William Morgan was born in 1774 in Virginia. He disappeared less than a month after registering for copyright of his book exposing Mason secrets titled: ![[WWW]](https://rocwiki.org/wiki/eggheadbeta/img/sycamore-www.png){kind=small}
Illustrations of Masonry. He was arrested September 11, 1826 on weak charges that could not be held against him, released, and then immediately arrested later the same day for minor debt. After his debt had been paid September 12, 1826 he stepped out from jail to the streets of Canandaigua to find himself surrounded by ominous figures. A scuffle ensued, and Morgan's last words "Murder!" rang out through the street. No one came to his aid. He was pushed into a carriage and was last seen in Fort Niagara, west of Rochester. He is presumed to have met his demise soon afterward.
This event served as the catalyst leading to the rise of widespread antimasonry action and sentiment, and in turn the founding of our Anti-Masonic Enquirer.
A small footnote: The Antimasons in 1832 became the first political party to conduct a presidential convention. The Antimason leadership soon aligned with the Republicans, and their political clout declined quickly.
