Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1875-09-24
THE MORGANa MYSTERY.
Alleged Confession of One Of the Muir.
derers Of the Masonic Apostate,

Thurlow Weed, assuming to throw
new light upon the Morgan Masonic
mystery, but which contains no facts
new to the public, has caused the re-
publication of the confession of
Henry L. Valance, who died in ls48,
accusing himself of the murder of
Morgan. This was published in n
pamphlet at the time, entitled, "Con-
fession of the Murder of William
Morgan, as taken down by DR.. John
l.. Emery, Of Racine county Wis,
in the summer of 1S4s, and now
Qs49) first given to the public" and
sets out as follows:
"My last hour is approaching; and
as the things of this world fade from
my mental sight, feel the necessity
OF making, as far as lies in my power
lies, that atonement which every vio-
lator of the great law of right owes
to his fellow men. l allude to the alb
duction and murder Of the ill-fated
William Morgan" He here proceeds
with an interesting narrative of the
proceedings of the fraternity in refer
ence to Morgan while he was incar-
cerated in the magazine of Fort
Niagara. The confessor continued:
"Many plans were proposed and dis
cussed and rejected. 1t was finally
agreed by council Of eight that he
must die; must be consigned to Il
confinement from which there is no
possibility of escape-the graye.-
Eight pieces of paper were procured,
five Of which were to remain blank,
while the letter 'D' was written on
the others. These pieces of paper
were placed in a large urn, from
which each man was to draw one at
the same moment.
"Atter drawing we were all to sep
arate, without looking at the paper
that each held in his hand. SO soon
as we had arrived at certain dis
tance from the place of rendezvous
the tickets were to be examined, and
those who held the blanks were to
return instantly to their homes, and
those who should hold marked tick
cts proceed to the fort at midnight,
and there put Morgan to death in
such a manner as should seem to
themselves most fitting" Mr.. Val
ance was one of the three that drew
the fatal letter ID. He then returned
Immediately to the fort, where he
was joined by the other two, who
had likewise drawn the death tickets.
arrangements were Immediately
made to sink him in the Niagara
river with weights, in hopes that he
and our crime alike would thus be
buried beneath the waves. While
my comrades were to procure a boat,
it was my lot to 90 to the tort where
Morgan was confined, and announce
to him his fate. Morgan, on beng
informed of the proceedings against
him, and what they intended to do
with him, demanded by what author
ity they had condemned him, and
who were his judges. He commenced
wringing his hands and talking of
his wife and children, the recollection
of whom in that awful hour terribly
affected me. HIS wife, he said, was
young and inexperienced; and his
children were but infants. What
would become of them were he to be
cut off, and they even ignorant of his
fate? Morgan was told that his re-
monstrances were idle; that he must
die, and that, too, before the morning
light. lie continued to plead most
piteously for his life on behalf of his
family. My comrades had in the
meantime returned, saying they had
procured Il boat On consultation,
we concluded to give him half an
hour to prepare for his inevitable fate.
For this, we retired from the maga-
zine and left him. How Morgan
passed the time, l cannot tell, but it
was quiet as the tomb within. At
the expiration of the time we entered
the magazine, laid hold of Morgan,
bound his hands behind him, placed
a gag in his mouth, and led him
forth. a short time brought us to
the boat, and we entered it, Morgan
being placed in the bow, with myself
along side of him. My comrades
took the oars, and the boat was rapid
ly forced out into the river. The
night was pitch dark - we could
scarcely see u rod before us-and
therefore was the time admirably
adapted to our hellish purpose. Hav-
ing reached proper distance from the
shore, our Oarsmen ceaced their Ia
bors The weights were secured to-
gether by strong cord, and another
cord OF equal strength, and of several
yards in length, proceeded from that.
This cord | took in my own hand and
fastened it around the body of Nor
gan, just above his hips, using all my
skill to make it fast, so that it would
be sure to hold. Then in whisper
bade the unhappy man to stand up,
and after moments hesitation he
complied with my order. He stood
close to the heal of the boat, and
there was just length enough Of rope
from his person to the weights to
prevent any strain while he was stand
ing. | then requested one of my AS
sociates to assist III lifting the weights
from the bottom to the side of the
boat, while the other steadied her from
the stern. This was done, and, as
Morgan was standing with his back
toward me, | approached him and
gave him strong push with both my
hands, which were placed in the mid
die of his back. He fell forward,
carrying the weights with him, and
the waters closed over the mass. We
quiet for two or three min
utes, when my companions, without
saying Il word, resumed their places,
and rowed the boat to the place from
which they had taken it."
AN Assistant Conductors Wife.
Ashtabula News.
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