September 13, 1826: A carriage, believed to be holding the kidnapped William Morgan stops at Handford's Landing just outside Rochester. Morgan had boasted his intentions of publishing a book revealing the secrets of the Freemasons. An attempt was made to burn down his publishing house in Batavia and he was soon after arrested on petty larceny in Canandaigua. After a night in Jail, someone paid his debt and whisked him away in a carriage, through Rochester and onto Lewiston where he was believed to have been drowned in the Niagara river. The affair sparked widespread suspicion of the Masons and launched the anti-masonic movement and national political party.
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