A good many hearsay statements were taken to the effect that Morgan was as a matter of fact put in the magazine and kept there some days.
Governor De Witt Clinton issued three proclamations, two soon after September, 1826, and the last dated March 19, 1827, offering rewards for "Authentic information of the place where the said William Morgan has been conveyed," and "for the discovery of the said William Morgan, if alive; and, if murdered, a reward of two thousand dollars for the discovery of the offender or offenders, etc." In the autumn of 1827 a body was cast up on the shore of Lake Ontario near the mouth of Oak Orchard Creek.

Mrs.Morgan and a Dr.
Strong identified the body as that of William Morgan by a scar on the foot and by the teeth.
The identification was disputed; the disappearance of Morgan was then a matter of politics, and the anti-masons, headed by Thurlow Weed, originated the saying, "It's a good enough Morgan for us until you produce the live one," which afterwards become current political slang in the form, "It's a good enough Morgan until after election.".