The Masonic Assassination of Captain Morgan
Type the words “Captain Morgan” into any search engine and you will find pages dedicated to ‘Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum‘before finding something to do with Captain William Morgan. This forgotten hero was one of the first to shed light on the inner workings of Masonic lodges by writing a book that exposes Masonic rituals. This book would end up costing him his life and would change the face of American politics for several years after his death.
The oath of a Freemason carries a harsh punishment for revealing the secrets of Freemasonry:
… have his throat slit, his tongue pulled out by the roots, and his body buried in the choppy sands of the sea, at the mark of low tide, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours.
Early life
Born in 1774 in Virginia, Captain Morgan claimed to have served in the military during a conflict between the United States and the British Empire in 1812 that lasted three years, however, there are doubts about this claim as there are no records that include a ‘Captain William Morgan’ From then on. When he was young, he was rightly accepted as an apprentice stonemason (also known as a Mason).
Captain Morgan and the Royal Arch Degree of Freemasonry
Captain Morgan received the Royal Arch Degree from the Western Star Chapter in 1825, however, as there are no records of his original entry into a Masonic Lodge as an entered apprentice, Masons have claimed that he was not actually a Mason. By their nature, Masonic Lodges should be free from prying ears, known to Masons as’cowans‘or snoopers. Morgan was said to have infiltrated a Masonic Lodge pressuring an associate to give him a guarantee for the purpose of spying on meetings.
Whether or not it is true, it is known that he regularly attended meetings and was an active member of the Fraternal Order. So there is no doubt that he would have had an inside perspective, observing, learning and listening to the Masonic rituals that were performed many times.
However, as time passed, suspicions began to mount to the point where the Masonic Lodge of Batavia rejected his membership in a new Royal Arch Chapter of the Lodge. Furious, Captain Morgan made it known publicly that he was preparing to expose the Masons by writing a book, possibly the first of its kind, called: ‘Masonry illustrations’. This book would outline the details of the first 3 degrees of Masonry, namely; the apprentice entered, the companion andthe master mason, these internal mechanisms of Masonic Lodges are the same “secrets” to which the oath of a Mason applies. The Freemasons retaliated and the controversy became known as:
‘The Morgan affair’
Anxious about the repercussions of such exposure and the need to protect their secrets, the Masons retaliated. Captain Morgan was officially denounced by the Batavia Masonic Lodge and the printing house where his book was to be published mysteriously burned down. What happened next was so shocking that it radically altered the face of American politics for several years. While the Freemasons vehemently deny the claims, many accept the following as a true account of the events. On September 11, 1826, Morgan was arrested after Freemasons made accusations that he owed a debt. A man claiming to be a friend of the captain posted his bail and took him into the autumn night. Captain Morgan was taken to the Niagara River and drowned. A body did not make it to shore for many months.
“… to have the body buried in the rough sands of the sea, at the mark of low tide”
By this time he had broken down beyond recognition and needed a forensic report to confirm his identity. The report stated that the cause of death was suffocation from drowning.
In an effort to silence the Captain, the Freemason had inadvertently shone a greater focus of attention than Morgan could have achieved in life. Panic seized America as the consciousness of the Freemasonic Conspiracy came to the fore; especially in the political arena. Realizing that neither Republicans nor Democrats were free from Masonic membership, a new third force emerged as a direct reaction to the perceived threat to democracy. The Anti-Masonic Party gained much support at first, but this gradually diminished as the Masons remained strong in number and establishment.
In memory of …
Despite being overshadowed by a rum-drinking pirate, Captain William Morgan is still remembered today for his contribution to helping expose the secrets of the Freemasons. Today in Batavia there is a large monument dedicated to the memory of the Captain, containing the story of his brutal disappearance engraved in stone for all to see and for future generations to never forget. Thanks to the efforts of Captain Morgan we now know much more about Masonic ritual and Freemasons in general. There have been many exposed over the years from Masons and non-Masons alike and many others have lost their lives in the process. Much has been revealed thanks to these efforts, but much more remains veiled in mystery.