Horace Greeley

Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 28, 1872), was the founder and editor of the New-York Tribune, among the great newspapers of its time. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressman from New York City.

He was also the candidate of the new Liberal Republican party in the 1872 presidential election, during which Greeley crusaded against incumbent President Ulysses S. Grant and his corrupted administration but lost in a landslide.

Biography

In 1863, Greeley met with Tommy Greyling, a policeman who was recovering into a hospital after helping to save the children of an orphanage for Afro-american set ablaze during the New York City draft riots. Impressed by Greyling's actions, the journalist wrote an elogious article about him, which made him a hero. Despite the fact that due to the jealousy of his colleagues caused by Greeley's article, Greyling was forced to resign, the two men became good friends.

In 1872, after loosing the presidential election and as he felt the end approaching, Greeley sent for Greyling, who was now a Pinkerton agent. To Greyling, the dying man revealed that he had in fact been poisoned by elements in Grant's corrupt administration which he discovered was heavily manipulated by the members of a secret society, the Templar Order. He also told his friend that Grant was using a mysterious artifact to manipulate the course of the elections, using pages of the Voynich manuscript to learn how to master it. One of his supporters in Grant's office stole the pages, brought it to Greeley and revealed that there were more of it in London before beeing murdered.

As Greyling left the room after Greeley suddenly fell asleep, a Templar agent disguised as one of Greeley's nurse tried to finish him by suffocating the sleeping man with a cushion. However, Greyling, sensing that something wasn't right, rushed into the room and prevented the attempt but failed to stop the woman from escaping with the pages of the Manuscript.

Reference

• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Locus