Wilberforce or Will for short was born in Denver Colorado on 13th of May 1884 to Irish settled parents who owned a wheat and dairy farm. Spending his youth helping his parents on the farm and studying his passion for history he completed his local schooling finishing second in his class before moving at the age of 19 to Columbia Missouri to complete his master’s degree in archaeology at the university of MissouriCompleting his studies in 1909 he worked odd jobs to pay off his tuition (age 25)
When war struck in 1917 Wilberforce eagerly joined up to serve his country seeing it as his duty to serve his country (age 33, so he was an old guy among 18 year olds. They made him corporal or something relatively quickly)
He joined the 106th infantry regiment and saw action in the 2nd battle of the Somme.
His ability as a scout was noted and he was used to provide information for commanders about the enemy's defensive set ups.
At the end of the war he decided to continue his studies at the university of new york where he gained his Doctorate in Archaeology
He fell in love with a blonde bombshell named Tilly from Detroit who was trying to make it big in the Big Apple on Broadway as a singer and dancer they were married in spring 1922 and are currently living in an apartment on the upper east side expecting the couple's first child together.
His wife has been very successful regarding her Broadway career. So successful that you got worried. She was making a lot of money, hanging out with wealthy and successful people, while Will was… well… digging in dirt. She became very friendly with Janet Winston – Rogers, the daughter of a very wealthy industrialist, and married to Horatio Rogers, also an industrialist. Her dresses cost probably more than Will’s car…
Tilly dragged him to one of the big soirees of Janet, where he met her father, Walter Winston. The two got talking and before you knew it, Will had found a little place to sit down and have some serious (and heated) discussion about archaeology and history. He took a liking to Will and invited him to meet a few of his friends, among who F.C Kuhlman, a wheelchair bound academic and brilliant mind.
After a few hours, the topics moved from archaeology and history also into the occult. When they noticed Will to be relatively open minded, they shared their ideas on that as well. Will had the impression that these men knew a lot more than they were sharing and felt like he was being assessed.
In 1923 he was offered the chance to join the Transjordan archaeological expedition, an expedition that he normally would never have been able to be part of. After a little bit of research, he found out that it was Walter (or rather his money), that had bought him and his wife a spot on this adventure. Will kept writing letter to Walter, but after a while he didn’t receive any more replies.
After the expedition, they lived for a few years in Rome. Over the last few years, Will spend his time writing his book. In early 33 they returned to the States, having decided it was time to go back home. Will went on a lecture tour around the country's universities before returning to new york to become a lecturer
He wrote Walter a few letters upon his return to new york with no reply and eventually in mid 1936 he just pitched up at the door of Walter’s house.
The caretaker, Richard, allowed Will in, and spend a bit of time with him. Apparently Walter died earlier this year, and most of the collections have been auctioned off.
According to Richard Walter Winston was “eccentric”: claustrophobic and terrified of leaving the mansion, never going further than the back porch (not even into the yard).
He would occasionally fly into rages, demanding that the “filth” penetrating the mansion be cleansed. When Will walked around the house for a while, he started noticing a few strange patterns on the walls. Some kind of stains. Looking closely, they seem to resemble mouths.
He told Tilly about this, and she contacted her friend, Janet, to find out what had happened. They met in mid December 1934, and found out that Janet’s husband died last year, leaving Janet all alone. She was pleasant, but not her former self, and seemed distracted.
She did show a lot of interest in Will’s talk about the expedition and all, asking him if he had been to Ethiopia, and seemed disappointed when he said he hadn’t. After a while she even started to pry and ask if he had found anything strange, anything… occult. This seemed a very different woman from the dilettante they knew years ago.
You parted ways, Tilly called Janet a few times, but around New Year 1934, Will received a call from Janet, that she urgently needed to talk to him. A very important matter, in which she could use his help and his knowledge.
