On Tuesday, Therese and I went to Batavia to research the Morgan murder. We thought Batavia was small enough we would be able to find the cemetery with his monument without any trouble. We had to call my dad who wrote an article awhile back about the murder to ask about where we might find the cemetery. We drove around trying to figure out where the streets he mentioned were, which didn't take too long because although Batavia claims to be a city, it's very small.
Once Therese and I found the right streets, we pulled into a cemetery and began scanning the graveyard for a large monument we hoped would belong to William Morgan. Unexpectedly, we didn't see any tall monuments. We saw someone working near a pair mausoleums at the bottom of a small hill. Noticing the man was a gravedigger, we hesitantly decided to ask if he knew where we could find the statue. He spoke slowly; with a drawl reminiscent of the South. He was slightly odd, like a character in a bad horror movie.
When Therese asked the gravedigger if he knew where Morgans statue was, he replied "We ain't got nothing like that 'roun 'ere." We asked him if there were other cemeteries in town and he told us there were six or seven. My dad had told me earlier in the afternoon that he thought there were only two and we were looking for the one we'd find in this area of town. Not only were there more in this area, but one was directly nextdoor. St. Joseph's and Elmwood cemeteries in Batavia share a common fence. It would be easy to enitrely miss the detail that they are, in face, seperate cemeteries.
The cemetery we were looking for was down the road a little further, just across the railroad tracks. As we drove across the tracks, Morgans statue came into sight immediately. It stands at the corner of the graveyard; a prominent monument in a not so prominent part of town. It hardly seemed fitting for a man whose murder sparked anti-Freemason sentiment blazing across the country. The already skeptical citizens of the United States and Canada because of the secrecy of the secret society was backed by hard evidence following the murder.
After snapping a few photos, we decided to get something to eat at a place we had noticed driving by earlier, The Sport of Kings Restaurant. We thought it would have some kind of chess theme, but we were highly dissappointed to find nothing chess related whatsoever. There was not even a simple checkerboard/chessboard pattern to be found anywhere. The sign and name were very misleading.
Once Therese and I found the right streets, we pulled into a cemetery and began scanning the graveyard for a large monument we hoped would belong to William Morgan. Unexpectedly, we didn't see any tall monuments. We saw someone working near a pair mausoleums at the bottom of a small hill. Noticing the man was a gravedigger, we hesitantly decided to ask if he knew where we could find the statue. He spoke slowly; with a drawl reminiscent of the South. He was slightly odd, like a character in a bad horror movie.
When Therese asked the gravedigger if he knew where Morgans statue was, he replied "We ain't got nothing like that 'roun 'ere." We asked him if there were other cemeteries in town and he told us there were six or seven. My dad had told me earlier in the afternoon that he thought there were only two and we were looking for the one we'd find in this area of town. Not only were there more in this area, but one was directly nextdoor. St. Joseph's and Elmwood cemeteries in Batavia share a common fence. It would be easy to enitrely miss the detail that they are, in face, seperate cemeteries.
The cemetery we were looking for was down the road a little further, just across the railroad tracks. As we drove across the tracks, Morgans statue came into sight immediately. It stands at the corner of the graveyard; a prominent monument in a not so prominent part of town. It hardly seemed fitting for a man whose murder sparked anti-Freemason sentiment blazing across the country. The already skeptical citizens of the United States and Canada because of the secrecy of the secret society was backed by hard evidence following the murder.
After snapping a few photos, we decided to get something to eat at a place we had noticed driving by earlier, The Sport of Kings Restaurant. We thought it would have some kind of chess theme, but we were highly dissappointed to find nothing chess related whatsoever. There was not even a simple checkerboard/chessboard pattern to be found anywhere. The sign and name were very misleading.
We went shopping at a few stores in the area just to check out bargains we might find at stores that were going out of business. We bought a few craft supplies and more batteries for the camera, as well as a few other cheap items we found. Then it was time to head home. We thoguht we'd be able tog et home with enoguh daylight left to take a few photos at White Lady's Castle, but we didn't.
We made an accidental stop at the Tonawanda Seneca Nation Reservastion after we somehow ended up in Alabama,NY right on the road of the reservation. We found a bunch of interesting trinkets there, but bought nothing. I really want a pair of moccasins, but they're a little pricey. The trip was a productive venture, but not quite what we had initially set out to do that day. Batavia is a weird, small 'city.' We may need to go back again for furhter research but I doubt it. It seems all I really needed there were photos because the best resources I found on the Morgan murder are my own parents.
-America-
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