What happened to William Morgan in Canandaigua in 1826?
(September 12, 2005) CANANDAIGUA The mysterious disappearance of mob-linked union leader Jimmy Hoffa in 1975 continues to baffle authorities and inspire conspiracy theories. But Hoffa’s disappearance 30 years ago is a relatively recent event compared with the strange case of William Morgan, who vanished like Hoffa, without a trace after being bailed out of jail in Canandaigua by members of a local Masonic lodge 179 years ago today, Sept. 12, 1826. The story of Morgan’s disappearance “remains touchy stuff to this day,” said Kathleen Kutolowski, chairwoman of the history department at the State University College at Brockport. She will lecture Sept. 22 at the Ontario County Historical Society on the role of Freemasonry in Morgan’s mysterious abduction and disappearance. Morgan’s abduction gave rise to the nation’s first-ever third political party the Antimasons and ultimately reshaped the U.S. political landscape. “The American public came to feel that the incident and resulting feckless
