Masonic Hit Squads Part II: The 1826 Morgan/Miller Affair (377)
In part two, Travis takes us back in time to Western New York State during the beginning of the Jacksonian era.
The plans of 50-year-old William Morgan to publish Masonic secrets turned into one of America’s first nationwide true-crime media frenzies. After Morgan and printer David C. Miller threatened to expose the inner workings of Freemasonry, local Masons responded with lawsuits, surveillance, sabotage, armed mobs, bogus warrants, arson attempts, kidnapping, and possibly Morgan’s murder in the Niagara River.
This episode follows the story from Batavia taverns and print shops to the Ontario County jail, the road to Rochester, the failed Canadian handoff, and the grim stone powder magazine at Old Fort Niagara where Morgan was last known to be held. We also dig into the forgotten role of David C. Miller, the “Masonic spy” Daniel Johns, the propaganda war between Masons and Anti-Masons, and how the scandal helped create the first major third party in American politics.
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The Hoop Pole Knights
Abridged version of a 19th Century Anti-Masonic Song
Some poets sing in epic strains,
Of warriors and their fates,
And some that rise and some that fall,
Of kingdoms and of states;
But hark ! the while in loftier song,
And more sublimely grand,
I sing to all the listening world
The brave Masonic Band.
The world was still, and wonders rare,
Save now and then a dream
Of railroads, and of side canals,
And guns that go by steam;
When Morgan swore a mighty oath,
In spite of friends or foes,
That he, for cash or conscience' sake,
Would Masonry disclose
And Miller swore to print the tale,
And spread it far and near,
That all the blind on earth might see,
And all the deaf might hear;
That from the greatest to the least,
By Scripture rule, forsooth,
That all should come to knowledge of
The hidden light of truth.
Then hell broke loose, and all the host
Of Masons circled round,
To kidnap both, destroy the book,
Or burn Batavia down;
And fury seized on many a brain,
And vengeance seemed to start,
In room of Love and Charity,
From many a Mason's heart.
And then the General Hoop-pole Knight,
Renowned for chivalry,
Began to feel that feather grow,
Called popularity ;
And how if he succeeded well
By prowess in the fight,
That he should be a Senator,
As well as leading Knight:
"And cried, ' Arise my friends, arise !
With pistols, swords, and dirks,
Hoop-poles and knives, and cudgels strong,
Prepared for bloody works;
Without regard to powers that be,
Or laws that men devise,
On Miller, seize, and seize the book--
Succeed, or sacrifice.'
On foot, on horse, in wagons stored,
They marched ten miles or more,
To guard their victim of revenge,
And triumph in his gore;
The while the people rose in strength,
With blood at boiling heat,
And sent him back to printing books,
And made the band retreat.
Nay, since the days of Don Quixote,
When windmills were his foe,
There has not been a scene like this,
Unless in shades below;
And even Don would laugh, and shake His sides till in distress,
Had he but seen the Yankee Knights
Attack a Printing Press.
