Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-12-04
A vermont Morgan Mystery.

Il
From the Springfield Mass Republican.
Speak to a gray-haired yermonter about the
masonic times" and you touch the greatest
political excitement of his life. Some OF the
wing campaigns saw more noise while in the
anti-slavery struggle there was the great depth
of purpose, but in heat and bitterness nothing
since political parties existed has equaled the
contests following the Morgan abduction.
belief that the great secret society was acting in
public affairs to manage government, protect
criminals and what not, caused the forming of
distinct nti-Masonic party, to which members
of the order and outsiders who held a contrary
opinion-these last dersively called '.jack-
masons'-were opposed and the fight became
so hot that all other political questions were
quite lost sight of. audit could almost be said that
every man hated personally each individual on
the other side. And at this time there was q
local mystery" only less remarkable in its de-
veiopment than the one in which Thurlow Weed
was SO much interested, and curious CHAPTER
in political history it makes. The story has
never been fully told since the occurrences. and
is now worth recalling.
Joseph Burnham. a middle-aged farmer Of the
| town OF Woodstock, was convicted of rape two
or three years before Morgan's disappearsncc
and sentenced to term in the state prison at
Windsor. The woman who made the Charge
had bad character, many believed the man
| innocent. and strong effort was made to get
him pardoned, headed by his son George who
lived in New York city; but while this work
was in progress. October Is. 1926. Burnham
died in prison. His body was delivered to the
son. George two days later. and by him
taken to Woodstock and buried. There is no
doubt that these are the facts. But soon after
the death there came a rumOr that man named
Lyman Mower who once lived in Woodstock
and knew Burnham there had seen him in New
York city, alive and well, going by
the name of Patrick Dolon. The mat
ter attracted very little attention until the rs-
ing of the excitement following Morgan's disap-
pearance two or three years later, when the old
story came up in most unaccOuntable way as a
Masonic outrage. Burnham was a Mason the
superintendent of the prison. the physician i'm
charge and some other officers. as well as George
the son. were MasOnS. and tie belief gained
ground that the prisoner had teigned death and
oeen allowed to escape by the prison officials.
while the body Ofsoms other person was buried by
his friends as blind. And in the popular excite
ment of the time this matter assumed a degree
OF Importance which now seems incredible in
view OF the slender evidence upon which
the case rested - the reported statement
OF Mower, who was known to be
an unreliable man. The story, however
grew and grew until in the summer of 1929 it
was taken up 10y the newspapers and a Journal
istlc war ensued. the like OF which was never
seen in Vermont before or since. In the midst
of this Mower published an affidavit setting forth
that he saw Burnham in New York in the fall of
1926. and that in 1928 he had met and
talked with him often A man named Cutter
also made affidavit that he saw Burnham in
New York in July of the current year. and these
statements, with whispers of some impending
deVelopments about the prison. fairly created
popular fury. In October the Woodstock Sc
lectmen ordered tine disinterment of Burn
hams remains for Identification The BODY
was eXhumed, but could not be identified
with certainty. and few days later the
operation was repeated in the presence Of a
large crowd. but with no better result But at
the same time the matter was taken to the Iey;s-
lature. as the conduct Of state officers was in
volved. and then the truth was established. A
legislative committee went to New York and
offered Mower $500 if he would produce Burn
nam In Vermont, and guaranteed Il pardon fCr
the latter. Thereupon the whole thing fell
through. Patrick Dolon was found and it
seemed that Mower had known him perfectly
well for several years and could not possibly
nave been mistaken. as re then said he was
The most probable explanation, of the whole
matter is that some resemblance which DoIan
bore to Burnham led Mower to make thought
less remark. which was magnified i'm going to
Vermont. that as the excitement rose he lied
deliberately from love of mischief and notoricty.
and that Cutter did the same. The committees
report was ordered published in the news
papers. and the controversy died out. but still
SO many stories had been circulated and such an
| issue made Of the matter that to this day many
peISOHS DeileVe tltdt 10 Bufnnatn was let out OF
prison alive 10y wicked fellow Masons
And the curious political drama was followed
van equally strange farce. In the course of
Masonic eXulting sneering illusions to the 40
Burnham tragedy were heard upon every hand
and last Woodstock newspaper published Il
prospectus of a book On the subject The an
nouncement was intended merely as sarcastic
squlb but it was taken literally, and orders for
the book began to come to the newspaper office.
Then the editor. an eccentric genius named
Kendall. undertook to produce something to
fill the demand, and the result was little vol
ume called 1.-THE Doleful Tragedy Of the Raising
ofJo Burnham. in which hurlesque upon blank
| verse was kept in cOuntenance by wood-cuts
such as the world never saw before. The char
acters, as well as the story. were taken from
life. and the thing was given point by the fact
that several ofthem-m iddle-aged. sober citizens,
| and one, S. c. Loveland, of Reading. Univer-
| salst mnster-had travelled about the state
| rousing the ''anti heart by giving dramatic
representations OF Masonic ceremonies More
! over, a stroling theatrical company happening
along soon after the publication appeared. $40
Burnham' was put on the boards: some of the
leading characters were studied in their daily
walk by the play-actors and reproduced. and
the most ridiculous of all stage performances
finally produced had a run never equa!Ied in
Vermont