William Morgan was a resident of Batavia, New York, who announced he was publishing a book exposing the rituals and secrets of Freemasonry, which he claimed to have learned as a Mason.
Morgan was soon after arrested due to charges of debt ($2.69) and briefly jailed in Canandaigua, New York.
On September 12, 1826, after his release, Morgan was reportedly abducted from the jail steps by a group of men, some of whom were identified as Freemasons. Witnesses reported him shouting “murder” as he was taken away.
He was allegedly taken to the Niagara frontier, held in a building, and never seen again, causing many to believe that he was murdered.