Answer to Masonic Conundrum #107
William Morgan
(with assistance from ChatGPT)
Those who answered correctly: no guesses at this time.
On our way back from a two-wheeled adventure through the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Tail of the Dragon, we made a stop in Carthage, Illinois and visited the place where Joseph Smith and Brother Hyrum Smith were killed. After hearing more of the story and the controversy surrounding it, we continued to Nauvoo, where I found myself staring at a church exterior adorned with unmistakable Masonic symbols.
That alone is an interesting story, but you may be asking yourself, “What does this have to do with William Morgan?” I’m glad you asked. Somewhere along the trip, my traveling companion leaned over and quietly said, “You know who Joseph Smith was married to…?”
After a blank stare from me, he continued, “William Morgan’s widow.”
It is amazing how small the world can sometimes feel. We’ll come back to that.
William Morgan was a resident of Batavia, New York after spending time in Canada. He claimed that while in Canada he had been raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason. Morgan later sought further participation in Masonry, including Royal Arch Masonry, but upon investigation, some local Masons questioned both his credentials and his character.
Following disputes with local Masons, Morgan announced plans to publish an exposé titled Illustrations of Masonry, revealing portions of Masonic ritual and ceremony. The publication angered many Masons in western New York and further inflamed tensions already surrounding the Fraternity.
After several unsuccessful attempts by local Masons to halt the publication, Morgan was arrested on claims involving an unpaid debt and allegations connected to borrowed clothing. After being released, he was re-arrested on another charge. On September 12, 1826, Morgan was released into the custody of several men and placed into a carriage. He was never seen again.
What ultimately happened to Morgan remains unknown, though many believed local Masons were involved in his disappearance. Certainly, several Masons from the area were later put on trial in connection with the affair. The incident helped ignite the Anti-Masonic movement in the United States and contributed to the rise of the Anti-Masonic Party, one of the first significant third parties in American politics. At the time of the Morgan affair, Joseph Smith was living in western New York and was surrounded by growing anti-Masonic sentiment.
Morgan’s widow, Lucinda Pendleton Morgan, later remarried George W. Harris and eventually became associated with the growing movement led by Joseph Smith. By the late 1830s, Lucinda is believed by many historians to have become one of Joseph Smith’s plural wives, although she continued living with George Harris for a time.
Ironically, during this same period, Joseph Smith’s relationship with Freemasonry appears to have changed considerably. In 1842, both Joseph and his brother Hyrum Smith became Freemasons in Nauvoo, Illinois. In 1841, the Latter-day Saints also performed a posthumous vicarious baptism for William Morgan, among the earliest such ordinances associated with the developing practice of baptism for the dead.
After the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in 1844 at Carthage Jail, Lucinda was later sealed to Joseph Smith for eternity according to LDS practice. By 1850, George Harris had separated from Lucinda and was eventually excommunicated from the church.
History has a strange way of folding back in on itself. A man whose disappearance helped ignite anti-Masonic fervor across New York becomes indirectly connected to a movement whose founder would later embrace Freemasonry himself. Standing in Nauvoo all these years later, looking at Masonic symbols carved into stone, I could not help but reflect on how quickly people, movements, and ideas evolve — and how often the lines between conflict, belief, and brotherhood become far more complicated with time.
References
The Masons, The Mormons and the Morgan Incident by John E. Thompson (from Iowa Research Lodge)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Morgan_(anti-Mason)
https://nauvoo.iath.virginia.edu/viz/data_view/sealings_pre1846.php
https://josephsmithfoundation.org/lucinda-pendleton-morgan-harris
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/locations/carthage-jail?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/history/sites/historic-nauvoo/nauvoo-temple?lang=eng
Conundrum 108 – Please send your answers to MasonicConundrum@gmail.com. Remember to include your name, Masonic title, and your lodge name and number.
Example:
WB Brad Phelps (Rochester Lodge No. 21)
In the vastness of space, he once played his part,
Aboard the Cygnus, where mysteries start.
Then came a game where the old rules were blown,
Trading his horses for a “Lazy Boy” thrown.
Alongside Stone, with satire and cheer,
He made the absurd feel strangely sincere.
Search a Southern lodge and there on the wall,
His signature still hangs admired by all.
Who is this star with Masonic ties,
Linked to black holes and comedy’s disguise?