Year: 1875

which she described with singular nc
curacy every rent and patch found i'm


each garment. She indicated buttons


she had sewed on the pantaloons TO re-


place those which did not match the 9th
ers. She also described one stocking
that had been darned with yarn of a


different color. In word, her descrip-
ton of the clothing was so accurate IN


every particular as to leave no doubt that


each article had been under her special


care. But, wonderfully accurate as she


had been on this point, she was most


strangely wrong in her description OF


the body, Monroe being at least three


inches taller than the corpse. She de-


scribed her husbands hair and whiskers


as coarse and black, adding that his hair


had been cut quite short few days be-


fore he was drowned, while that upon


the head of the deceased was long, silky
and of a chestnut color. Monroe's son


confirmed his mothers testimony re-


lating both to the clothes and the body.


No attempt was made to impeach either,
nor was there any doubt that Monroe
had been drowned, as alleged. 1t was
difficult to reconcile these conflicting
statements. Mrs. Monroe was as clearly
right about the clothes as she was wrong
about the body found in them.


The third inquest resulted in finding
that the body previously adjudged to be
Morgan's was that of Timothy Monroe.
There were other circumstances connect
ed with the disappearance of both Nor
gan and Monroe, assuming that both had
been drowned in Lake Ontario, calcu-
lated to complicate the questions of
identity. The body was found at Oak
Orchard creek, full year after Morgan's
disappearance of course it could not
have been drifting about that length of
time. 1t was known, however, that
Morgan was weighed heavily when
thrown into the lake and, two months
before that body was found, the mouth
of the river and that part of the lake
where was supposed TO have been thrown
overheard had been thoroughly raked.
In this way it was supposed that the
body was released from its weight, risen
to the surface and drifted to Oak Or
chard creek. Monroe was drowned on
the 25th or 9th of September. The
body at Oak Orchard creek was found on
the 9Th day of October, leaving but
eleven or twelve days to drift distance
IL
was understood that drowned persons
remain several days under water. 1t
was ascertainedby meteorological records
that, during the interval between Mon
roe's death and the finding of the body
at Oak Orchard creek, the wind blew
most of the time up the lake. Now, as
there is no current in Lake Ontario, and
as objects float with rather than against
the wind, it seemed improbable that the
body found should be that of Monroe
while, on the other hand, it SCENE
equally improbable that man drowned
III the latter part of September, 1926,
could have been found in tolerable
state of preservation in October, 1897.
So that there were irreconcilable facts
and circumstances connected with this
strange history.


Mrs. Morgan and the intimate friends
of Morgan described marks upon his
person before seeing that body, which
left no doubt in the minds of all present
that it was the remains of her husband.
Strangely enough, however, she repudi-
ated every article of clothing found up
on the body And yet Mrs. Monroe,
who came from Canada, readily de
scribed every article, garment after gar
ment, with minute and startling accura-
cy. While, therefore, up to the time
that Mrs. Monroe appeared, there were
no grounds for discrediting the correct
ness of the second inquest, yet after the
third inquest had been held at Batavia
there was n strong reaction in public
opinion. Although the gentlemen asso-
ciated with me III the investigation
were still strongly OF the opinion that
the body was that of William Morgan,
my own previously clear and strong
convictions were good deal disturbed.
Nor can | now, after nearly fifty years
anxious inquiry and reflection, say That
| am satisfied that it was or was not the
body of William Morgan.


The discrepancies about hair and beard
between Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Monroe,
after the conclusion of the third or Ba-
tavia inquest, induced those vino claimed
the body TO be that of Timothy Monroe
to say that the hair was pulled out and
the whiskers shaven off TO make 1t re-
semble Morgan. That could only have
been done in the presence of, between
sixty and seventy persons, some of whom
were Democrats and others Freemasons,
and yet all must have seen and consent
ed to the fraud. The last inquest was
held only few days before the election.
No other question entered into the can
vass The excitement was greater than
/ had previously or have since witnessed.
.TArlo,O Weed, ip NeaO York Herald.