Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-12-08
A PARALLEL MORGAN MYSTERY
4 Singular Case in the Early History of
Vermont.
,ingfeld { Mass. J Republican.

Speak to gray-haired Vermonter abou
the ssMasonic 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 great depth Of purpose, but in
heat and bitterness nothing since political
parties existed has equalled the contests
following the Morgan abduction. A be-
lief that the great secret society was act
ing in public affairs, to manage go7srn--
ment, protect criminals and what not,
caused the forming Of a distinct anti
Masonic party, to which members of the
order and outsiders who held contrary
last derisively called jack
Masons-were opposed, and the fight becai1ie
SO not that all other political questions
WIRE quite lost sight of, and it could al
most be said that every man hated person
ally each individual on the other side. And
at this time there was local 'mystery,''
only less remarkable in its development
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 occur
rences, and is now worth recalling.
Joseph Burnham, a middle-aged farmer
of the town of Woodstock, was convicted
SI rape two or three years before Morgan's
disappearance, and sentenced to term in
the state prison at Windsor. The woman
who made the charge had bad character.
many belieued the man innocent, and g.
strong effort was made to get him pardon
ed, headed by his son George, who lived in
New York city; but while this work
was in progress, Oct. Is, 1926, Burnham
died in prison. His body was delivered to.
the son, George, two days later. and by him
taken to Woodstock and buries. 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 Burn
ham there, had seen him in New York city,
alive and we'll, going By the name of Pat
rick DolOn. The matter attracted very lit
tie attention until the rising of the excite
ment following Morgan5 disappearance
two Or three years later, when the old story
came up in a most unaccountable way as 9.
| Masonic outrage. Burnham was mason,
| the superintendent of the prison. the ply
sivian in charge and some other officers, as
well as George, the son, were masons, and
| the belief gained ground that the
prisoner had feigned death and been al
lowed to escape by the prison officials,
while the body Of some other person YVES
| buried by his friends as blind. And In
| the popular excitement of the time this,
| matter assumed q 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 shown to be an unreliable man.
The story, however, grew and grew until in
| the summer Of 1929 it was taken up by the
| newspapers and journalistic war ensued,
| the like of which was never seen in Yer
| mont before or since. In the midst of this
Mower published an affidavit setting forth
| that he saw Durham 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
Durham in New York in July of
| the current year, and these statements,
with whispers of some impending
developments about the prison fairly Gre
ated public fury. In October the Wood
stock selectmen ordered the disinterment
of Burnhams remains for Identification.
| The body was exhumed, but could not be
| identified with certainty, and a few days
later the operation was repeated IN the
presence of a large crowd, but with no bet
ter result. But at the same time the mat
| ter was taken to the legislature, as the
! conduct of state officers was involved, and
! then the truth was established. legisla-
| tive committee went to New York, ard Of
fered Mower $500 if he would produce
Burnham in Vermont, and guaranteed
pardon for the latter. Thereupon the
Exul, Ola faH
was found, aud it seemed that Mower had
known him perfectly we'll for several
years, and could not possibly have been
mistaken as he then said he was. The
most probable explanation of the whole
matter is that some resemblance which
Dolan bore to Durham led Mower to-
make thoughtless remark, which was
magnifed in going to Vermont, that as
the excitement rose he lied deliberately
from love of mischief and nOtoriety, 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 persons believe that 10
Burnham wss let out of prison alive by
wicked fellow-Masons.
And the curious political drama was fol-
lowed by an equally strange farce. In the
course of Masonic exulting, sneering al
lusions to the $40 Burnham tragedy" were
heard on every hand, and last Woodstock
newspaper published the prospectus of a
book on the subject. The announcement
was intended merely as sarcastic squib,
but it was taken literally,
and orders for the book be-
gan 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 lit
tie volume called ''The Doleful Tragedy
of the Raising of 10 Burnham," in which
burlesque upon blank verse was kept in
countenance by wood cuts such as the
world never saw before. The characters,
as we'll as the story, we're taken from life,
| and the thing was given point by the fact
| that several of them-middle-ag sober
citizens, and one, S. c. Loveland, of Read
ing, Universalist minister-had Travelled
| about the state rousing the 'anti" heart by
giving dramatic representations of Masonic
| ceremonies. Moreover, strolling theat-
rical company happening along soon after
the publication appeared, $40 Burnham's
was put on the boards; some OF the lead
ing characters were studied in their daily
walk by the play actors and reproduced,
and the most ridiculous Of all stage perS