Miss Tobin's Mysterious Death.

National Police Gazette, June 1, 1889.

On May 12, 1889, the janitor of the Clifton Boat Club on Staten Island found the body of a young woman floating in the water. Though badly decomposed, Dr. S.A. Robinson identified her as Mary Tobin, who had recently resigned from her job in his office. 

Mary Tobin’s life was clouded with mysteries and contradictions. She had come to Staten Island from Franklin, Pennsylvania. However, when her family learned of her death, they thought she was in Clifton, South Carolina. 

The police suspected suicide. Perhaps she had been seduced and betrayed and drowned herself to hide her shame. But the coroner found no evidence of pregnancy or abortion. He found no marks of violence and no trace of poison. 

In the two years that she lived on Staten Island, she went from being an active Methodist to an avid and very vocal atheist to a High Church Episcopalian. Her pastor said that prior to her death, Mary had consulted him about joining the Episcopal Sisters and moving to a convent. 

It was well known that Mary was engaged to be married, but none of her friends or relations knew the identity of her fiancé. At the inquest, Dr. William Bryan revealed that he was engaged to Mary. Though the date had not been set, they planned to be married.

The final mystery of Mary Tobin’s life—did she die by murder, suicide, or accident—has never been solved.

Read the full story here: The Mysteries of Mary Tobin.

Blue-Eyed Executions.

It was a foolproof plan. Six men in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, bought insurance policies on the life of Joseph Raber, an elderly recluse living in a hut in the Blue Mountains. They were sure Raber would pass away soon and end their financial problems, but when he took too long to die, they helped him along. At their murder trial, reporters noticed that the killers all had one common trait and branded them “The Blue-Eyed Six.”

Two of the six, Franklin Stichler and Charles Drews, were hanged on November 14, 1879:

Illustrated Police News, Oct. 18, 1879

Henry Wise, Isreal Brandt, and Josiah Hummel were hanged on May 13, 1880:

Illustrated Police News, May 29, 1880.

The last of the six, George Zechman, was found not guilty on appeal. He was an insurance investor, not a party to the conspiracy.

Read the full story here: The Blue Eyed Six.

Poor Pretty Maggie.

The body of Maggie Hourigan was found floating face down in a small pool of water outside of Greenwich, New York on October 20, 1889. Dr. S. Walter Scott performed a hasty autopsy and concluded that Maggie had committed suicide by drowning. None of her friends or employers believed that Maggie, who was generally happy and cheerful, had taken her own life. The district attorney ordered a second autopsy with a different team of doctors who found a wound a serious wound on the side of her head. When she entered the water, Maggie was either dead or unconscious. Rumors spread through Greenwich that Dr. Scott had deliberately hidden the information to hide his involvement in Maggie’s death. When rumors became newspaper accusations, Dr. Scott’s practice suffered, prompting him to sue the New York Sun for libel. Meanwhile, the true circumstances of Maggie Hourigan’s death remain a mystery.

Read the full story here: The Maggie Hourigan Mystery.

Betrayed and Murdered at the Reservoir.

Parental hostility drove Fanny Madison out of her home and into the arms of her cousin, Thomas Cluverius. It was not a wise decision.

Read the full story here: Kissing Cousins.                                            

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Pictures from Illustrated Police News, May 2, 1885.

The Maggie Hourigan Mystery.

Two children playing near their house in Greenwich, New York, the morning of Saturday, October 20, 1889, found a woman’s hat and jacket lying on a log and reported them to a group of men who were working on a road nearby. Reuben Stewart, Superintendent of Streets who was also President of the Village, thought the circumstances were suspicious and went down to take a look for himself. It was a secluded spot about halfway between two villages with a small pool of water near the road. Stewart found the owner of the hat and jacket floating face down in the pool.

The woman was soon identified as Maggie Hourigan. A hasty autopsy conducted by Dr. S. Walter Scott and several other physicians determined that she had drowned, and a coroner’s jury concluded that it had been suicide. 

The Mysteries of Mary Tobin.

Mary E. Tobin.

Thomas W. Armour, janitor of the Clifton Boat Club, Clifton, Staten Island, on May 12, 1889, found the body of a young woman washed up on the rocks near the club. She was about 30-years-old, five feet five inches tall, with a light complexion and a plump figure. She wore a gold ring with stones in a cat’s eye setting and several pieces of black jet jewelry. The only other object found on the body was an Episcopal prayer book. The body was fully clothed, and Coroner Hughes found nothing to indicate foul play. Decomposition had set in, and the coroner determined that the body had been in the water about eight days.

Though badly decomposed, friends and relations identified the body as that of Mary E. Tobin, who had been living for the previous two years in West New Brighton on Staten Island. She had been the office assistant of Dr. S.A. Robinson but had resigned on April 13 and was last seen in West New Brighten two days later.

Mary had planned to visit her family in Franklin, Pennsylvania, whom she hadn’t seen in two years, after first stopping to visit a friend, Mrs. McKenna in Brooklyn. She packed her belongings in two trunks and sent one to Franklin and the other to Brooklyn. Mary left on April 15 but never arrived at either destination.

Drownings.

Drowning is a very personal method of murder, and always a case of the strong overpowering the weak.

	The Manhattan Well Mystery -1799 On January 2, 1800, the body of Gulielma Sands was found in the Manhattan Well, not far from her boardinghouse on Greenwich Street, New York City. There were two contradictory schools of thought among those who knew Gulielma Sands—those who remembered her as melancholy and suicidal, and those remembered her as happy and cheerful, especially so on the night she disappeared when she revealed that she was to marry Levi Weeks. When Levi Weeks was arrested for murder everyone in the city would take a side. The trial of Levi Weeks was the first of New York City’s sensational murder cases, the first American murder trial to be transcribed, and the first defense council “dream team.” Levi Weeks was represented in court by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.
	Poor 'Omie - The Murder of Naomi Wise -1807 The haunting folk ballad “Omie Wise” has kept the story of Naomi Wise’s murder alive for more than two hundred years. According to legend, Naomi Wise, a poor but beautiful orphan girl, was courted by Jonathan Lewis, son of a wealthy farmer. His mother persuaded him to stop the courtship but not before Naomi became pregnant with Jonathan’s child. To avoid marriage and scandal, Jonathan Lewis drowned Naomi Wise in Deep River. That is the traditional tale of Naomi Wise, but how much of it is true?
	The Blue Eyed Six -1878 It was a foolproof plan. Six men in Lebanon County Pennsylvania bought insurance policies on the life of Joseph Raber, an elderly recluse living in a hut in the Blue Mountains. They were sure Raber would die soon and end their financial problems. But the premiums proved costly and the men grew tired of waiting for Raber to die. In July 1878 they decided to take matters into their own hands. Their plot was common knowledge in Lebanon County and it was not long before all six were arrested for murder. The conspirators had a number of common characteristics–all six men were illiterate, all six were living in poverty, all six were of low moral character— but one trait captured the public’s imagination – all six had blue eyes.
	Kissing Cousins -1885 Lillian Madison’s relations with her immediate family in the 1880s were strained if not outright hostile. Her parents disapproved of her social life and kept her from the education she desired and as soon as she could, Lillian left their home in King William County, Virginia. She found comfort and support among her mother’s relatives but she also began a romantic relationship with her cousin, Thomas Cluverius, that would end in her ruin. When Lillian’s body, eight months pregnant, was found floating in Richmond’s Old Reservoir, Cousin Thomas was the prime suspect.
	Little Conestoga Creek -1888 Calvin Dellinger was a philanderer, an abusive husband, and a sadistic father, but was he a killer as well?

Little Conestoga Creek.

The discovery of the murdered body of Mrs. Mary Dellinger led to the very public airing of her family’s dirty laundry. Calvin Dellinger was a philanderer, an abusive husband, and a sadistic father, but was he a killer as well?

Fanaticism and Murder.

Little Murders

(From The Wooster Republican, January 2, 1871)

 

Fanaticism and Murder.

 

The Cause of the Murder of the Family Near Dayton, O.

Cincinnati, March 11. – Further particulars in regard to the murder of a woman and three children, near Dayton, Saturday night, indicate the murder was committed by the father, Leonard Marquardt, who is evidently insane from a spiritual cause. The story the man himself tells is that a few days ago he read a chapter to his family from the Bible, and then rising up, accused his wife of being a witch and using witchcraft. He says his eldest daughter confirmed him in his suspicions. He says also that on Saturday night he told his wife he wanted their children to leave; then he and his wife stripped naked, and knelt down and prayed for fifteen minutes. They then stripped two of the children and took them out and drowned them and laid them side by side on the bank of the stream. They then dashed out the brains of the infant and left it in the woods, after which they returned home and went to bed. After lying there for fifteen minutes he told his wife that he wanted to send her to heaven also, and immediately fell upon and strangled her to death. After that he arose and prayed until three o’clock in the morning, when he went to the nearest neighbor and told him the whole story. Marquardt is a Germen farmer, and has been in this country about eighteen years. The murdered woman was his second wife.

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"Fanaticism and Murder." Wooster Republican, 14 Mar 1872: 2.

The Manhattan Well Mystery

On January 2, 1800, the body of Gulielma Sands was found in the Manhattan Well, not far from her boardinghouse on Greenwich Street, New York City. There were two contradictory schools of thought among those who knew Gulielma Sands—those who remembered her as melancholy and suicidal, and those remembered her as happy and cheerful, especially so on the night she disappeared when she revealed that she was to marry Levi Weeks. When Levi Weeks was arrested for murder everyone in the city would take a side. The trial of Levi Weeks was the first of New York City’s sensational murder cases, the first American murder trial to be transcribed, and the first defense council “dream team.” Levi Weeks was represented in court by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.

Kissing Cousins

Lillian Madison’s relations with her immediate family in the 1880s were strained if not outright hostile. Her parents disapproved of her social life and kept her from the education she desired and as soon as she could, Lillian left their home in King William County, Virginia. She found comfort and support among her mother’s relatives but she also began a romantic relationship with her cousin, Thomas Cluverius, that would end in her ruin. When Lillian’s body, eight months pregnant, was found floating in Richmond’s Old Reservoir, Cousin Thomas was the prime suspect.

The Blue Eyed Six

It was a foolproof plan. Six men in Lebanon County Pennsylvania bought insurance policies on the life of Joseph Raber, an elderly recluse living in a hut in the Blue Mountains. They were sure Raber would die soon and end their financial problems. But the premiums proved costly and the men grew tired of waiting for Raber to die. In July 1878 they decided to take matters into their own hands. Their plot was common knowledge in Lebanon County and it was not long before all six were arrested for murder. The conspirators had a number of common characteristics–all six men were illiterate, all six were living in poverty, all six were of low moral character— but one trait captured the public’s imagination – all six had blue eyes.

William Morgan - Revenge of the Freemasons

In the summer of 1826, William Morgan of Batavia, New York, announced his intention to publish a book exposing the secrets of Freemasonry. On September 11 of that year he was abducted and never seen again. Morgan was considered a traitor by the Masons and a “Christian martyr” by their opponents. 54 Masons were indicted for his abduction and 10 were found guilty. Morgan’s disappearance led to the formation of America’s first “third party”, the Anti-Masonic Party. But was it Morgan's body that washed ashore on Lake Ontario a year later, and were the Masons responsible for his death?

Date: September 1826

Location: Batavia, New York

Victim: William Morgan

Cause of Death:  Drowning

Accused:  Freemasons

Synopsis:
Nearly two centuries after his death, it is still difficult to find an impartial rendition of William Morgan’s story. In the 19th Century, several books were written and published by Masonic organizations that depicted Morgan as a drunk, a thief and generally a man of low moral character.

They denied that he ever was a Mason and that Masons had anything to do with his murder. In fact they denied that William Morgan was murdered at all. This tradition continues today on Masonic web sites. Another tradition that continues on the internet is the belief that Freemasonry has a sinister influence on all facets of world politics going far deeper and wider than their public face would suggest. To these adherents, William Morgan was a hero who died for free speech. Even the portraits of Morgan used by the two groups are different. Anti-masonic groups tend to use a portrait depicting Morgan as studious and refined (above), while the Masons prefer a portrait of Morgan as a disgruntled old man in tattered clothes (left).

We know that William Morgan was born in Culpepper, Virginia in 1774 or 1775. He married Lucinda Pendleton of Richmond, Virginia in 1819 and they had two children. Morgan claimed he was a Captain in the War of 1812, fighting with Andrew Jackson, but that has never been verified. He later moved to Little York, Ontario (now Toronto), where he opened a brewery. It was there, Morgan claimed, that he was inducted into the Freemasons. When his brewery burned down, he left Canada and moved to Rochester, New York, then to Batavia, New York. The Masons question whether he was ever a Mason in Canada, and in fact question whether he ever owned a brewery.

In New York he attended a Masonic lodge in Leroy and there became a Royal Arch Mason, though the Masons claim there is no record that he had ever received the preceding degrees. When a new chapter was proposed in Batavia, Morgan signed the petition, however before it was presented to the Grand Chapter, his name was removed and he was not allowed membership in the Batavia chapter.

This, presumably, was the event that prompted Morgan to write a book exposing the secrets of Freemasonry. He teamed up with a printer named David Cade Miller, and two other men, John Davids and Russel Dyer, to publish the book. In the summer of 1826 Morgan published an advertisement saying that a book would soon be available revealing the secrets of the Masons for a dollar a copy.

Soon after, there were mysterious fires at Miller’s print shop. It was alleged that the fires were set by freemasons, though they accused Miller of starting the fires himself as advertisement for the upcoming book. On September 11, 1826, William Morgan was arrested for stealing a shirt and tie, and taken to a jail in Canandaigua, NY. He was soon released for lack of evidence, but immediately re-arrested for failure to pay a $2.69 debt to an innkeeper. On September 12, a group of men came and paid Morgan’s fine. As they took him away Morgan was heard hollering “Murder!” William Morgan was never seen alive again.

Trials:

54 Masons were indicted for Morgan’s kidnapping. In 15 separate trials 10 Masons, including Niagara County Sheriff, Eli Bruce, were convicted and given sentences ranging from 30 days to 28 months. Because Morgan’s death could not be confirmed, murder charges were never brought.

Verdict:  Guilty of kidnapping

Aftermath:

In October 1827, a body washed up on the shore of Lake Ontario. Three inquests were held for the corpse. The first said the body was unidentified. In the second, the corpse was shown to William Morgan’s wife who identified her husband primarily by his distinctive teeth--Morgan had two rows of teeth and several of them were broken. His doctor also identified the body as Morgan. Thurlow Weed, a New York politician opposed to the Masons was on the inquest committee. The Freemasons accused Weed of mutilating the corpse to resemble Morgan. At the third inquest, the body was shown to the wife of Timothy Monroe, another unrelated missing man. Mrs. Monroe positively identified the corpse as her husband and that is the ruling that stood.

The Freemasons (then and now) admitted that a misguided group of their members did kidnap William Morgan but did not kill him. They claimed he was given $500 and set free in Canada. Morgan was supposedly seen alive in such exotic places as Smyrnia in the Ottoman Empire, and the Cayman Islands. New York Governor DeWitt Clinton (a Mason) offered a $1000 reward for information proving that Morgan was alive. It was never collected.

Shortly after his disappearance Morgan’s book, Illustrations of Masonry, was published (It was republished later under other titles, e.g.: Morgan’s Freemasonry Exposed and Explained, The Mysteries of Freemasonry). The publication, together with outrage over the light sentences given the kidnappers fired up a wave of anti-Masonic sentiment that spread across the country. Thurlow Weed and others formed the short-lived Anti-Masonic Party and ran a candidate in the 1832 presidential election won by Andrew Jackson (a Mason). In that election the Anti-Masonic party carried the state of Vermont. The Anti-Masonic party was eventually absorbed by the Whigs and some of their members were instrumental in the founding of the Republican Party.

In 1881 a monument to William Morgan was erected in Batavia, New York, with this inscription:

“Sacred to the memory of Wm. Morgan, a native of Virginia, a Capt. in the War of 1812, a respectable citizen of Batavia, and a martyr to the freedom of writing, printing and speaking the truth. He was abducted from near this spot in the year 1826, by Freemasons and murdered for revealing the secrets of their order. The court records of Genesee County, and the files of the Batavia Advocate, kept in the Recorders office contain the history of the events that caused the erection of this monument.”

Freemasons refer to this as the “Lie in Granite”

Resources:

Websites:
The William Morgan Homepage
William Morgan Last Seen in Lewiston

William Morgan Notes (pro-Masonic)
The Abduction and Murder of Captain William Morgan (anti-Masonic)
The Morgan Affair (pro-Masonic)
Freemasons Kidnapped; Murdered Capt. William Morgan in 1826 (anti-Masonic)

Books:

Morgan, William, The Mysteries of Freemasonry , BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008

Bentley, A. P. History of the Abduction of William Morgan and the Anti-Masonic Excitment of 1826-30. Van Cise & Throop, 1874

Morris, Robert,  William Morgan; or Political Anti-Masonry, Its Rise, Growth and Decadence . R. Macoy, 1883

Cross, Whitney R. The Burned-over District: The Social and Intellectual History of Enthusiastic Religion in Western New York, 1800-1850. New York: Cornell UP, 2006.

Monument:
Morgan's Monument

Poor 'Omie - The Murder of Naomi Wise

The haunting folk ballad "Omie Wise" has kept the story of Naomi Wise's murder alive for more than two hundred years. According to legend, Naomi Wise, a poor but beautiful orphan girl, was courted by Jonathan Lewis, son of a wealthy farmer. His mother persuaded him to stop the courtship but not before Naomi became pregnant with Jonathan's child. To avoid marriage and scandal, Jonathan Lewis drowned Naomi Wise in Deep River. That is the traditional tale of Naomi Wise, but how much of it is true?