Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-11-28
THURLOW WEED
And the W~saiam Morgan Abduction
What the Veteran Journalist Knew
OF SSeRsatiOn which
Created Great Excitement in Masonic
Circles Fifty-Six Years AgO-Inter-
esting "reminiscences.

NEW HoRK, November 27.-The Buffalo
Express, OF Monday morning, publishes let
ter OF the late Thurlow Weed, under date of
New York, September 9, 1882, and attested
py Spencer L. D0ty, a notary public OF this
city, IS that OF 1hurloH Weed. The letter
was in answer 10 an invitation TO stlend the
unveillng OF the monument of Capt. VIM.
Morgan, and is thus prefaced BY the Express:
"The following letter, dictated by the lac
Tnuriow Weed but short time before his
death, contains his sworn statement of his
knowledge concerning the abduction and
alleged murder of William Morgan, most
interesting chapter in relation 10 the sensa-
tienal events which 10 their time caused SO
great social and political convulsion"
Weed begins by saying: ''The occasion Is
one that recalls event OF startling inter-
est, arousing deep popular feeling,
first at Batavia, Leroy, Canandaigua
and Rochester, then pervading our
proceedings of the meeting at Batavis, with
the Hon. David E. Evans as presiding Off
Ger, L wrote six-line paragraph for the
Rochester Telegraph, in which l stated that
citizen of Batavia had been spirited away
from his home and family, and after
mysterious absence Tor several DAYS
a village meeting had been held and a
committee of citizens appointed 10
investigate the matter, adding that
as 1t was known that the Freemasons were
concerned in this abduction, it behooved the
fraternity, whose good name was suffering,
to take labor1ng oar in restoring the lost
man to his liberty. That paragraph brought
dozens OF our most influential citizens
greatly excited, to our office, the stopping OF
the paper and ordering the disconlinuance
OF their advertisements. / inquired of my
partner, Robert Martin, what be had done
to exasperate so many Of our frien5s. He
brought me bookapd directed my attention
to an obligation making a severe penalty as
punishment for disclosing the secrets OF Ma
sons, inquiriug what thought of man who,
after taking ssseh an obligation, violated it.
l replied that L did not know auy punish
ment too severe for such perjurer. The
discontinuance of the paper embraced SO
large number OF its patrons that saw that
my brief and, As supposed, very harmless
paragraph would ruin the establish ment.
Unwilling that my partner should SUI
Ter, promptly withdrew, leaving the
establishment in the hands OF Mr.. Mar
tin. The paper was doing well,
and until that paragraph appeared my
business future was all could desire At
that time an editor was wanted at Utica,
where l had formerly worked, and where /
had many friends; but my offer 10 go there
was declined. l was equally unfortunate in
my application Tor editorial employment at
Troy. The objection in both cases was that
had been too busy in getting up excitement
about Morgan"
He closes thus: 81 now lock back through
the interval of ffiy-six years with con-
scious sense Of having been governed,
through the '4nti-M asonic' excitement, by
sincere desire. first, to vindicate the VIC
lated laws Of my country, and next, TO arrest
the great power and dangerous influence of
secret societies. We Iabored under a
number of serious disadvantages. The
people were not willing TO believe
that an institution so ancient, to which many
of our best and most distinguished men be-
lonsed, WAS capable, not only of violating the
laws, but of sustaining and protecting the
offending men of The order. A vast majority
OF the American people believed that Nor
gan was concealed By our commit
tee for political effect while we
we're haine-s- f-ro.ly denounced as
iucendiary spirits. Judge Eios T. Throop,
in charging the grand jury at CauandaiguI ;,
spoke of anti Masonry a blessed spirit, a
spirit which he hoped would not rest until
every man implicated 10 the abduction of
Morgan was tried, convicted and punished"