The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-08-26
THE MORGAN PROBLEM.
TWO FRESH SOLUTIONS

AND LIVED THE LIFE OF A HERMIT I,
Q MAINE.
: Now comes one a. p. Rogers and writes
from Anoka, Mimi, to the st. Paul Pioneer
Press as s5ollows:-P,Thaps can throw NOR.
light upon the fate of Morgan than any othel
person living. Prior TO 1926, the time Of hi.
, disappears1ce, my father, then a young man
formed his acquaintance, and knew him
well. IN the year l627 or 1923 my father
went eastward as far as Great Falls, N. III
where ne remained = few years. here he
married, and here he experienced religion
and united with the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Feeling deei' love for the cause
he had so lately eSpousedl he determined to
devote the remainder OF his life
to the GAUGE OF Christ and humsnity. With
this Object IN view, he entered the minis
try, and started as a missionary for the
wilds OF aorthern Maine, which then was
just being opened up to civilization. ar
locate there and enter at once upon his
| work; and here he resided for number OF
years. In I844 he went still farther north,
and settled at Port Fairfield. This part OF
Maine was then an unbroker' Wilderness
save a few struggling settlements that
twere many miles apart. In these
missionary labors he visited these
settlements from Sabbath to Sabbath.
| pom one OF these Iouoes that g treveied
| through the forest, guided only by thetrees
solitary cabin with but a lonely Occupant, a
| man well advanced in years. The cabin as
well as the little clearing around it showed
marks of age, and led one 10 the conclusion
| thatits occupant mad long been a deni5en
| of these wilds. With this strange Old nan
| my .sther often tarried and passed many
pleasant hours while resting
his weary limbs. Not only
TH8 HERMIT,
but the cabin excited his wonder and aston
ishment, being buils in a very unique man.
ner and constructed without she use of nailc
or anything else save what he could procure
from the forests. In conversation with this
strange creature the conviction gradually
forced itself upon my father that he had seen
hi.n before-but when and where Those
questions he could not answer at once but the
truth finally flashed upon him that this
lonely old man was none other than the
friend of his early years., William Morgan.
With thi3truth pressing upon him he re-
solved to keep it secret for a while until
he should make himself doubly sure of the
| fact by watching him closely and by tracing
| the resemblance, if any. existed between
| this old man and young Morgan. Thus with
the hermit all unaware that his true
identity was suspected by any one,
| my father watched and. studied him
until he had not a shadow of doubt but what
this was the veritable William Morgan who,
it was alleged, the Masons had murdered so
many years before. Upon making inquiry
in the settlements of those who came there
first, trey stated that they knew nothing
about him oEly this, that when they came,
still be was there. He told some of his dis
covery, which soon reached the ears OF the
hermit, when he silently and un-
known to any enc, departed in
where, but doubtless to seek anew some SO.
cluded spot where he could remain in soli-
tude undisturbed by his brother man. When
William Morgan was abducted by his
brother mssons and carried to Fort Nj
agars, he doubtless escaped from their
| hands, and fearing that his life would pay
| the forfeit fox mis- dastardly outrage against
! the masonic fraternity If seen again by one
of their number, ne fled hereto the bound
less forests Of northern Maine. And here
he had lived.
ALL THESE YEtaas,
his only companions the bros of the air and
the wild beasts OF the forest. His wants
| that he could not supply from the soil and
! from the game that is abundant in those
parts were probably met by visiting the
settlements of the French rstugees upon the
st. Johns river. The lite that he led mere
must have, indeed, been a singular
4 and lonely one= and doubt
less the first years OF his life were
| 10ll OF l0IrOT, Oh I6dT anu OlSqtll6-
tude. At the rustic of every leaf and the
breaking Of every twig he would fancy an
assassin was creeping upon him to strike him
down, but as the years stole by this feeling
| would give way TO one OF greater security
and safety. TIL at last, like Selkirk, he would
veyed." My father died in 1857,
but the foregoing facts were
received at the time from his
own lips, and they can be relied upon as
being strictly true. He knew this hermit to
| be William Morgan, and this is conclusive
evidence to me that Morgan was not MUIR
dered by the Masons, but that he led long
exile life. and that if he is now dead, he has
died natural death. But some may ask
if this be true, why was it not made public
At that time there was no paper
| published nearer my father than
| one hundred and fifty miles, and reporters
were not quite so thick in these forests as
the mosquitoes were, and my father not be-
| ing a newspaper correspondent, it is easy to
perceive why it did not find its way into
public print. decided a number of years
ago to make these facts public when any
thing occurred to call them out, and as this
seems to be proper time, send them forth
to your readers and to the world.
STILL ANOTHER THEORY.
The Troy Times says editorislly: The
letters OF Thurlow Weed respecting the tate
of William Morgan. which we published
last week, have brought outa very inter-
esting statement from Captain Samuel /.
Masters in relation to the same subject.
| Captain Masters is firmly of the opinion
that he, met Morgan in Smyrna in Asia
Minor is 1880, and he mentions some COR
roborating circumstances which go very tar
to sustain his view as TO MorgaA's where
sbouts in that year. The perfect resent
ulance of the man he met there
with printed description of Morgan, even
TO the double teeth in front, is a very strong
point in favor of Capt. Masters theory. It
IS almost idle at this late day to speculate
upon the manner OF Morgans disappearance,
or what became of him subsequently. Mr..
Weeds letters are far from satisfactory in
relation TO the matter. 1t is much more