The Morgan Affair has continued to plague Freemasonry for two centuries. In 1826, a man named William Morgan showed up in Batavia, New York, and became a part of the Masonic community. He was probably not a Freemason, but worked his way into the Craft when a friend vouched for him. He was subsequently initiated into a chapter of Royal Arch Masonry in LeRoy, New York.
When the Brothers in Batavia applied for a Royal Arch Chapter charter in their community, Morgan's name was on the list of petitioners. This would have automatically made him a member of the new chapter. By this time Morgan had developed a reputation as being a heavy drinker, a man who could not handle his finances, and local Masons were beginning to doubt he had ever been initiated as a member of the fraternity. Morgan had also become involved in a dispute with another Brother who was well-known and powerful. The locals disapproved of Morgan's handling of that conflict.
Questioning Morgan's character, the Batavia Brothers drew up a new petition for a charter, leaving Morgan's name off. When the charter was granted, the Batavia Royal Arch chapter denied him membership or visitation rights.
With the troubles he had been having with the Batavia Brothers, Morgan had been contemplating turning against them and writing a book which would reveal the secrets of the order. He may have even started writing it by that time, but if not, the incident with the local Royal Arch chapter was the last straw. Morgan fervently went to work on the exposé,
Word got around town, probably due to Morgan's alcohol-fueled bragging, about what he was doing. This irritated the Masons. So what do you do when you're irritated? Well, what else? You raid Morgan's home, illegally confiscate his documents, set his partner's business on fire, kidnap, imprison, and maybe even kill the guy… Then cry in your beer when the book gets published anyway.*
Now, some thought that might be an overreaction, but that's what they did; and the furor over what happened to Morgan has been, like the sword of Damocles, hanging over the Masons for two centuries.
But many people – perhaps too many – already know that story. So, that's not really what I wanted to talk about. What I want to talk about is DeWitt Clinton.
At the time all this happened, DeWitt Clinton was Governor of New York. He was also the General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. He was a powerful guy, and was very well aware of the shenanigans going on in Batavia.
A Mason by the name of Robert Martin set out to deliver Morgan's papers to the General Grand Chapter. When he arrived, Clinton was not there. Martin met with a committee acting under Clinton's direction. It was chaired by Samuel Knapp of Massachusetts.
Martin handed over all of Morgan's documents, but Knapp shoved them right back at him. Under Clinton's authority, he told Martin. "You will return these papers to their rightful owner."
When Martin told Knapp that person was in prison for debt, Knapp instructed him to raise the money from the fraternity, pay Morgan's debts in order to free him, and return the papers to him. Those orders were ignored, Morgan disappeared, and the Masonic fraternity has suffered for it ever since.
Imagine, if you will, that Clinton and Knapp's orders had been obeyed. Morgan would have published his book Рwhich was eventually published anyway. The book, for a while, would have caused a stir and then faded into history like all of the other Masonic expos̩s of the time. The anti-Masonic movement would have been denied the turbo-charged boost of the Morgan Affair, and today, William Morgan might not even be a footnote in Masonic history.
DeWitt Clinton's orders were a very Masonic response which, if followed, would have mitigated the whole volatile situation. Freemasons are admonished to learn to subdue their passions and improve themselves in Freemasonry. Clinton had learned that. Knapp had learned that. Others had not.
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*"...his abduction was spoken of as having defeated the publication ; and we believe they [the Masons], in general, supposed that its suppression was accomplished ; and were extremely mortified and disappointed when it made its appearance." (Narrative of the Facts and Circumstances Relating to the Kidnapping and Presumed Murder of William Morgan, 1828)
