USA > New York > Genesee County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Genesee County, New York, v. 1 > Part 19
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The Rev. C. Fitch established the Oakfield Presbyterian church De- cember 10, 1833, with seven members. The first church edifice, a frame building, still in use, was not erected until 1843. The dedica- tory sermon was preached by the Rev. William C. Wisner, D. D. The
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COUNTY BUILDINGS.
Rev. Ebenezer H. Stratton, the first pastor, assumed his relations with the society in 1834.
The Episcopal church of Stafford, organized in 1833, is the successor of the first Episcopal church in that town-St. Philip's-established in 1823. Its history is found in preceding pages.
The First Baptist church of Batavia dates from July 8, 1834, though organization was not perfected until November 9, 1837.'
The First Methodist Episcopal church of Pavilion was established in connection with one at Moscow, N. Y., and one at Covington, and moved from Covington to Pavilion in 1840. The house of worship was erected in the latter year.
The Methodist Episcopal church at Roanoke was founded as a Union church in 1840, with about fifty members and the Rev. Daniel Burke as pastor. In 1843 a house of worship costing fifteen hundred dollars was built.
In the interval covered by this chapter numerous changes took place throughout the county at large, in addition to those noted in the various towns.
In 1818 and 1819 a strong effort was made by the inhabitants of the southern part of the county to secure the removal of the county seat to Attica. During the same time a movement to divide the county was also inaugurated. It being apparent to all at this period that the old court house, erected in 1802 and 1803, was inadequate and inconvenient for the purposes for which it was intended, Mr. Ellicott, determined to save the county seat to Batavia, addressed a letter to the judges of the county courts and the board of supervisors of the county recommend- ing the erection of a new court house. He also offered, as the repre- sentative of the Holland Land Company, to convey to the supervisors, for the comparatively small sum of three thousand dollars, the triangu- lar piece of land bounded by Ellicott, Main and Court streets; also a strip of land one hundred feet wide, located about midway between Main and Ellicott streets and extending from a point on what is now Clark place, back of the store occupied by M. H. Bierce; also a strip about thirty-five feet in width extending from Main street to the other strip mentioned, the last-named piece of land being known on the map of the village as lot No. 81. The offer of Mr. Ellicott was accepted, and a few years afterward a new jail was completed." About the same
1 For a history of this church see the chapter devoted to the Village of Batavia.
" This is the building now used as the headquarter- of the hook and ladder company.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
time a county clerk's office was erected in the northeast corner of the triangle. Both were built of brick.1
The Genesee County Bible Society was organized July 14, 1818. Rev. Calvin Colton, then pastor of the church of Le Roy, and after- wards distinguished as the author of " Life and Times of Henry Clay," and other works, was corresponding secretary, which office he contin- ued to fill for several years. Colonel Martin O. Coe of Le Roy was chosen the first president, Deacon Hinds Chamberlain and Samuel Gran- nis, vice-presidents; Seth M. Gates, recording secretary, and Colonel S. M. Gates, treasurer. The society was organized two years after the Amer- ican Bible Society was founded. As the records of the society from from 1818 to 1833 have been lost, but few items of its early history can be furnished. Theodore F. Talbot of Batavia was president in 1824, Isaac Wilson of Middlebury in 1826, William Seaver of Batavia in 1828 and 1829, and Gaius B. Rich of Attica in 1830. In 1833 the society was reorganized and a constitution adopted. Colonel Martin O. Coe of Le Roy was chosen president and was re-elected to that office for several successive years. The records furnish no data of any meeting from 1834 to 1839. In 1839 Colonel Coe was again elected president, continuing in that office for several years. In 1841 the county of Gen- esee was divided, and the society has operated since that year within the present bounds of Genesce county. Since 1840 these persons have served as president of the society:
1840, P. L. Tracy; 1851, J. E. Tompkins; 1853, P. L. Tracy; 1864, John Fisher; 1867, A. J. Bartow; 1812, John Fisher; 1813. A. D. Lord; 1875, R. L. Selden; 1866, A. D. Wilbur; 1881, William Swan; 1883, John W. Sanborn; 1884, William W. Totherob; ISSS, A. D. Draper; 1891, W. L. Lloyd; 1892, J. H. Durkee; 1895, Thomas Cardus.
One of the most remarkable trials ever occurring in any court in Genesee county, and in many respects one of the most peculiar on record in any court, took place in the court house at Batavia in July. 1822. A man named Farnsworth was arrested and committed to jail on the charge of having forged " United States land warrants," and a special session of the United States District Court was ordered to be held for the trial of the case against him. The court was convened (by what authority is unknown) in July. Hon. Roger Skinner presided as United States district judge, and Jacob Sutherland, afterward one of
1 The clerk's ofthe was used as such until the present court house was built, in 1943, when the clerk's office was remove I to the basement of the same. The office remained there until the con- struction of the present county clerk's and surrogate's office in 1873.
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the judges of the Supreme Court of New York State, acted as United States district attorney.
The grand jury which had investigated the charges against Farns- worth was composed of men of intelligence, some of whom were quite prominent in the community. After due deliberation they presented a true bill, and the accused was immediately arraigned for trial. Public interest in the case was intense, and the sentiment of the populace was almost unanimously against the accused. People came from remote sections to hear the proceedings, which were of an unparalleled char- acter. .
On both sides able counsel was employed. District Attorney Suth- erland was considered learned in the law and a man of great sagacity. General Ethan B. Allen, who conducted the defense, was a lawyer of considerable prominence and enjoyed a wide reputation as an orator. Nevertheless subsequent events proved that the presiding judge and the prosecuting attorney knew a little more law than that laid down on the statute books. The trial was a long one. The judge charged the jury adversely to the interests of the prisoner, and the intelligent jurors soon returned with a verdict of guilty. The only penalty known to the court for such an atrocious offense as that of which the accused had been convicted was death, and Farnsworth accordingly was sentenced to be hanged on the gallows on September 20 following.
Farnsworth's attorney, satisfied that the verdict was an unjust one, at once sent to President Monroe a petition for a pardon or commutation of the death sentence, but the grounds on which he based his request are not known. Few persons believed that the president would overturn the decision of the august and learned court, and the inhabitants pre- pared to convert September 20 into a gala day. Little sympathy was expressed for the culprit who had violated one of the most sacred of the federal laws, and thousands of persons from far and near flocked to the village to witness the execution of the death penalty.
Much to the surprise and chagrin of the assembled witnesses a mes- sage from the chief magistrate of the nation was received just as the final preparations for the hanging were being conducted, and the local authorities were compelled to announce to the disappointed throng that the execution had been suspended for six months, during which time the merits of the case were to be investigated. To take the edge off the keen disappointment of those who had assembled to witness the hanging, it is said that the turnkey, without the knowledge and consent
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of the sheriff, took Farnsworth from his cell, seated him on a platform at the north end of the old court house, which at that time was hidden from public view by a high board fence, and admitted a large number of visitors into the jail yard to behold the monster who, temporarily at least, had escaped from the gallows. Each visitor, however, was re- quired to pay a shilling as an admission fee.
The farcial character of the whole proceedings is illustrated in the subsequent events. President Monroe and his legal advisers made a thorough examination of the case, with the result that it was ascer- tained that Farnsworth had violated no law of the United States, and that his arrest, trial and conviction were without legal authority! The accused was, therefore, pardoned and discharged from custody.
A most extraordinary event, and one which temporarily disrupted the order of Free and Accepted Masons in the United States, prompted the organization of a political party which had for its aim the annihila- tion of that great and powerful secret order and threatened to involve the country in civil war, transpired partly within the limits of Genesee county in 1826. The details of the transaction are too generally known to need more than a brief description here. The event is known in history as the ". Morgan affair."
William Morgan, then residing in the village of Batavia, was arrested and conveyed to Canandaigua on a criminal warrant issued by a magis- trate of the latter place, the charge against him being the larceny of certain articles of small value. He was found innocent of that charge and acquitted, but was immediately rearrested for a debt of about two dollars and again thrown into jail. That evening he was discharged from jail, but was abducted and taken in a closed carriage from Canan - daigua by way of Rochester and Lewiston to Fort Niagara. From this point no absolute evidence as to what disposition was made of him was ever obtained, though it was the popular belief that he was killed for the purpose of preventing him from divulging the secrets of Free Masonry.
Prior to his arrest members of the Masonic fraternity learned that Morgan, in connection with David C. Miller, was planning to issue a publication disclosing the unwritten secrets of Masonry. Consequently his sudden and mysterious disappearance and reported violent death at the hands of members of that powerful order created a tremendous sensation, not only in Western New York, but throughout the entire country; and this feeling resulted, first, in a lengthy and vigorous in-
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THE MORGAN EPISODE.
vestigation which resulted in satisfying the majority of the public that Morgan had met his death at the hands of conspirators among cer- tain members of the fraternity whose secrets he was about to expose, and second, in the formation of a strong Anti-Masonic political party whose slogan was " Death to Masonry!" The most commonly ac- cepted belief as to the fate of the missing man was that he had been drowned either in Lake Ontario or the Niagara river near its mouth. A prolonged search for his remains was made, but no body that could be positively identified as that of the missing man was found.
In October of the following year, about eleven months after Morgan's disappearance, a dead body was found on the Lake Ontario beach near the mouth of Oak Orchard creek. An inquest was held but no one recognized the body. A verdict of accidental drowning was rendered and the body was buried, but the clothes found upon it were preserved. Soon afterward the sensational story that this body was that of Morgan spread, creating intense excitement. Committees from Batavia and Rochester were sent to disinter and examine the body, and they re. ported, after a most critical investigation, that the remains were not those of Morgan.
This report did not satisfy a certain class who had been making po- litical capital out of the lamentable tragedy, and the body was again disinterred and brought to Batavia, where a spectacular parade was held and the body declared to be that of the missing man. Mr. Morgan's widow (taking it for granted that the man was dead at this time) was the chief mourner in the funeral procession. The body was buried in the village cemetery.
Several weeks before these gruesome scenes were enacted, a man named Timothy Monroe was drowned at the mouth of the Niagara river, and from the description of the body found at the mouth of Oak Orchard creek it was believed that it might be that of Monroe. His widow, then residing near Toronto, was notified of the finding of the body, and her description of the clothing he wore when last seen alive corresponded so exactly with that of the clothing taken from the mooted body that unprejudied people everywhere believed that the body interred at Batavia as that of Morgan in reality was that of Tim- othy Monroe. The result of this disclosure was the holling of another inquest at Batavia, when, after an exhaustive investigation, the coro- ner's jury determined that the body in question was that of Monroe.'
1 The statements contained above are substantially those made by WEliam Seaver of Bata- via, an eye witness to some of the deplorable events described, in his history of Batavia.
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Another account of the "Morgan affair " contains statements of in- terest that do not appear in the story as told in the foregoing. The following account appears in "Historical Collections of the State of New York," written by John W. Barber and Henry Howe and pub. lished in 1841, and is a synopsis of the official report of Mr. Whittlesey and others at the United States Anti-Masonic convention held in Phil- adelphia, September 11, 1830:
Morgan, it appears, was born in 1774 in Culpepper county, Va. His occupation was originally that of a bricklayer and stone mason. He removed from Virginia in 1821, and went to York, U. C. ; from thence he removed to Rochester. From vari- ous misfortunes, he became quite reduced in circumstances, and in the summer of 1826 he resided in the village of Batavia. While here, he became connected with D. C. Miller, a printer, for the purpose of publishing a work disclosing masonic obli- gations, secret signs, &c. Morgan, it appears, was a royal arch mason; and when the fact became known that he was preparing a work to reveal the secrets of ma- sonry, many of the masonic fraternity became much excited, and appeared deter- mined to put an end to his disclosures For this purpose, his character was assailed in the public prints. In July, 1826, Morgan was arrested on a civil suit at Batavia, and gave bail; he was afterward arrested and hurried to jail, without time being given him to procure bail, and search was made at his lodgings for his papers ou some pretended process, the sheriff in the meantime absenting himself. An attempt was afterward made to burn down Miller's printing office, where " Morgan's Book" was printing.
On Sun lay, Sept. 10th, application was made to J. Chipman. Esq., a magistrate of Canar daigua, for a warrant to apprehend Morgan for stealing a shirt and cravat, which it appeared afterward he had only borrowed. The warrant being issued, the con- stable at Canandaigua, attended by five other persons from that place, immediately set out for Batavia, where they arrived in the evening. Early the next morning (Monday), Morgan was arrested and taken to the public house where the party had slept; an extra stage-coach was procured, and the party left Batavia for Canandai- gua, with Morgan in their custody. Miller attempted to procure the release of Mor- gan just as the carriage was starting, but he was pushed aside, and the driver was urged to drive fast till he should get out of the county. Having arrived in Canan- daigua, Morgan in the evening was taken before the magistrate who had issued the warrant, and was by him examined and discharged. One of the party immediately applied to the same magistrate for a warrant against Morgan for a debt of about $2, which he said had been assigned to lum by a tavern keeper. Judgment was en- tered against Morgan for $2.69, debt and costs, and an execution immediately issued. Morgan took off his coat and offered it to the constable to levy upon for the debt. The constable declined receiving it, and Morgan was committed to the Canandaigua jail the same evening, where he remained until the evening of the next day.
On the 12th of Sept., about 9 o'clock in the evening, the wife of the jailer, at the request of the plaintiff in the execution, consented to let Morgan out of the prison. As he was leaving the jail steps, he was violently seized by two persons; he strug- gled and cried " murder," a number of times. Two other persons now came up, one
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of whom stopped Morgan's outery by thrusting a handkerchief, or something similar, into his mouth. At a signal given by one of the party, a two-horse carriage now drove up; two of the party thrust Morgan into the carriage, and then got in themselves. This carriage arrived in Rochester about day-dawn the next morning. Another carriage was procured, and relays of horses were obtained. When the party arrived at New Fane, about 3 miles from Lockport, they sent to the sheriff of Niagara county, to assist them in getting Morgan into Canada. The sheriff accordingly left Lockport, attended the party, and assisted them in procuring horses, &c. They arrived at Lewiston about midnight; here another carriage was procured, and the party was driven to the burying ground near Fort Niagara. Here they left the car- riage and proceeded with Morgan in their custody to the ferry, and crossed over to the Canada side. After conferring with a number of persons in Niagara village, Morgan was brought back, as arrangements had not been completed for his recep. tion. This event it appears had been anticipated. Morgan was taken to the maga- zine of Fort Niagara, and locked in before day-dawn, on the morning of the 14th of September.
On the day that Morgan was put into the magazine, a royal arch chapter was in- stalled at Lewiston, which event called together a considerable assemblage of Ma- sons from the vicinity. In the evening, 20 or 80 persons came to the fort from Lewiston. About midnight, 7 persons, stated to be royal arch masons, held a con- sultation on the plain near the graveyard, as to the manner in which Morgan should be disposed of. The prevailing opinion among them appeared to be, that Morgan had forfeited his life for a breach of his masonic obligations, and that they ought to see the penalty executed by drowning him in the river; some of the company dis- covering a reluctance to go to such lengths, the project was abandoned at that time. On the night of the 16th, a similar consultation was held between four persons, but nothing was decided on. As to the disposition of Morgan, after the evening of the 14th of September, nothing has yet been known judicially, but circumstances are strong, to induce the belief that he was put to death on the night of the 19th of Sept. 1820, by being cast into the depths of Niagara river.
Recent investigation into the case seems to prove that Morgan was never made a Mason. By some means he obtained enough knowledge of the craft to induce a Mr. Warren of Batavia, a Mason in good stand- ing, to believe that he had joined the order in Canada. Mr. Warren vouched for him, and he gained admission to the lodge in Batavia. In 1826 a charter was secured for a chapter in Batavia. On account of his dissolute habits Morgan was refused membership, and this caused him to become furious in his opposition to Masonry. The only lawful degree that he ever received was in the Royal Arch, at Le Roy, May 31, 1825, after the deceit practiced upon Mr. Warren, who was his em- ployer. But that did not make him a member of the craft.
As soon as the chapter rejected his application for admission he be- gan his crusade against the order. His colleagues were David C. Mil-
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ler, editor of the Batavia Advocate, and his three partners. Miller had received the degree of Entered Apprentice; but further advancement was denied him, and he, too, was bitter against the order.
An interesting, and now believed by many to be a trustworthy ac- count of Morgan's disappearance, is thus given by Robert Morris, a Masonic writer of high repute:
In September, 1826, Morgan was on the jail limits on judgments for debts. The limits were a mile square, with the jail for the centre. John Whitney and Morgan met in Donald's tavern and set down to supper together. In answer to Whitney's inquiries Morgan said he was in a bad fix ; that he had not a friend but his wife, and she ought not to be on account of his treatment of her. She had a baby only three weeks old and cried continually, fearing that they were going to starve. He was out of work ; the Masons made him no more donations and threatened to kill him ; he said he had sold himself to Miller, who had promised him half a million dollars ; he never had more than a shilling at a time, and that with abuse.
"I am authorized," said Whitney, " to give you relief. I will give you fifty do !- lars in cash with which to buy yourself suitable clothes and help your family in its present need if you will go to Canada and settle there. When you are located in Canada you shall have five hundred dollars, and your family shall be sent to you. I pledge you that they shall be provided for until they rejoin you."
Morgan quickly accepted the offer and consented to submit to a legal process for his removal for trial to Canandaigua on the charge of having stolen a shirt and neck- tie from the landlord there. This charge was not pressed and Morgan, following out a preconcerted plan, went to Canada, escorted to Fort Niagara by six men whose names are well known. He was rowed across the river and received on the Canada side by two Masons who were in the arrangement. Morgan was paid his five hun- dred dollars and went away quite happy. Among those who were with the party that saw Morgan over the border was Colonel King. He was very conscientious about the matter and insisted upon knowing the full circumstances. In answer to the queries which his persistency brought out, Morgan made the following statement : "That he had contracted with Miller and others to write an expose of Masonry ; that he had never been a Mason in any lodge, but had received the Royal Arch degree in a regular manner and felt bound by that obligation, and never intended to reveal the secrets of that degree: that he had been treated kindly by the gentlemen who formed his escort ; that he was willing and anxious to be separated from Miller and from all ideas of a Masonic expose; wished to live in habits of industry and respect- ability; to go to the interior of Canada and settle down as a British citizen and have his family sent to him ; was sorry for the uproar his proceedings had made and for the disgrace he had caused his family."
The Anti-Masons succeeded in carrying the State that fall upon the strength of of their opposition to Masonry and the display they made in prosecuting the persons who were engaged in Morgan's deportation. Colonel King became alarmed, and he sent a confidential messenger into Canada to look for Morgan and bring him back. Morgan had changed his name, changed his clothes, bought a horse and left the vil- lage within forty-eight hours of the departure of those who took him there. The
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colonel sent a second messenger, who employed an old Indian scout, thoroughly posted in the calling, to follow Morgan up. It was learned that he had gone east at the rate of fifty miles a day to a point down the river not far from Port Hope. He had sold his horse and disappeared. Doubtless he boarded a vesse! there and sailed out of the country. At any rate that was the last trace of him ever obtained.
The Anti-Masonic movement which originated in 1826 was, to a cer- tain extent, complicated with an increasing opposition to the Holland Land Company. Many farms were still burdened with debt to the company, and though the latter had treated the debtors liberally by accepting farm produce in lieu of cash, though losing money by the operation, many of the farmers found it next to impossible to meet their maturing obligations. The situation was made still more distress ing by persistent reports that the company was preparing to advance the prices of all lands on which the original time of payment had elapsed. About this time Mr. Otto was succeeded by Mr. Evans in the conduct of the local affairs of the company, and under the administra- tion of the latter contracts were somewhat modified in favor of the purchasers of land. But the general dissatisfaction continued to in- crease, manifesting itself in questioning the validity of the company's titles, in recommending heavier taxation of the property of the com- pany, and in various other ways. The rising sentiment of opposition to this company was bound, in later years, to bring about serious trouble. It led, in fact, directly to what is known in local history as " The Land Office War."
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