American Rite of the Templar Order

**Ratonhnhaké:ton**: "*What is it the Templars truly seek?*"
**Haytham Kenway**: "*Order. Purpose. Direction. No more than that.*"
―Ratonhnhaké:ton and Haytham Kenway, discussing the Colonial Templars' goals, 1778.

## Organizational information

### Related groups

TemplarsBritish Empire

Assassins (1777-1778)

Confederate States

United States

Abstergo Industries

## Historical information

### Date reorganized

c. 1790s

The **American Rite of the Templar Order**, formerly known as the **Colonial Rite of the Templar Order** prior to the American Revolutionary War, is the rite of the Templar Order whose operations are based in the United States. Haytham Kenway of the British Rite officially founded the Colonial Rite in 1754, becoming its first Grand Master, in order to find a suspected Precursor storehouse, on the orders of the British Rite's Grand Master Reginald Birch.

The Colonial Rite, which operated in both the Thirteen Colonies and Canada, played a significant role in guiding the course of the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, with aim to usurp control of the newly forming nation. However, the Templars' plans were ultimately disrupted by the reformed Colonial Assassins, and in particular, the Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton.

Following the creation of the United States, the Rite reorganized itself into the American Rite. By 1863, the Rite was led by Grand Master William M. Tweed and was trying to influence the outcome of the American Civil War.

## History

### Pre-formation

#### A New World

In 1398, the Scottish Templar Knight, James Gunn, was said to have been part of Henry Sinclair's expedition to the New World. The expedition was believed to have reached Nova Soctia and Massachusetts.

### Salem Witch Trials

In 1692, once the Templars Samuel Parris and William Stoughton arrived in Salem, there they started a witch hunt for a precursor artifact. Having discovered that the Assassins Tom Stoddard and Jennifer Querry had come to Salem to hunt for the precursor artifact, Stoughton used Salem townsfolk to hunt and kill the Assassins, an idea that Parris objected. They eventually caught up to the Assassins in a swamp and Stoughton let the injured Querry go so that they could follow her to Stoddard and the seer Dorothy's location. Stoddard, thinking that Jennifer was a traitor, attacked her. Stoughton took this opportunity to assault Stoddard and tied the trio up.

Stoughton tortured the Assassins for information and threatened to hurt the mute boy David, secretly Querry's son. Querry offered to give them information when Consus once again possessed Dorothy, Querry took upon the opportunity to kill a guard and free Stoddard when Stoughton shot her dead. Then Stoddard then tried to free Dorothy and David when Stoughton shot him in the arm. However, after Stoughton revealed that he was going to experiment on the captured women to replicate the Precursor oracle, Dorothy killed herself. Then Stoughton threatened to kill Stoddard when Samuel Parris interfered and shot Stoughton in both shoulders. Parris turned his pistol on Stoddard, declaring that he'll leave no witnesses to his horror. However, the Assassin was able to convince him to stand down and asked that he honor Osborne's death. Parris then gave Stoddard the keys to the cells so he would take the accused women and the mute boy David to freedom, and reminded that not all Templars should be judged the same while declaring to Stoughton that their mission in Salem was done.

#### Search for Isu Temples

In 1738, Grand Master Reginald Birch named British Templar Lawrence Washington Master Templar of the British colonies in the New World, and tasked him with locating Precursor sites and other First Civilization relics. Once in the New World, Washington recruited a number of members into the Order, such as Samuel Smith and William Johnson, and also made contact with the famed explorer Christopher Gist.

Around this time, Gist got acquainted with Jack Weeks, a young thief who was trying to pickpocket him. Gist was impressed by the kid's audacious attitude and hired him as an errand boy.

In 1750, Birch sent the Templar agent George Monro to assist Washington in his search for the Temple. Additonally, Gist introduced Weeks to Monro, who agreed to hire him as his assistant. Eventually, seeing the skills of the man, Monro taught Weeks about the Templar Order and in 1751 he officially inducted him and Gist.

That same year, after the earthquake of Port-au-Prince, the Templars took two relics from the Haitian Assassins, a Precursor box and the Voynich manuscript. In July 1752, in his plantation at Mount Vernon, Washington passed the two artifacts to Samuel Smith and James Wardrop, before being killed by the Assassin Shay Cormac.

Afterwards, Wardrop took over as the *de facto* head of the Templars in the colonies, while Smith traveled to Europe in order to find a scientist who could make the box work. In 1754, following his return to America, Smith was killed by Shay Cormac, who claimed the box for the Assassins. That same year, during the Albany Congress, the Templar William Johnson came in contact with Benjamin Franklin to see if the scientist could make the artifacts work, however, Shay Cormac killed Wardrop before he could pass the manuscript over to Johnson and recovered the artifact.

### Founding

In April 1754, British Templar Haytham Kenway acquired a mysterious key when killing Miko, the leader of the British Assassins. After further examination, the Templars concluded it was the key to a Precursor site and Reginald Birch sent Haytham to the colonies to find the site. On July 8th, Haytham arrived in Boston, and was greeted by Charles Lee, a hopeful young man wishing to join the Templar Order. With Charles' help, Haytham sought to gather four Templars that Reginald Birch had arranged for Haytham to recruit to his quest: William Johnson, Thomas Hickey, surgeon Benjamin Church, and the British captain John Pitcairn.

Meeting Johnson in the Green Dragon Tavern, Haytham learned that the Assassin had stolen Johnson's research on the native tribes. With Charles and Thomas Hickey, Johnson's assistant and Templar, Haytham reclaimed the chest with Johnson's research. Now with his papers, Johnson concluded that the symbols on the Grand Temple key were from a tribe known as the Kanien'kehá:ka, and that they would need their aid to find the Temple. Haytham and Charles searched for Benjamin Church, but discovered that he had been abducted by Silas Thatcher, a cruel British officer who demanded protection money. Fortunately, Haytham and Charles managed to save him from Silas' assistant, Cutter.

Later, Haytham and Charles tried to recruit John Pitcairn, but British General Edward Braddock, a former Templar and brother-in-arms of Haytham, refused to let Pitcairn leave the British Army, believing he was a deserter. Some time after, Haytham and Charles attacked the guards who were escorting Pitcairn and freed him. Learning that Thatcher had a group of Kanien'kehá:ka slaves, Haytham and his brothers decided to infiltrate Southgate Fort as British soldiers and free the natives in exchange for the location of the Grand Temple.

The Templars stole a slave carriage where a native woman, Kaniehtí:io, was a prisoner. Arriving at the fort, the young woman fled the carriage to free the natives. The Templars and Kaniehtí:io succeeded in liberating the slaves, which created a fight between the guards and the prisoners. During the battle, Church shot Thatcher in the head. When the natives left the fort, Kaniehtí:io smiled to Haytham as a sign of gratitude.

In 1755, Haytham and Charles searched for Kaniehtí:io in the Frontier. When they found her, the woman tried to run away, but Haytham managed to catch her. The Templar explained to her why he needed her help, but Kaniehtí:io refused, before Haytham tried to prove that he could be trusted. Haytham promised to help the natives stop the British expeditions into their territory. During their investigation, they discovered that with the outbreak of the French and Indian War, the British Government had arranged for Edward Braddock to lead an expedition to the French-controlled Fort Duquesne.

In July, the combined assault of Haytham's Rite and the Kanien'kehá:ka tribes, together with a timely assault by the French Army, led the destruction of the expedition, and the presumed death of Edward Braddock at Haytham's hands. True to her word, Kaniehtí:io led Haytham to the Precursor site, though the latter was disappointed to find little more than a cave.

Later, Haytham returned to the Green Dragon, and explained to his brothers that the Kanien'kehá:ka cave had led to nothing. He decided to officially establish the Colonial Rite of the Templar Order with him as the Grand Master, and inducted Charles Lee into their ranks. The Templars would continue to search for the Temple and help the unification of the colonies by aiding the British Crown against the French.

### Purge of the Colonial Assassins

In 1756, Monro's men saved Shay Cormac, who was left for dead after he betrayed the Assassin Brotherhood. On Shay, Monro found the Voynich manuscript. Understanding his allegiance, Monro sent the Assassin to Barry and Cassidy Finnegan, a couple who had a son in the Templar Order, to recover from his wounds for weeks. By June, the Finnegans were attacked by an Assassin-allied gang. Monro wanted to attack their headquarters but Shay, who had recovered, arrived first and killed their leader.

Seeing the potential of Shay, Monro convinced him to work for him without revealing he was a Templar. Shay agreed to help the colonel to rebuild the city. Later, Gist was captured by the same gang who attacked the Finnegans. Monro sent Shay to save Gist in Fort Arsenal. With Gist safe, Shay reclaimed the fort as well as the *Morrigan,* his ship when he was an Assassin, and made Gist his quartermaster. Afterward, Shay, Gist and Monro navigated through the River Valley to attack a French fort which was disrupting Monro's operations. Shay infiltrated the fort and met Le Chasseur, an Assassin ally, who was surprised to see Shay still alive. Shay fought Le Chasseur and ending up killing him. In his last moment, Le Chasseur revealed that the Assassins planned to poison the officials of New York City. Shay returned to the city to stop his former allies. With Monro, he planned to destroy the gas factory of the Assassin. After the explosion, Shay was joined by Monro, Gist, William Johnson, and Jack Weeks. Surprised, Shay understood he had to help his former enemies, but kept his thoughts to himself.

In 1757, George Monro was assigned to Fort William Henry which was threatened by the French. So, Monro sent the Voynich manuscript to Shay to keep it safe and revealed his allegiance. Shay decided to save the colonel with Gist and Weeks. After the Siege of Fort William Henry, the British troops were authorized by Louis-Joseph de Montcalm to leave the fort but were attacked by the Abenaki led by the Assassin Kesegowaase. Shay arrived to save Monro but was recognize by Kesegowaase. During their escape, Shay wounded the Assassin with an explosion which scarred his face.

Later, Monro learned that Kesegowaase prepared an attack on Albany. The colonel decided to prepare the defense of the city and send Shay to help the Oneida, a native tribe allied with the British, who were attacked by Kesegowaase's men. In November, Shay arrived in Albany when the Assassins attacked the city. In the fort, Shay gave the Voynich manuscript to Monro. Kesegowaase arrived but was killed by Shay with a Puckle gun. At the same time, Monro was mortally wounded by the Assassin and Shay's former best friend Liam O'Brien who took the manuscript. Shay arrived in the burning house to save the colonel but it was too late. With his last breath, Monro passed his Templar ring to Shay, trusting him to continue his work.

In 1758, Shay was officially inducted into the Templar Order by Haytham Kenway who was just returned from Europe. Learning of Assassin activities near Louisbourg, Shay, Gist and Haytham joined Captain James Cook on the HMS *Pembroke*. The captain informed them that a British fleet would attack the fort. Concerned about the defense of the fort, the Templars decided to help the British, with Shay commanding the *Pembroke*. During the battle, the *Experto Crede,* the ship of Adéwalé, a Caribbean Assassin, helped the French Navy. The Assassin ship fled the battle, but the Templars decided to destroy the fireships and were later joined by the British Navy. With the British victory, the Templars could focus on the Colonial Assassins. Later, Shay, Gist and Haytham found Adéwalé and after a battleship between the *Morrigan* and the *Experto Crede,* the Assassin beached his ship to escape from his enemies. Haytham decided to serve as a diversion thereby Shay could kill Adéwalé. With the death of Adéwalé, the Assassins suffered a loss of morale.

By 1759, the Assassin Mentor Achilles Davenport, Liam O'Brien, Hope Jensen and Chevalier de la Vérendrye met in New York to use the Voynich manuscript and the Precursor box to find another Temple. Shay eavesdropped their conversation and informed Haytham and Weeks about the Assassins' plan. With the help of Weeks, Shay impersonated gang members and turned the British guards against the Assassins which led to the attack of Hope Jensen's mansion. On the roof, Shay saw Liam leave with the box and the manuscript but Hope shot the window where Shay was spying. With Shay on the ground, Hope tried to poison him with gasses but the Templar left the mansion. Hope, seeing that, threw a poison knife at Shay and Shay was forced to kill her to take the antidote. In her last moment, she gave the information that Chevalier had the artifacts.

After the assassination of Hope Jensen, Shay and Gist assisted the Royal Navy against the French Navy during the Battle of Labrador in Labrador, Canada, New France. They fought off the first wave of the French fleet sent to protect their coast, and afterwards sunk French flagship, the *Couronne* and her supporting ships.

In late 1759 in the North Atlantic, Shay Cormac and Christopher Gist sailed with the Royal Navy to hunt down the most dangerous pirates operating in the far North who had made a fortune terrorizing the trade ships of the North Atlantic. Shay sank the *Cauldron* captained by William Crest and the *Pilgrim* captained by Joseph "The Aristocrat" Reed supported by the French, eliminating one of the few remainders of piracy in the Atlantic.

Around the same time, the English had established dominance over the Arctic seas, and the French government prepared a fleet led by the Assassins' most powerful ship, the *Storm Fortress,* in a desperate attempt at regaining control. Shay and Gist sailed the *Morrigan* with the support of British gunboats, when they neared the *Storm Fortress* in the midst of a storm, the gunboats was destroyed by its carronades. When the *Storm Fortress* was damaged severely, it was joined by two other Men O'War, the *Argonaut* and the *Sceptre.* However, the *Morrigan* was able to sink the *Storm Fortress* and her escorts, thus maintaining the British hold on the Arctic seas.

In 1760, with the help of James Cook, Shay found the location of de la Vérendrye in the North Atlantic and boarded his ship, the *Gerfaut.* After a duel, Shay defeated Chevalier but discovered that the Assassin served as a distraction to give enough time for Achilles and Liam to reach the Temple. In his anger, Shay threw the Assassin in the cold water.

By March 1760, the Templars had tracked Achilles and Liam to a Precursor Temple in the Arctic Ocean. Shay and Haytham infiltrated the Assassins camp and arrived in the vault at the same time as Achilles and Liam. Achilles understood that Shay was right about the Seismic Temples and forbid Liam to touch the object. Shay and Liam argued and Liam tried to shoot Shay, but Achilles interrupted him which caused the artifact to fall and the Temple to collapse. During their escape, Liam revealed he had the manuscript, but that Chevalier hid the box. Shay managed to reach Liam to fight him but the ice platform collapsed and the two former friends fell into a waterfall. Shay survived, but Liam died from the fall. Recovering the manuscript, Shay joined Haytham who had followed Achilles and bested the Mentor in a sword fight. While Haytham wanted to execute him, Shay demanded to spare his life to let the Assassins know the Precursor sites are dangerous. Achilles agreed, but as a mean of insurance, Haytham crippled him with a shot to the leg. Later on the *Morrigan,* Haytham tasked Shay to find the Precursor box while the other Templars eradicated the last Assassins.

In November 1760, a group of Templars led by Lee assaulted a young Kanien'kehá:ka boy named Ratonhnhaké:ton who, unbeknownst to them was the son of Haytham and Kaniehtí:io. They asked him for the location of his village, so that they could speak to the natives about the Grand Temple; stubbornly, the boy told them nothing, and was knocked out. Although the village was burned down by George Washington, Ratonhnhaké:ton believed Lee and his cohorts were responsible.

Finally giving up their search for the Grand Temple, the Templars focused on strengthening their influence in the colonies. In 1763, the Colonial Rite launched an attack on the Davenport Homestead, which served as a base of operations for the remaining Colonial Assassins. Killing those who remained, the Templars once again spared Achilles' life when he agreed to cease all Assassin activities in the colonies.

### Revolutionary War

After defeating the Assassins, the Templars gained more influence with the accumulation of the taxes and the lack of representation in Parliament, a revolutionary fever began to grip the British colonies. And the Templars attempted to influence both sides, in order to achieve a less violent independence of the Colonies and to create a Templar state. Johnson traded with the natives to protect them. Pitcairn, who became Major, was known as a peace keeper and was respected by Boston citizens. Church joined the Sons of Liberty, a Patriot group that collected information, but he also betrayed them and the Templars by communicating with the British forces. Unknown to the Templars, however, the Colonial Assassins had begun to rebuild; Ratonhnhaké:ton, the illegitimate son of Haytham Kenway, had begun his training with Achilles Davenport.

Then on 5 March 1770, in Boston, after the Private Hugh White wounded Edward Garrick, a crowd mobbed around the Old State House to reclaim justice. Haytham sent one of his associates to shoot on the soldiers and cause an outbreak of fighting, but Ratonhnhaké:ton killed him before he could complete his mission. As a back up plan, Charles Lee shot into the air. The British soldiers, believing it was the crowd, opened fire on the mob, killing five people and leaving many wounded. This event increased the anger of the people against the British Crown. Six months later, Church inducted into the Templar Order a junior officer of the British Navy: Nicholas Biddle.

In 1773, Templar ships began to attack Nantucket's coast as British ships made the region unstable. The same year, William Johnson sought to purchase land from the Iroquois to protect them if the colonists wanted to take their territory. To finance his project, Johnson smuggled tea into Boston, which was more expensive after the Tea Act and also extorted the citizens of Boston with tax collectors. But Ratonhnhaké:ton, with the help of Stephane Chapheau and the Sons of Liberty, foiled his plan and threw his tea into the Boston Harbor during the Tea Party. Six months later, Johnson gathered the money to purchase the Iroquois land, but during the meeting with the natives, Ratonhnhaké:ton killed him.

In April 1775, John Pitcairn hoped to end the budding Revolutionary War before it truly began. With a British Army, the Templar went to Lexington to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock and negotiate with them. But the meeting of the British Army and the Patriots turned into an armed conflict. In Concord, Pitcairn retreated after his troops suffered heavy losses by the militia commanded by Ratonhnhaké:ton. With the beginning of the Siege of Boston by the Patriots, the war was declared.

With the creation of the Continental Army, Templars placed many men in the rebel side. Charles Lee, who wanted to become the Commander-in-Chief, was made the second-in-command as George Washington was elected as the Commander of the Continental Army. Church became the Surgeon General, Hickey was made a private guard of Washington and Biddle became a captain of the Continental Navy. During the Battle of Bunker Hill, Pitcairn tried to negotiate peace but was killed by Ratonhnhaké:ton who believed he wanted to assassinate Adams and Hancock. At the end of the year, Church was arrested for intelligence with the British and expelled from the Templar Order.

In 1775, the former slave and Louisiana Templar George Davidson abandoned the Patriot cause to serve in Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment and reunited with Titus Cornelius to fight together against their former masters once he was informed that Lord John Murray Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, had issued a proclamation offering freedom to any slave who would join the Loyalist forces.

During the revolution, the British Army officer and Templar, Matthew Davenport, fought fiercely and with equal skill to that of his strategizing. Matthew also sent his daughter, Eleanor Mallow, on Templar-related missions of the most sensitive caliber against the Assassins and Eleanor also hid her identity.

The Templars wanted to kill Washington, thereby Lee could take his charge. Haytham asked Thomas Hickey to accomplish this mission. In June 1776, Ratonhnhaké:ton tried to kill him in New York but was arrested with his target for forgery, as Hickey trafficked false money in the city. Sent to Bridewell Prison, Hickey and Lee managed to charge the prison director's murder on Ratonhnhaké:ton and also the conspiracy to assassinate Washington. The next day, Lee put the Assassin on scaffold but Haytham, who had understood Ratonhnhaké:ton was his son, threw a knife at the rope. With the panic, Hickey tried to kill Washington but was assassinated by Ratonhnhaké:ton.

During the year, the Templars continued to attack Nantucket with British ships to force the Continental Congress to give more ships to Biddle. With his ship the USS *Randolph**,* Biddle was tasked to escort *La Belladonna* to supply the Continental Army but he sent Templars ships to attack *La Belladonna.* Ratonhnhaké:ton defended the ship with the *Aquila* and killed the Templar Admiral. At the end of the year, Lee was captured by the British Army and gave information on the Continental Army to weaken Washington's position as commander. During the surprise attack of Trenton, the German colonel and Templar Johann Rall was killed by Assassins.

In the winter of 1777, Officer George Davidson operated in a fort located in the New York Frontier. However, his collaboration with the "Company Man" attracted the attention of Assassin Aveline de Grandpré, and the Assassin Connor who helped her seeking a Templar called "Officer Davidson." While Davidson and a few of his men were in the watchtower of the fort, Aveline infiltrated the fort and Connor created distractions against Davidson's reinforcements.

When confronted by Aveline, who questioned Davidson's allegiances, Davidson replied that his freedom had been guaranteed by Loyalists in return for his service. They subsequently engaged Aveline in battle until a sudden explosion set off by Connor was heard. Following this, Davidson locked Aveline inside the watchtower and attempted to escape the fort in a gunpowder carriage until fired at one of the barrels inside Davidson's carriage as he rode by, mortally wounding the Templar in the process. Davidson revealed her step-mother, Madeleine de L'Isle, was the "Company Man" before passing away.

In 1778, Benjamin Church was liberated and stole Continental Army supplies. Ratonhnhaké:ton was charged by Washington to find the stock and met his father, who wanted to kill Church for his treason. After an argument where Haytham exposed his true goals of the Templars to his son, the two decided to ally their forces to kill Church. The two went to New York but it was only a trap. Church had fled to Martinique. With the *Aquila,* Ratonhnhaké:ton and Haytham boarded Church's ship, the *Welcome,* and killed Church. Later, Ratonhnhaké:ton boarded the *Randolph* and defeated Biddle. He let the captain sink with his ship.

Continuing their alliance, Haytham and Ratonhnhaké:ton learned that the British would attack from New York. Haytham wanted to inform Lee, but his son decided to reveal this information to Washington. Arriving in Valley Forge, to show Washington's true colors, Haytham revealed that it was Washington who burned Ratonhnhaké:ton's village eighteen years before. Washington also ordered a new attack on Kanatahséton, due to his suspicions of them allying with the British. Ratonhnhaké:ton understood that his father hid this information for a long time, then he decided to cut ties with Haytham and Washington. Lee informed Kanatahséton of the attack and convinced them to join the British. He also persuaded Ratonhnhaké:ton's friend, Kanen'tó:kon, that the Assassin betrayed his people.

During the Battle of Monmouth, Lee sabotaged the preparation of the Continental Army but Ratonhnhaké:ton helped the soldiers to retreat. Afterwards, Lee was judged as a traitor and was suspended from duty.

In July 1778, during the Battle of Wyoming, the Continental officer and Templar George Dorrance who displaced several Iroquois villages, was killed by the Assassins.

In August 1780, the Major General and Templar Johann de Kalb was killed by the Assassins during the Battle of Cadmen.

    In September 1781, Ratonhnhaké:ton, seeking out Charles Lee, who was in Fort George in New York. The Assassin infiltrated the Fort during the bombing raid by French ships but was hurt by an explosion. Ratonhnhaké:ton confronted his father, who let Lee flee with the Grand Temple Key. After a brutal fight, the Templar Grand Master forced his son to kill him, and Charles Lee rose to hold the position in his stead.

At least three months later, in 1782, a funeral was held for Kenway and presided over by Charles Lee, but was interrupted by the arrival of Ratonhnhaké:ton. Charles had the Assassin detained, before making preparations to travel to Boston. Eventually, the Assassin caught up with Lee once more, and after a rugged pursuit, tracked the man down, killed him at the Last Drink Inn in Monmouth, and took the Grand Temple Key. Lee's death marked the collapse of the Colonial Rite, and the end of Templar influence in North America, for a time.

At some point, Edmund Judge joined the Templar Order. By 1784, Edmund had left his Templar mores, living and working by his own rules to the day he was killed by Aveline de Grandpré with the help of Patience Gibbs.

In August 1785, the Governor of Connecticut and Templar Jonathan Trumbull was killed by Assassins.

The Coyote Man was a Native American who allied himself with the Templars and was responsible for the death of one of the Mentors of the Assassin Order at some point during the 18th century.

In 1794, the American Rite was contacted by Frederick Weatherall, who sent appeals asking them to support the overthrown de la Serre family against François-Thomas Germain and his extremists. Though they lent their sympathies, they offered no support, as the Parisian Rite ran smoothly, making Élise de la Serre's request for support of marginal interest. It was also likely that Germain had contacted them and convinced them that overthrowing the de la Serre family was necessary.

### Modern times

In 1952, the Federal Bureau of Investigation were investigating Jack Parsons for selling state secrets to the Communists. A group of FBI agents, alongside a woman from Abstergo Industries, came to confront his colleague Thomas Sean Morgan in Pasadena for information on his true activities.

In 1983, Abstergo Industries orphaned a kidnapped young boy, who they brought to their Philadelphia facility. There, Warren Vidic began to experiment on Subject 4 of the Animus Project, a young boy who would later be named "Daniel Cross," placing Daniel into the Animus to relive the memories of his ancestor. Using a replicated Piece of Eden, Warren embedded Daniel with a subconscious impulse to assassinate the Mentor of the Assassin Order, were he ever presented with the opportunity.

In 1986, Alan Rikkin lead a team of Templar agents to capture members of the Lynch family to find an Apple of Eden as they had discovered that their bloodline lead to the Spanish Assassin Aguilar de Nerha. When they arrived, Mary was dead, killed by Joseph Lynch to prevent the Templars from finding it and Callum Lynch escaped. Joseph was captured while his son ran away.

In 2000, an Assassin compound in Texas was located and destroyed by Abstergo during the "Great Purge."

Sometime before October 2011, in an underground Abstergo Industries facility beneath Denver International Airport, Daniel Cross was the Project Lead on an experiment involving the Eye-Abstergo satellite, however Daniel fell under the influence of the Project's Apple of Eden and killed everyone in the facility before the company's clean-up crew had arrived and the artifact was ultimately destroyed. Dr. Warren Vidic was responsible for preparing the final report of the incident.

As of 2014, there was a Grand Master operating in the United States. That year, Alan Rikkin sent a memo to Gramática informing him that, if they proceeded with his plan to excavate the Observatory located in Long Bay, Jamaica and retrieve the missing blood vials, which Gramática considered to be of critical importance to the Phoenix Project, he would contact the Grand Masters in Cuba, Mexico, and the United States to get a read on the situation.

In 21 October 2016, Dr. Sofia Rikkin had Callum's execution staged and brought him to the Abstergo Foundation, a Templar run initiative led by Sofia Rikkin in Madrid, Spain.

## Members

### Colonial Rite of the Templar Order

* Nicholas Biddle
* Benjamin Church
* Shay Cormac
* Coyote Man
* Matthew Davenport
* George Dorrance
* Christopher Gist
* Thomas Hickey
* Barry and Cassidy Finnegan's son
* William Johnson
* Edmund Judge
* Johann de Kalb
* Haytham Kenway (Grand Master, 1754 - 1781)
* Charles Lee (Grand Master, 1781 - 1782)
* Eleanor Mallow
* Man O'War captain
* Gillian McCarthy
* George Monro (British Rite)
* Federico Perez
* John Pitcairn
* Johann Rall
* Gerhard von Stantten
* Jonathan Trumbull
* Jack Weeks
* Victor Wolcott

### American Rite of the Templar Order

* Nelson W. Aldrich
* Buzz Aldrin
* Alice
* Richard B. Connolly
* Shay Cormac
* "Cudgel" Cormac
* Daniel Cross
* Henry Pomeroy Davison
* Thomas Edison
* Harvey Firestone
* Henry Ford
* A. Oakey Hall
* Lyndon B. Johnson
* Edmund Judge
* American Grand Master (Grand Master; c. 2014)
* John Pierpont Morgan
* John von Neumann
* Charles Norton
* Ransom Eli Olds
* John Roberts
* Charles W. Sandford
* Lucy Stillman
* Benjamin Strong, Jr.
* Peter B. Sweeny
* William M. Tweed (Grand Master; c. 1863)
* Frank A. Vanderlip
* Joseph Vidic
* Warren Vidic
* Paul Warburg
* Harry Dexter White

### Allies and puppets

#### Colonial Rite of the Templar Order

**Seven Years' War**

* David Borgen
* James Cook
* Benjamin Franklin
* Charles Gabriel Sivert (Parisian Rite)

**American Revolutionary War**

* George Davidson (Louisiana Rite)
* Hugh Jackson
* John Boyd
* "Twitch"
* Ratonhnhaké:ton (Colonial Brotherhood; 1777 - 1778)
* Kanen'tó:kon

#### American Rite of the Templar Order

**American Civil War**

* John Wilkes Booth
* Ulysses S. Grant

**Early 20th century**

* Franklin D. Roosevelt

**Late 20th Century**

* Gerald Ford
* Henry Kissinger
* Lee Harvey Oswald
* Ransom Eli Olds
* Richard Nixon
* William Greer

**21st Century**

* Dick Cheney
* Donald Evans
* Grace Collins
* Condoleezza Rice
* Donald Rumsfeld
* Antonin Scalia
* George W. Bush
* Paul Wolfowitz

## Trivia

* Lesser known Colonial Templars were the targets of assassination contracts accepted by Ratonhnhaké:ton.
* Other lesser known Colonial Templars were the targets of district liberation missions in Boston and New York.

## Appearances

* *Assassin's Creed II -* Glyphs
* *Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy*
* *Assassin's Creed: The Fall*
* *Assassin's Creed: Revelations -* Abstergo Files
* *Assassin's Creed III*
* *Assassin's Creed: Forsaken*
* *Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Aveline*
* *Assassin's Creed: Rogue*
* *Assassin's Creed Volume 1: Trial by Fire*
* *Deus Ex: Invisible War*