and the finding
of the body at Oak Orchard Creek, the
wind blew most of the time up the lake.
Now, as there is no current in Lake
Ontario, and As objects float with rather
than against the wind, IL seemed improb-
able that the body found should be that
OF Monroe; while on the other hand il
seemed equally improbable that a man
drowned in the latter part of September,
1926, could be found in tolerable state
of preservation in October, 1927. So that
there were irreconcilable facts and cir
cumstances connected with this strange
history.
Mrs. Morgan and the intimate friends
of Morgan described marks upon his per-
son before seeing that body, which left
no doubt in the minds Of all present that
it was the remains of her husband.
Strangely enough, however, she repudi-
ated every article Of clothing found upon
the body. And yet Mrs. Monroe, who
came from Canada, readily described ey-
cry article, garment by garment, with
minute and startling accuracy. While,
therefore, up to the time that Mrs. Mon
roe appeared there were no Just grounds
for discrcditing the correctness OF the
second inquest, yet after the third inquest
had becn held at Batavia there was n
strong reaction I'm public opinion Al
though the gentleman associated with me
in the investigation were still strongly of
the opinion that the body was that of VIII
liam Morgan, my own preciously clear
and strong convictions were a good deal
disturbed. Nor can L now, after nearly
fifty years anxious inquiry and reflection,
say that ] am satisfied that it was or was
not the body of William Morgan.
n !. l.. 4.
between Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Monroe,
after the conclusion Of the third or Bata-
via inquest, induced those who claimed
the body to be that OF Timothy Monroe to
say that the hair had been pulled ont and
the whiskers shaved off 10 make il rescm-
BILE Morgan. That could only have been
done in the presence of between sixty and
seventy persons, some of whom were dem
Ocrats and others frcmasons, and yet all
must have seen and consented 10 the fraud.
The last inquest was held only few days
before the election. No other questions
entered into the canvass. The excite
meut was greater than / had previously
or have since witnessed.
ORIGIN OF THE "GOOD ENOUGH STORY.
A few evenings before the election /
went into billiard saloon 20 see my friend
Gustavvus Clark. A number of gentle
nezer Griffin, who, as counsel for several
persons indicted for the abduction Of Nor
gan, had conducted the inquest at Bata-
via. As 1 was leaving the room Mr..
Griffin said, "Well, Weed, what are you
going to do for a Morgan now:" re-
piled, as l was closing the door, ''That l.
a good enough Morgan until YOU bring
back the one You carried away" This
remark was reproduced in the Rochester
Daily Advertiser, with an apparently
slight but most important variation, in
stead of what l did in fact say. l was
represented as saying, 'That is a good
enough Morgan until after the election"
What | did say in reply to Mr. Gri1in's
question was a proper and harmless res
pOnse, while what l was enormously ac-
cused of saying was highly discreditable,
and hae subjected me, at home and abroad,
for nearly fifty years TO reproach and OBJ
lOquy.