Characters do not live in a vacuum. All sorts of things go on, and people surround the principal characters of any story. Some folks from Virginia went west with the Owen family; some did not. Here are the neighbors who lived around the Owen family in Virginia.
* The Allen Family: The Allens live on a large property outside of Mount Jackson in Shenandoah County, Virginia. Theodore Allen is a wealthy landowner, businessman, and slave holder. He, his wife Louisa, and his son Merlin, pretty much skate through Gone for a Soldier, but Ella Ruth, his 16-year-old daughter, plays a major role.
After the war, the family relocates to Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia, to improve their lot. I wrote Mended by Moonlight in that setting for Ella Ruth.
* The Bates Family: Chester and Muriel Bates are best friends with Rod and Julia Owen. They live on a farm outside Mount Jackson, in Shenandoah County, Virginia, with their daughter, red-headed Ellen. Ellen and Marie Owen are also best friends.
At least the Bates family lived in a nice home in Shenandoah County during Gone for a Soldier, up until 1864, when the Yankees burned their home and crops. The Bates family sheltered in a farm building thereafter, until Rod Owen made a controversial deal with Chester. The family was able to go west in the novel The Man from Shenandoah, where Ellen plays a major part.
Members of the Bates family also show up in Spinster’s Folly and very briefly in Ride to Raton.
* The Bingham Family: Mrs. Charity Bingham and her twin daughters, Hannah and Hepzibah (Heppie), make a cameo appearance in chapter one of Gone for a Soldier. Charity’s husband Joseph and their daughter Jessica (Jessie) are mentioned in The Man from Shenandoah. Jessie and her brother Lucas appear in the final scene of Ride to Raton.
In Trail of Storms, Jessie, her now-widowed mother, and her family take center stage until James Owen shows up. Then fireworks happen!
Remember, through no fault of his own, James as much as jilted Jessie back in Virginia. One must expect repercussions.
I’m writing a new story about the Widow Bingham entitled Surprising Charity. I expect to publish it early in 2020.
* The Campbell Family: Angus and Molly O’Connor Campbell live on a farm in Shenandoah County, Virginia, near Mount Jackson. They and their seven children—Andy, Douglas, Mary Margaret, Catherine, Robert, Duncan, and Delia—appear first in The Man from Shenandoah, where they go west in company with the Owen family. Angus, Molly, and Andy play roles in Ride to Raton, and Angus and Molly show up in Trail of Storms. Andy also plays a brief but telling role in Scandalous: An Owen Family Story.
* The Hilbrands Family: Randolph “Rand” Hilbrands and his family live in Mount Jackson, Shenandoah County, Virginia, where he is a prosperous merchant and property owner. His wife is named Amanda, but he often calls her “Mandy.” They have five daughters. Their ages are given below as they were at the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861:
Mary – age 14
Ida – age 13
Sylvia – age 11
India – age 7
Eliza – born late in 1861
Rand and his family—especially Mary—play a large part during Gone for a Soldier and The Man from Shenandoah. In the second novel, they accompany the Owen Family to Colorado Territory. Rand and Amanda both show up in Spinster’s Folly; and Rand, Amanda, and Sylvia appear in Ride to Raton. Rand appears in one scene in Trail of Storms. Ida shows up in the Shenandoah Neighbors story, Bloodied Leather.
* The Morgan Family: The Morgans are also farmers living outside of Mount Jackson, Shenandoah County, Virginia. Edward and Elizabeth have six children as they go west with the Owen family in The Man from Shenandoah: Tom, Parley, Louisa, Melissa, Harry, and Rebecca. Heartache comes to them along the trail.
The Morgans cause Marie Owen and her family quite a bit of anguish in Spinster’s Folly. They do not appear in Ride to Raton or Trail of Storms, but they are bound to show up later in the Universe.
* The O’Connor Family: Widower Tom O’Connor, who is the brother of Molly O’Connor, was a blacksmith in Mount Jackson, Shenandoah County, Virginia. In The Man from Shenandoah, he joined the trek west with the Owen family, taking his young children, Rida and Joshua, with him.
By the time Tom shows up again in Ride to Raton, he has married a beautiful señorita named Rosalinda, and his fortunes have improved. His daughter Rida features prominently in the story Broken: An Owen Family Story, which illuminates a dark corner of the Owen Family universe.
The Owen Family Universe 