| Henry Dreeson | |
| Fictional Character | |
| 1632 series POD: May, 1631 | |
| Appearance(s): | 1632; 1633; Ring of Fire; 1634: The Bavarian Crisis; 1635: The Dreeson Incident |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
| Nationality: | United States of Europe (born in the United States) |
| Religion: | Presbyterianism |
| Date of Birth: | c. 1934 |
| Date of Death: | March 4, 1635 |
| Cause of Death: | Assassination |
| Occupation: | Mayor of Grantville |
| Spouse: | Veronica Richter Dreeson |
Henry Dreeson was a Grantville resident and politician. He was the town's mayor at the time of the Ring of Fire.
Three days after the event, he and the town council realized they were not well equipped to handle the situation, and so proposed the creation of an emergency committee. Although he would continue on as mayor in the meantime, he suggested that the chairman for the committee be elected immediately. He also took himself out of the running right away, contending that at age sixty-six, he was much too old for the responsibility. After short debate, both John Chandler Simpson and Michael Stearns threw their hats into the ring (the latter unintentionally so). Stearns won overwhelmingly, and appointed Dreeson to his cabinet, despite Dreeson's misgivings.
Dreeson continued on in the position of mayor, and was tasked with managing the town's financial resources, rationing, and the like.
Dreeson remained an important figure in the town, particularly after he wooed and married Veronica Richter, grandmother of revolutionary firebrand Gretchen Richter.[1] Veronica herself was quite formidable, and both were consulted by the various politicians of the United States of Europe.
On March 4, 1635, while attempting to quiet an anti-Semitic demonstration in front of Grantville's new synagogue, Dreeson and Enoch Wiley were assassinated in sniper Mathurin Brillard, a follower of Michel Ducos, a radical French Huguenot whose attempt to assassinate Pope Urban VIII had been thwarted by Americans in 1634. Their deaths were meant to incriminate Cardinal Richelieu and to restart the USE's conflict with Catholic France. However, the so-called "Dreeson Incident" instead provoked a harsh expulsion and eradication of anti-Semites within the United States of Europe, as it was widely, though erroneously, believed that the deaths were part of an anti-Semitic plot. Many people remained unaware of the true purpose of the assassination except for a few, including Michael Stearns and spymaster Francisco Nasi, who used the incident to expel Germany's anti-Semites.
References[]
- ↑ Ring of Fire, "Biting Time"