- "I trust you now know that this place has become something of great significance. A community to serve as an example of what this would-be nation could become."
- ―Achilles expressing his sentiments on the Davenport Homestead, in a letter to Connor.[src]
The Davenport Homestead was a small but thriving community based on the grounds of Davenport Manor, near Rockport, Massachusetts. During the 18th century, it served as a base of operations for the Colonial Assassins. The manor and lands were originally owned by the Mentor Achilles Davenport, and were passed onto his apprentice Ratonhnhaké:ton after Achilles' death.
History
Early expansion
- "This lovely little collection of buildings was the headquarters of the original Assassin Order of the Colonies- a modest Masyaf, if you will."
- ―Shaun Hastings' database entry for the Davenport Homestead.[src]
By 1746, as Achilles Davenport rose to the rank of Mentor, the Homestead served as a home for Achilles' wife Abigail, and his young son Connor.[1]
As Achilles' Brotherhood was established, he recruited numerous colonists into the Order, overall expanding the Assassins' presence within the colonies. The Davenport Homestead acted as the main headquarters of the Colonial Brotherhood, where they oversaw the Assassins operations. Additionally, Achilles had his own personal study during which he kept contact with various other Brotherhoods and guilds across the globe.[2]
However, this time of prosperity did not last. Once Haytham Kenway, the Grand Master of the Colonial Templar Order, established his own base of operations in Boston, the Assassins were hunted down and executed.[1] The Assassins also suffered heavy casualties during the Seven Years' War, and by 1763 the Brotherhood was scattered.[2]
Faced with the deaths of his fellow Assassins, wife, and son – both of whom died of typhoid fever – Achilles lost the will to fight the Templars. He remained in isolation at the Homestead for the next six years, letting it fall into disrepair.[1]
Arrival of Ratonhnhaké:ton
Achilles yelling at Ratonhnhaké:ton to leave
In 1769, Ratonhnhaké:ton of the Kanien'kehá:ka Nation was instructed by Juno to seek the Assassins, so he traveled to the Davenport Homestead. A depressed Achilles angrily refused multiple times, but relented and took Ratonhnhaké:ton on as his apprentice after seeing him fight off a group of colonial mercenaries who had come to kill the Assassin Mentor.[1]
Achilles then spent years teaching Ratonhnhaké:ton the ways of the Assassin Order, and gave him the name of "Connor" to honor his own son's memory, and to let Ratonhnhaké:ton blend in with the colonists.[1]
Over the years, Connor and Achilles worked together to improve the Homestead by inviting craftsman, farmers, and merchants to live on the lands near to the manor and encourage trade. In time, the Homestead expanded and evolved into a small, tight-knit community.[1]
The Homestead residents gathering to fight off Quincent's attack on Ellen's home
At its peak, the Homestead included a mill, a carpenter, farmers, hunters, miners, tailors, a doctor, a blacksmith, a church, and an inn. The Homestead also held a small dock for the Assassins' ship, the Aquila, which was overseen by first mate and Assassin Robert Faulkner.[1]
For the residents, the Homestead was seen as a second chance, as many had lost their homes and professions due to attacks from mercenaries or the British Army. During some instances, the Homestead came under attack when these groups sought retribution, but Connor always made sure his friends were safe.[1]
The Homestead residents attending Achilles' funeral
In 1781, Achilles' health began to decline, and he passed away peacefully inside the manor. In a final letter to Connor, Achilles left him the Homestead.[1]
Achilles expressed his hope that Connor would understand that the Homestead had blossomed into a thriving community that could serve as an example of what a united America could become. Connor then buried Achilles next to his wife and son on the hilltop nearby, which overlooked the sea, as fellow Homestead residents paid their respects.[1]
Later in 1783, Connor returned to the graves of the Davenport family to bury an amulet in Connor Davenport's resting place, thinking it would be one of the most obscure locations that anyone would look for it; for some reason, the Homestead vanished from historical records during the early 19th century. In December 2012, Desmond Miles, Connor's descendant, returned to the grave and dug up the amulet, before using it to access the inner chambers of the Grand Temple.[1]
In 1804, after the Haitian Revolution had ended, the Haitian Assassin Eseosa received an invitation from Connor, asking him to travel to the Homestead to receive additional training, giving him the skills he would need to return to Haiti and liberate the young country from Jean-Jacques Dessalines, its brutal tyrant.[3]
Layout
The Homestead referred to a large forested area on the east coast of Massachusetts, north of Boston. Two rivers cut through the land, one near the northern part of the property, and one through the middle of the region.[1]
As more people began to move on the Homestead, the land became more settled. Parts of the forest were cleared to make way for new homes and shops, and more roads were established to connect the manor, port, and residents together.[1]
A primary pathway linked together Ellen, David, Oliver, Lance, Lyle, and Godfrey and Terry's businesses with Timothy's church, the Davenport Manor, and the Aquila's docking port. Warren's farm, Norris' mine, and Myriam's hunting cabin were located on the outskirts of the Homestead.[1]
Several animals could also be hunted at the Homestead, including fox, elk, deer, beavers, raccoon, wolves, and hares.[1]
Manor
The manor's secret room
The central hub of the Homestead was the Davenport Manor, where Achilles and Connor resided. The manor overlooked a small cove where ships could dock and it also had stables nearby.[1]
The first floor contained a kitchen, dining room, a reading room, and Achilles' bedroom. The second floor hosted Connor's bedroom, a gallery room of paintings and trophies (as well as a copy of Common Sense), another room storing books and letters, and a fourth room.
The fourth room on the second floor served as Achilles’ intelligence center prior to the Seven Years War. In it he kept research of Apples of Eden and or crystal balls, a blood vial, and a crystal skull. When the Voynich manuscript was recovered, it was kept in this room.
On one of the walls, Achilles had collected intel on Diego Vázquez, Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer, Antonio de Ulloa, Haytham Kenway, Reginald Birch, Lawrence Washington, Jack Weeks, Samuel Smith, James Wardrop, François de la Serre, Charles Gabriel Sivert, Chrétien Lafrenière, François-Thomas Germain and Charlotte Lévesque.
There were also maps of Haiti on the wall with the location of the Port-au-Prince Temple circled.
Later when Ratonhnhaké:ton moved in, the room was converted into a display room for the inventions that had been crafted for Connor after he had found their recipes in Benjamin Franklin's almanac pages.[1]
The basement, which could be accessed by pulling a candelabra behind the staircase, stored a practice dummy, Assassin outfits, a board of information on the Templars and an armory storing muskets with bayonets, as well as all of Connor's weapons.[1]
Below the portraits of the Templars there was a table where Ratonhnhaké:ton kept mementos from the Templars’ deaths. The mementos included William Johnson’s beadwork, John Pitcairn’s gorget, Thomas Hickey’s sash, Nicholas Biddle’s spyglass, Benjamin Church’s watch, Haytham Kenway’s hidden blade, and the Grand Temple Key which served as Charles Lee’s memento.
Trivia
- Shay Cormac could attempt to access the basement in the manor in Assassin's Creed: Rogue, however the secret door remained jammed.
- After Legacy, Achilles' position at the Fanorona table in the Homestead would be replaced by Father Timothy.
- There is a box with epaulettes and a Badge of Military Merit in it. Historically it is impossible for Achilles to have the badge as it was awarded in 1780, however it was in Achilles' manor in 1752.
- There is a copy of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense that could be found in the manor. Achilles had a copy of the book in 1752, however the book wasn’t finished until 1776.
- During the memory Lessons and Revelations, in the room that would later become Connor’s trophy room, a trunk can be found with the Yggdrasil symbol on it.
- The painting The Death of General Wolfe can be found in the manor. The Templar William Johnson is in the painting.
- A painting of Etow Oh Koam can be found in the manor.
- One of William Russell Birch’s prints, South East Corner of Third and Market Streets, from his book “Birch's Views of Philadelphia” can be found in the manor.
Gallery
References