66 Delaware and Hudson Canal completed. 1829. Banking law passed. 66 66 66 66 Presidential electors chosen by general ticket. Van Buren made Secretary of State. Throop chosen Governor. Chenango and Chemung canal bills. 66 John Jay dies. 1831. First railroad opened between Albany and Schenectady. 1832. Marcy made Governor. 66 Van Buren elected Vice-President. 1833. Chemung Canal completed. 1834. Whig party formed. 1835. State banks loan state $5,000,000. III. RAILROADS AND PROSPERITY CHAPTER XXXIV.-SOCIAL MOVEMENTS The Antimasons originated in 1826. William Morgan, a thriftless Virginia printer and jack of all trades living at Batavia, New York, was writing a book to reveal the secrets of the masonic order of which he was a member. Threats and inducements were alike disregarded, so the masons of Batavia conspired with their brethren in western New York to abduct him. He was arrested first for theft, then for debt, and put in jail at Canandaigua (Sept. 12). He was taken from the jail, driven, bound and gagged, to the magazine at Fort Niagara, and then suddenly disappeared (Sept. 29). The greatest excitement prevailed, and committees of safety arose. The masons were charged with his murder. A body found in Niagara River was identified as his, but the masons charged Thurlow Weed with having mutilated it to make it resemble Morgan. ers. Agitation in the State.-Mass-meetings were held to suppress the secret order and to hunt down the murderBooks and pamphlets appeared denouncing the deed. The masons simply ignored the charge. Washington, Jefferson, and Jackson had belonged to the order, and Clinton was head of the lodge in New York. The members covered the state like a spider's web, influenc 167 ing politics, business, and religion. The courts could not be trusted. At last the legislature appointed David Mosely to investigate the case (1828), and he was succeeded by John C. Spencer (1829). Several persons were tried, but no one was convicted. The Antimasons resolved to fight through the ballotbox. They opposed Clinton's re-election (1826) and excluded masons from office in western New York (1827). In 1828 they held a state convention at Utica, appointed independent candidates, and polled 33,345 votes. They favored Adams for President, sent representatives to the legislature, used newspapers to wage their contest, and in 1830 polled 120,361 votes. In 1832 national candidates were nominated. Then the excitement died out, and questions of finance and tariff soon dissolved the party. Significance of the Movement. Thus closed a movement in which popular frenzy reached its highest pitch. It had turned father against son, and brother against brother, and had broken up families. It had closed schools and divided churches, influenced business, shut up thousands of lodges, and decided elections. Masons forswore their order by the hundred.1 Handbills, pamphlets, placards, and newspapers were used to arouse the people to united effort. No doubt the agitation quickened the social conscience of the people and struck a blow in favor of democracy. Origin of Mormonism.-New York is celebrated for groups of peculiar people. The "Universal Friends " settlement has been already mentioned (p. 114). Another was that of the Mormons, now and since 1847 in 1 The "Declaration of Independence" at Le Roy, July 4, 1828. Utah. Joseph Smith was the "Mormon prophet." Born in Vermont (1805), he removed, at the age of ten, with his parents to Palmyra, New York. The story goes like this: When fifteen he began to see visions. At eighteen the angel Moroni told him that God had chosen him for a special work. At twenty-two the angel placed in his hands a golden volume, eight inches long, seven wide, and six thick, consisting of thin plates fastened by three rings, on which was written an account of the early inhabitants of America. Later Movements. To read the unknown language a pair of magical spectacles was given him. He read the plates, translated them into English, the plates mysteriously disappearing as they were transcribed. In 1830 the manuscript was printed at Palmyra as "The Book of Mormon." Three persons besides Smith swore to having seen the plates and having handled. them, but later they quarreled with him and declared the whole matter a fraud. Eight others took oath that Smith had shown them the plates. He gained a few followers in consequence, and organized a small congregation at Fayette, Seneca county (April 6, 1830), but the hostility of his neighbors forced him to lead his followers, first to Ohio (1831), and thence, driven out by citizens, to Missouri, and from there to Illinois, where he was killed. Brigham Young was at that time chosen leader and conducted the organization, then numbering 16,000, to Utah. The Shakers were early introduced into the state. The order originated in England in the eighteenth century. Anna Lee, a blacksmith's daughter, joined the order (1758), and in 1770, while ill, received a revela tion from God proclaiming celibacy as the true rule of life. Soon she left for North America with seven followers (1774) and located at Watervliet, N. Y. (1776). She converted over 2,000 people to her belief before she died (1784). They believed" Mother Ann" was Christ in his second appearance. They lived in common and owned property as one family of brothers and sisters. In 1826 there were about 5,000 Shakers in the United States. The great "spiritual shaking" took place in Watervliet ten years later. They spread to Columbia and Livingston counties in this state, and are found in seven other states. The order has decreased, however, and numbers now scarcely 1,000 members. The Millerites.-William Miller, the farmer-preacher, lived at Low Hampton, Washington county (1815). He had been a captain in the War of 1812. In 1833 he began to announce the speedy second coming of Christ for 1843, when he declared that the world would be destroyed. In a few years his converts in America and England numbered many thousands. They were denounced as Millerites, but called themselves Second Adventists. The date was changed several times, but the sect soon dwindled away. The leader died in 1849. The Oneida Community.-John H. Noyes, the advocate of an odd religious creed, established the Oneida Community in 1847. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College and had studied law and theology. The members of this order lived and labored in common. years they lived in peace and prosperity, but at last public sentiment, led by the clergy of the state, forced the community to abandon objectionable social features (1879). The property was divided and a joint-stock For |