Circle C Characters Overview

Here is where you can find details about Circle C characters and places. It's a "work in progress," and only a rough draft. Please feel free to comment and ask about other characters or point out characters you don't see here and would like me to add. Some characters may overlap between categories.

To find pictures and more details go to the new BEHIND THE SCENES blog.
1. Click on the series tab.
2. Click on the book link.
3. Click on the characters link.

CIRCLE C CHARACTERS

The Carter Family, as of 1884-85:

James Carter: died in a roundup accident in spring 1874 when Andi was almost 6.
Elizabeth Carter: has 3 younger siblings (Aaron, Rose, and Mark). Aaron never married. Rose married Clive Hamilton and moved to England. If they have children, nobody knows about it. The youngest, Mark, married Dorothy (Dolly), and they have one daughter, Sofia, who is Andi’s age. They live in Pittsburgh, Elizabeth’s home town. They have been out West once, when Andi was ten. A year later, Sofia died of scarlet fever.
Justin Thomas Carter: March 14, 1852; a lawyer; black hair, blue eyes. Married to Lucinda (Lucy) Hawkins September 1882. They have one son, Samuel James, born Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 1883, and they have a daughter, Andrea Grace, born November 15, 1884. They live in town (Fresno).
Chad Aaron Carter: August 19, 1853; runs the ranch; black hair, blue eyes; engaged to Ellianna (Ellie) Coulter from the Goldtown series.
Katherine (Kate) Grace Carter Swanson: February 28, 1855; black hair; blue eyes; married to Troy Swanson, a con man on the run. Three children: Levi (January 1871), Elizabeth (Betsy) (March 1874), and Hannah (July 1877). Since Troy is on the run from the law, Katherine moved in with Aunt Rebecca in San  Francisco.
Mitchell (Mitch) James Carter: April 10, 1858; blond hair, blue eyes; helps run the ranch; goes to Berkeley (University of California) to learn more about ranching; so far unmarried and not spoken for.
Melinda Jane Carter Wilson: January 31, 1863; blond hair, blue eyes; married to Peter Wilson October 18, 1884; they live in town. Peter works for his father’s bank.
Andrea (Andi) Rose Carter: May 20, 1868; black hair; blue eyes.
Rebecca Carter: James Carter’s older sister . . . by ten years. Lives in a mansion in San Francisco in the Pacific Heights district. Opened her home to Katherine and the children. Fussy and demanding older woman. She has a heart condition.
Benjamin Carter: James Carter’s twin brother. Married to Aunt Lydia. They have one son, Daniel, who is a couple years older than Andi. Daniel is pampered, as he is the only surviving child out of their four children. They live in New York City. 
Daniel Paul Carter: (November 10, 1865); Andi's first cousin; blond hair, blue eyes; a Mitch "look-a-like"; the youngest and only surviving child of Benjamin and Lydia (out of four children); a charming but spoiled young man, used to running things; has been in serious trouble in New York City and other places; is sent out West for a chance of reforming his character 

Ranch Hands:
Sid McCoy: head foreman of the Circle C ranch. Worked for the Carters for twenty years; bossy but big-hearted
Jake: blacksmith/farrier
Riley Jared Prescott (January 1867): Sid’s nephew; lived on the ranch for over two years when he was ages 8-10; his father, an army captain, was stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco. Riley’s mother was ill, so Uncle Sid took Riley in. When his mother was well enough, she came to the ranch at Christmas one year and stayed a year until she was completely well. Riley’s father was transferred to another fort and the family was reunited. Riley returned to the Circle C as a hired horse trainer (wrangler) when Andi is almost 16. She barely remembers him.
Luke, Brett: ranch hands
Cook (Manuel): Circle C’s main cook.
Marty: Cook’s assistant and cook-in-training
Wyatt: another foreman and longtime Circle C hand.
Rodrigo: Mexican harvest foreman in the orchards.
Diego: Mexican ranch hand; married to Luisa
José: Mexican ranch hand; married to Nila, whom Andi met on the in Long Ride Home.
Joselito: young, newer hand; son of José and Nila; brother to Rosa.
Flint Hadley: new ranch hand; Andi lassos better than he can

House servants:
Luisa: Mexican housekeeper; runs the house and oversees the meals; married to Diego
Nila: under Luisa; married to José; cared for Andi on the road in Long Ride Home.
Rosa: helps around the house; promised (and now married) to Hector, a vaquero (cowboy) from the nearby Bent Pine ranch; Rosa and her brother, Joselito, are the two surviving Garduno family. Three others perished in Mexico as infants: Pedro, Sarita, and Julio.
Li: the Wilsons' Chinese house servant

Friends/School Chums/Other young people:
Richard Cory Blake (March 1, 1867): blond, gray-blue eyes. Andi’s good friend. One year older. Known since she was six years old and he was seven years old. Likes to horse race and fish. Cory’s father runs the livery stable in town. Great friends but Andi has never seriously considered any friendship going further. But in fan stories, you can do what you want and imagine Andi and Cory married. Cory's father is Sam Blake, who runs the livery. His mother is Mary. He has twin sisters, Amy and Amanda, who are eight years younger than Cory. They are sweet-looking but a couple of holy terrors. 
Jack Goodwin (February 9, 1867): black hair; dark eyes. Father owns Goodwin’s Mercantile, a general store in town. Mother died a few years ago (open-ended, not sure how she died).
Johnny Wilson (January 1, 1866): dark hair; hazel eyes. The bane of Andi’s existence since she was 6 years old. Two years older than Andi. The class/town bully. Father is president of the Fresno County Bank (Charles). Mother is Margaret. Older brother, Peter, who marries Melinda.
Sadie Hollister (May 1, 1868): no-account, backwoods kids who like to cause mischief in town. Live on the border of the Circle C ranch and occasionally have disputes with the Carters over land, cattle, etc. 
Hollister Kids: (Their ages in 1877) Lily 13, Tom 12, Zeke 10, Sadie 9, Joey 7, Mimi 6, Jonah 5, Casey 4, father Vince; they delight in stirring up trouble; Andi is accused of being a Hollister when she ran down the new teacher  
Felicity Livingston (February 2, 1864): brown hair; brown eyes. Lives on the Lazy L ranch outside the town of Livingston Flats. Father is Randall.
Virginia Foster (August 4, 1868): gray eyes; white hair. Teacher’s daughter; can’t ride
Patricia Newton: Virginia’s best friend
Marcella (Macy) Walker (April 11, 1869): thin, scraggly; pale-blue eyes, shoulder-length pale hair
Jennifer (Jenny) Grant (January 16, 1868): red hair; brown eyes; logger’s daughter from Tacoma, Washington Territory; Andi’s roommate at Miss Whitaker’s Academy in San Francisco. Has five brothers: Seth, Caleb, Eli, Micah, and Gideon. They are all older than Jenny except for Gideon, who is a few years younger.
Juan Carlos: stable hand at Miss Whitaker’s in San Francisco; grandson of a “don” (nobleman) but now works like a peón
Lin Mei: young Chinese girl; black hair; brown eyes; works for Miss Whitaker's Acadmey, a girls' school in San Franciso; currently resides at the Presbyterian mission home in Chinatown  
 
Townsfolk (and city folk):
Sam Blake: Cory’s father; runs the livery stable in town
Gerald Foster: schoolmaster of the older students in the Fresno Grammar school;
Miss Henrietta Hall: schoolmarm for the younger students in the Fresno Grammar school 
Miss Edith Whitaker: Owner and superintendent of Miss Whitaker's Academy on Nob Hill in San Francisco; very strict; brown hair; spectacles 


Antagonists: "bad" guys:
Troy Swanson (aka as T.J. Silver): Talked a young Kate Carter into running away with him. A con artist, swindler, and all-around bad guy. Brown hair; brown eyes; returns to the Circle C to hunt down his runaway wife and kids; also robs stagecoaches; so far, it's unclear whether he has been caught after leaving the ranch. No one knows where he is.
Jed Hatton: A supposed murderer, but Justin, his attorney, thinks he's innocent; takes Andi hostage to use as a shield to get away to Mexico; abandons Andi and takes off; eventually caught, proved guilty, and is currently serving time in San Quentin penitentiary.
Peter Wilson: Brown hair; brown eyes; same age as Mitch; they were best friends growing up; Peter lied to keep from being accused of killing Ben Decker, the town drunk; older brother to the town bully, Johnny; works at the bank; is finally reconciled and tells the truth; marries Melinda
Jeffrey Sullivan: an arrogant young man; blond; good-looking and knows it; a former beau of Melinda's; has no good intentions
Felicity Livingston: brown hair; brown eyes. Melinda’s age. Lives on the Lazy L ranch outside the town of Livingston Flats. Father is Randle Livingston
Mr. Hunter: groundskeeper and head stableman for the academy in San Francisco 
Tyler (Ty), Jason (Jase), and Rudy Walker: Macy's three rough, cattle-rustling and good-for-nothing older brothers; Rudy is red-haired and the most volatile. 
 


     

36 comments:

  1. Could you please add something about Troy, Miss Hall, and Daniel? And, also, isn't Melinda supposed to be Melinda Jane Carter Wilson, not just Melinda Jane Carter?

    And could you say if any of the people have nicknames?

    Thanks so so so so so so much for this list!!!!

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    1. Whoops (Melinda). I meant to but forgot.
      Miss Hall and Daniel are already there.
      I forgot about Troy! Thanks!

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    2. Whoops! I guess the "Henrietta" part of Miss Hall threw me off ;)

      Where is Daniel?? I can't seem to find him on the list...

      And you're welcome about Troy :) Glad I could help!!!

      Thanks again for the list!!

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    3. You are so right! I thought I'd included him but I didn't. He's there now. :-)

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    4. There's no garbled code-thingy now, so I think you're good!
      Hannah M.

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  2. I like it! It will be very helpful! :D Thanks Mrs. M!!

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  3. Thanks for this, it will be really helpful!! How old is Peter Wilson? And when did he and Melinda get married?
    Hannah M.

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    1. I added it to the list. Check it out! :-)

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    2. Um, I still don't see Peter Wilson's age on there... Am I missing it? Also, there is a couple lines of gibberish, code looking writing underneath the explanation of Cory, maybe it's just my computer?
      Hannah M.

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    3. Whoops! Sorry. I added it. Peter and Mitch are the same age, since they were best friends growing up. So, he's five years older than Melinda.

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    4. There is some different writing symbol things under the explanation of Cory on my computer too... are they supposed to be there or on accident or something? I don't care at all, it doesn't bother me I'm just wondering!

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    5. I didn't see anything on my screen, but I went into the page and redid the last few lines. The font was different halfway through and I made it all consistent. Did that fix any of the problems you mentioned? Thanks for telling me about it!

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  4. Perfect!! Thanks Mrs. Marlow!!! =D

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  5. Are any of Andi's grandparents alive? Or were they alive when the older kids were born?

    Thanks so much!!!

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  6. Not any longer. Elizabeth's father died in the gold rush in 1849 so her mother hauled the three younger siblings home to Pittsburgh but Elizabeth stayed in San Francisco, where she met James Carter . . . and you know the rest of that story. :-) Her mother lived twenty more years back East but never came out West so the kids didn't know their grandmother (very common back then). James' parents lived in Boston and when they died his spinster sister, Rebecca, moved out West to be closer to James' family. There you have it!

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  7. This is very helpful, thank you for compiling it. I was surprised what the "future" holds for some characters!

    Also, you may want to mention the names of Cory's (step?)mother or sisters.

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    1. Cory's mom is no longer his stepmother. That got too complicated when I wrote the CC Beginnings, and his mother is in the book briefly. Her name is Mary. The twins are eight years younger than Cory and are Amy and Amanda. I added it. Thanks for the suggestion!

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  8. Thanks so much for this list, Mrs. M!
    I'm really glad that Chad gets engaged to Ellie, I've always thought them to be a good match. :)

    ~Lydia~ <3

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  9. when did chad and ellie get engaged mrs. marlow and when did mitch start going to college?

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    Replies
    1. In the book I'm writing now--book 4 of the CCMilestones. :-)

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  10. P.S. Sadie Hollister is on the list twice...

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  11. Thanks for making this! very helpful!

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  12. Oh, and under the "Antagonist" heading, in Peter Wilson's description it says he was accused of killing Ben Docker. Isn't it supposed to be Ben Decker?? Can't quite remember from the book, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Docker.

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    Replies
    1. Yes. Grrr. The original name was Docker before I changed it in the final manuscript and what do you know? My fingers went back to it when I was typing fast. Good job, eagle-eye! :-)

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  13. Around how old are Diego and Luisa? (Scrambling to finish my contest story... ;) )

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  14. I never thought of Peter as a bad guy.

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  15. Thanks for making this Mrs. M, it's helping lots with a fanfic I'm writing :-)

    Btw, isn't Miss Whitaker's first name Edith? Or was it changed in the anniversary edition of San Francisco Smugglers? (I haven't read it yet) Also, I think you have an extra number in Riley's year.

    ~R

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  16. Wow I just saw this on the Fan Fiction blog and I'm really excited. This is going to be very helpful. But I did notice something. You said in your books that Riley is two years older than Andi, but here it says he's only one year older. Did I read it wrong?
    Thanks!
    ~Grace Hammond~

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  17. please make some more books on Andi and Riley! i love ur books thx!

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    Replies
    1. I am. Tales from Memory Creek Ranch and now I'm writing More Tales from Memory Creek Ranch. 😉

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  18. please make some more books on Andi and Riley! i love ur books thx!

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    Replies
    1. I have. I wrote Tales from Memory Creek Ranch and now I am working on MORE Tales from Memory Creek Ranch, which should come out the end of August. Here is the link to the Tales book. https://circlecadventures.com/milestones/
      Scroll down and you can read samples from the Tales book by clicking on the cover.

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  19. Where can we buy the next milestones books? I really love your books!

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    1. Do you mean Milestones 5 and 6? They are coming out in February 2022 so you can't buy them yet. Sorry! But I will let everybody know.
      If you want to be on the post notification email (when I post new blog posts), email me at CircleCAdventures [at] gmail [dot] com.

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