Mason's, Aliens, Templars and a cup o Tea....................: Democrat & Chronicle: Local News

Democrat & Chronicle: Local News: "September 12, 2005) — CANANDAIGUA — The mysterious disappearance of mob-linked union leader Jimmy Hoffa in 1975 continues to baffle authorities and inspire conspiracy theories.

But Hoffa's disappearance 30 years ago is a relatively recent event compared with the strange case of William Morgan, who vanished — like Hoffa, without a trace — after being bailed out of jail in Canandaigua by members of a local Masonic lodge 179 years ago today, Sept. 12, 1826.

The story of Morgan's disappearance 'remains touchy stuff — to this day,' said Kathleen Kutolowski, chairwoman of the history department at the State University College at Brockport. She will lecture Sept. 22 at the Ontario County Historical Society on the role of Freemasonry in Morgan's mysterious abduction and disappearance.

Morgan's abduction gave rise to the nation's first-ever third political party — the Antimasons — and ultimately reshaped the U.S. political landscape.

'The American public came to feel that the incident — and resulting feckless efforts to prosecute Morgan's suspected killers — was part of a widespread conspiracy to thwart justice, in the same way that some people viewed the Watergate incident as a high-level cover-up and denial of justice,' she said.

According to historical accounts based on police and news reports of the era, Morgan was targeted by the secret society — whose members included such U.S. heroes as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin — when he conspired with a Batavia newspaper publisher, David Miller, to publish a book describing the Masons' clandestine rituals, signs and signals.

In a misguided effort to derail the book, Miller's printing shop was set ablaze and Morgan was arrested on Sept. 11, 1826, after being falsely charged with stealing a collar and tie from a prominent Masonic merchant.

Although the theft charge was dismissed, he was ordered held at the Ontario Count"

Posted @ 9/13/2005 06:42:24 PM ( 0 comments )

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