The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1900-10-03

when they killed Morgan, and cast him
into the Niagara river, changed his
garments, aud furnished the corpse
with some religious tracts as passports
to the other worldll' The body was
therefore declared to be the long los q,
and now found" William Morganl !
The body was re.interred in Batavia
with great pOmp and ceremony. The
funeral was attended by hundreds and
thousands of people. Election was ap-
preaching, and the funeral show was
not fastened too rapidly. A funeral
sermon was preached, and the body
once more committed to the earth with
curses not loud but deep against the
Masons. Showers of hand-bills and
addresses and "appeals" went forth in
clouds upon every breeze. The "still
small voice" of Reason aud Reflection
was drowned amid the universal din.
But the body that had been so re-
Gently, and with so much pomp and
circumstance Of woe re-interred, was
not suffered TO rest in its grave. An
advertisement appeared in Canadian
newspaper stating that in the month
of September laet-Lhat is TO say five or
six weeks before the last interment--a
man by the name of Timothy Muuroe,
of the town of Clark, Upper Canada
having gone in boat to Newark, (now
Niagara) was drowned in the Niagara
river, while on his return. A descrip.
ton Of his person, clothes, cravat, an d
the religious tracts in his pocket, at
once pointed to the body found at the
mouth of Oak Orchard Creek, as that
of this same Timothy Mu1roe; and
reward OF 300 was offered for lis re-
covery. The widow and grown-up son
of Munroe now appeared upon the
scene, accompanied by a friend who
knew her deceased husband. Mrs.
Munroe was examined by the Lewis
/ ton committee as to the clothes that
had been found upon the body, and
here, again, there could be no mistake.
The garments were all those OF her
observation-disclosures which he had on when
he was upset in his boat; and the tracts
had been seen in his possession at
Newark, (Niagara), on the day he dis
appeared. The color. the cloth. the
flannel ehirt, which Morgan had not,
the cut OF the garments, and the par
ticular darning of the stockings were
all accurately and infinitely described
and marks referred to which bad not
been detected by the Auti-Masonic
committee, that made the new identi-
fication certain. The son had pur-
chased the cloth for the pantaloons, and
the widow had cut and made them.
The pattern being scant, part of the
legs had been eked out with another
piece of cloth.
Mrs. Munroe, then proceeded to Ba-
tavia, where the corrupting spectacle
was once more torn from the embrace
of its mother earth, and third coron-
er's inquest held upon it. Another ex-
animation WAS made, in which many of
the former resemblances between this
body and Morgan were not now dis
covered. 1t was found that the teeth
were not "double all round" in front,
as was the case with Morgan's, and five
had been extracted from the body,
whereas Morgan had lost but too In
short, it now appeared, without doubt
or cavil, that the body was that of TIM
oTHY MUNRoE, late OF Upper Canada
1t was about this time that VIM. H.
Seward, Cor Thurlow WeedP), made the
historic remark which has since passed
into proverb. He was riding in q
stage coach, when the question, "was
it Morgan's body?" was being discuss
ed. On being asked his opinion Sew.
ard, Cor Weed?, replied, 81 guess It's
good enough Morgan till after cleo
tionW
For six years and more, as l have
said, the Anti Masonic tempest rageC
with almost undated fury. Lodges
gave up their charters, or ceased tC
meet from motives of prudence or poll
cy. In some localities it was not safe
to be known as an adhering Mason
and in more than one State Mason
could not be elected to office, or si
upon jury. Masonic clergymen were
driven from their pulpits. In a word
throughout the Anti-Masonic district
it required almost as much courage tC
avow ones self Mason, as it did tC
profess faith in Christianity during the
prosecutions of the frat three centu
ries.
But, at last, the storm spent it's force
The clouds rolled back; the sun of Ma
sorry shone out with undimmed splen
dor; and today Masonic light is diff
fused through all lands. The men Of
this generation look back upon the
| Anti MaaOnic armada NJ 1909 % uitt