William Morgan

William Morgan was an American stonemason of Batavia, New York, born in Virginia, whose disappearance in 1826 became one of the most famous mysteries of American politics. After falling out with the local Freemasons, he announced a book revealing their secret rituals, and in September 1826 he was seized and taken away, never to be seen again; he was widely believed to have been murdered. His exposé, Illustrations of Masonry, appeared shortly afterward, and the outrage over his fate gave rise to the Anti-Masonic Party, the first significant third party in the United States.