William Morgan

Born in 1774, William Morgan was a bricklayer and stonemason who spent time in Virginia, York in Upper Canada, and later New York. He is best remembered for announcing plans to publish a book revealing Masonic rituals, a decision that made him a deeply controversial figure in the 1820s.

In 1826, after a series of arrests in western New York, Morgan disappeared from Batavia and was widely believed to have been abducted because of the book. The case caused public outrage and helped fuel the Anti-Masonic movement, which grew into a major force in American politics.

Morgan is often linked with the book Illustrations of Masonry, which was published after his disappearance and became famous as an exposé of Freemasonry. Whatever the full truth of his final days, his story became far larger than his own life, turning him into a lasting symbol of secrecy, scandal, and political backlash in the early United States.