Minor Characters in Felicity's Series (N-Z)

Old Bess

One of the Merriman's two horses, used for Father to ride. In Meet Felicity, Felicity comments that Bess is so slow that it's faster to walk yourself.

Mr. Pelham

The absent-minded jailer (gaoler). He places Mr. Cole in jail. He is based on a recorded citizen of Williamsburg. He was the gaoler from 1770 to 1780.

Edward Pendleton

The head of the Committee of Safety. Grandfather talks with him and is able to convince him to free Mr. Cole from jail.

He is based on a real historical figure, Edmund Pendleton.

Aunt Prudence

Mother's elderly aunt. She is mentioned in Lady Margaret's Ghost but not actually seen. Mother, Nan, William, and Polly go to visit her in Norfolk for two weeks in fall 1776; however, the city was mostly destroyed in January 1776, so it is unlikely that she would live there at the time of the book's setting.

Mother mentioned having an aunt giving her tea lessons as a little girl in Felicity Learns a Lesson, which can be assumed to be Aunt Prudence.

Alexander Ramsey

A Scottish master printer of Williamsburg and a friend of Mr. Merriman's in Traitor in Williamsburg. He is described as a beefy man with a large red nose and a thick accent. Mr. Ramsey has ten children, and his wife recently had a difficult pregnancy and birth. Mrs. Merriman says she has been ill since she delivered the baby and still has "childbirth fever," or what is now known as puerperal sepsis.

His shop is on Duke of Gloucester street, three doors down from the wigmaker's. He has a very busy shop and the broadside accusing Edward Merriman of betraying the Patriots was printed on paper from his mill. He successfully bids on the McLeod house when it is put up for public auction.

To help pay for the house and his wife's apothecary fees, Mr. Ramsey goes to Mr. Merriman and asks if he can pay back the money he owes Mr. Ramsey. He also tells Mr. Merriman that a letter is waiting at his shop for him, and Mr. Merriman goes by and finds that it was tampered with, although he doesn't think Alexander is responsible. When Widow Reed tells Felicity and Elizabeth that the broadside accusing Mr. Merriman of treachery was printed on a sheet from Mr. Ramsey's paper mill, they wonder if he was trying to drive Mr. Merriman out of town. Mr. Ramsey has an apprentice, Zachary, who he is frequently impatient with because Zachary's work is sloppy.

It is eventually revealed that Zachary printed the broadsides against Mr. McLeod and Mr. Merriman, and Mr. Ramsey fires him. He replaces Zachary with Walter, Mr. Capps' former apprentice.

John Randolph

A Loyalist and Virginia's attorney general before the Revolution. He is based on a real historical figure and is the brother of Peyton Randolph. John was loyal to Lord Dunmore and returned to England as tensions rose. In Traitor in Williamsburg in April 1776, the wigmaker's apprentice mentions that John has just dropped off a wig for repairs. However, it is unlikely that John was still in Williamsburg with Lord Dunmore gone, as his last received letter in America from cousin Thomas Jefferson was in August 1775.

Peyton Randolph

The Virginian Representative at the Second Continental Congress, seen in Gunpowder and Tea Cakes: My Journey with Felicity. He is John Randolph's brother and a Patriot. He is based on a real historical figure.

Clarissa Reed

A female master printer of Williamsburg. She is a friend of the Merrimans and publishes the Gazette, Edward Merriman's preferred newspaper due to its Patriot positions. Widow Reed has a son, Aaron. Mr. Merriman takes out an advertisement in the Gazette to defend Mr. McLeod from the accusation that he is a Loyalist.

Felicity and Elizabeth like her, and they know she'll make time to talk to them even if there are other customers around. Widow Weed asks how Mrs. Merriman is doing after the loss of Grandfather, and she pats Felicity's hand and tells her he is remembered well. The girls show her the broadside accusing Mr. Merriman of treachery, and she examines it to help them figure out who might be publishing it. Widow Reed says none of the master printers in Williamsburg would be willing to print such lies about Mr. Merriman because he's too well respected. She also observes that the workmanship of the print is sloppy and none of the master printers would produce such work. She also notices the watermark is from Mr. Ramsey's paper mill.

When Mr. Merriman is accused of disloyalty, Felicity takes out an ad in the Gazette to defend him and bait the "Mr. Puller" who is accusing Father. She agrees to let the girls leave a letter for him, though they misled her about the contents of the letter.

She is in Traitor in Williamsburg.

Robert

A Pamunkey Native trader Felicity and the protagonist meet in Gunpowder and Tea Cakes: My Journey with Felicity. He and Alden are brothers.

Robert (Felicity Takes a Dare)

Robert daring Felicity to feed the horses (2001 illustrations).

The largest of the boys Felicity sees taunting the racehorses at the Publik Times fair in Felicity Takes a Dare. Robert smirks when Felicity tells him to stop taunting the horses and mocks her in imitation before he asks if she's scared of the horses. He calls her a coward and when Felicity says she's not, dares her to feed one of the horses. (In the magazine, he asks if the boys and then the horses are what ails her. He calls her a coward, but adds on like all girls--and when Felicity says she's not this is when he dares her to feed the horses.)

She looks back at him as she's feeding the horse right before the gunshot startles them and she is injured. Mother says that Nan told her about the boy and that he was wrong to dare Felicity.

He is explicitly named by another boy in the 1993 story publication in American Girl Magazine. Subsequent editions have him unnamed starting with the edited republish in 1997 and he is only referred to as "the boy", with Felicity only looking back at the boys in a group rather than Robert specifically.

Roger

A friend of Ben's. Felicity and the protagonist meet him on their way to the Pamunkey River in Gunpowder and Tea Cakes: My Journey with Felicity.

Ruben

A young boy hired by the Dunmores as a gardener. He's in 'Gunpowder and Tea Cakes: My Journey with Felicity.

Sibyl

A girl the protagonist and Felicity meet in Gunpowder and Tea Cakes: My Journey with Felicity. Abandoned by her mother in England, she was brought to America by the Clarke family, whom she ran away from due to their beatings. She is later taken as an apprentice by Master Griffith.

John Sutherland

A storekeeper and friend of the Merrimans. He owns a grocery store on Nicholson Street, is nearly bald, and carries a walking cane. He wears expensive clothing and sometimes a thick, heavy powdered wig. His wife recently died, and he has moved back from Baltimore to Williamsburg.

He is friendly with Edward Merriman even though he competed with him to marry Martha Merriman. Mr. Sutherland is friendly to Mother, kisses her hand, and compliments her youthful appearance. Felicity is uncomfortable when he compliments her by saying she resembles her mother, and she notes that he has a tone of superiority when he meets her father the following week. Mr. Merriman comments that he has known John since they attended the College of William and Mary together in their youth, and he always has a way of getting what he wants, except in one matter- his interest in Mrs. Merriman.

Mr. Sutherland successfully bids for the McLeod store when it is put up for public auction. When broadsides accusing her father of treachery appear in town, Felicity starts to wonder if Mr. Sutherland is doing this because he maintains a grudge about Martha marrying Edward.

John Sutherland is in Traitor in Williamsburg.

Reverend Mr. Ullfers

The minister at Bruton Parish Church. He is seen in Lady Margaret's Ghost. Initially, Felicity and Elizabeth ask him about ghosts, because Felicity believes that Lady Margaret's ghost may be haunting their house. He explains that some people believe in ghosts and some don't, but he remains open minded. They also ask him about Anne's guardian, because the church has public records. He tells them her guardian is William Yancey, and he offers to pass a message to him. The girls thank him but decline so he doesn't realize why they are inquiring.

Mrs. Vobe

The owner and proprietor of the King's Arms Tavern. She is based on a recorded citizen of Williamsburg; the illustration shows the sign for King's Arms Tavern, an actual tavern in Williamsburg opened by Jane Vobe in 1772. In Meet Felicity when Felicity and Ben are taking the oats and bit and bridle on delivery, the book mentions Mrs. Vobe is welcoming guests to her tavern.

Isaac Wallace

A free Black boy who is a friend of Benjamin Davidson and slightly older than he is. He serves as a drummer for the town's militia, and his family does laundry work; several times a month he comes to pick up and deliver laundry to the house.

In Happy Birthday, Felicity! he comes by with the laundry basket and greets Ben and Felicity, complimenting Felicity on her garden. He tells Ben and Felicity briefly about his tasks as a drummer and shows them some of the various drumbeats he knows. Ben discusses with him the rumor he overheard that Lord Dunmore is holding the key to the magazine and might have his marines take the powder. When Felicity speaks up to ask why Lord Dunmore would do such a thing, Issac says that the governor is frightened and that a frightened man may do anything.

Isaac also appears as a usable character in the American Girls Premiere.

Walter

Richard Capps' general store apprentice and a friend of Ben's. Ben and Felicity see him in the crowd when a mob is attacking Mr. McLeod, and the three of them walk together. The next day, Walter stops by the stables to check that Ben and Felicity got home safely the previous night.

Walter does not like Mr. Capps' attitude toward him, and he likes whenever he's away for a business trip to Portsmouth. When they suspect Mr. Capps of selling to the Loyalists, Ben and Felicity find a way to get him a letter so they can meet up. Walter helps Felicity and Ben find evidence against Capps. After Capps is sent to prison, Walter takes up Zachary's apprenticeship with Mr. Ramsey; he was not a fan of storekeeping anyway. Ben also describes him as "enterprising."

Walter is in Traitor in Williamsburg.

Mr. Wentworth

A Loyalist man and plantation owner who is married to Mrs. Wentworth. He and his wife live on Oak Hill, a plantation near King's Creek Plantation. In Felicity Saves the Day, he is a guest to dinner with his wife, and dozes at the table, only waking to agree with her complaints passively.

He and Grandfather go out to discuss the horses he has brought to look at, and Grandfather invites Felicity to come with them; among the horses is Penny.

Mrs. Wentworth

A Loyalist woman. She is very stout with a plump face, but with (to Felicity) sharp elbows. Mrs. Wentworth is a frequent visitor to the Merrimans both at their home in Williamsburg and at King's Creek Plantation; she and her husband have a plantation nearby named Oak Hill, and is an old friend of Martha Merriman. Felicity thinks that Mrs. Wentworth is the most talkative lady in all of Virginia and finds meals with her dull and that no one asks anything of her opinions. She and her husband do not appear to have children near Felicity's age.

In Felicity Saves the Day she has come to dinner to Felicity's dislike. She starts by discussing the departure of Lord Dunmore and his family from Williamsburg; she states that she nearly went into spasms at the news and that with things so bad that the King's governor is gone, none of them are safe and will be murdered in their beds by "wild" Patriots and sharply asks her husband to agree. When he does (passively) she then talks about Lord Dunmore and the family being being forced to stay aboard a ship in Norfolk and departing to England, and that Martha should be glad to be at the plantation with her children including the one due. She continues to call the Patriots hot-headed and that they threw tea into the river down the road in Yorktown (the Yorktown Tea Party) and how many merchants stopped selling tea, and she calls them disloyal to not pay the tax on tea. As the diner goes on Felicity wriggles her stockings loose, which catches her attention; before Felicity can explain, she is invited to look at horses with Grandfather and Mr. Wentworth.

In Felicity's New Sister, she suggests that Mother should rest at her father's plantation before the birth of her next child. Despite Rose's disapproval, she says that the midwife doesn't think Martha will go into labor for some time. She offers her carriage to travel down to King's Creek, and says that it's settled. On the road, Mrs. Went and talks a good part of the way. When the carriage crashes into the bank of the gully, she calls for her driver, Caleb, to get them all out and wants to know what happened. When Rose says they must get out, she says that they must help Mrs. Merriman first, and Rose helps her out. Once inside the abandoned home, she directs Caleb to return to Williamsburg for help as her wet clothes are uncomfortable.

Mrs. Wentworth at breakfast with the Merrimans.

When Martha says the baby is coming. she at first says it's nonsense, and then that Martha must be sensible and that she must not have the baby yet and to wait. When it's clear that the baby will be born, she says that she doesn't know the first thing about babies (implying that she likely has no children of her own), but still assists Rose with the birth.

After Polly is born, Mrs. Wentworth says that she's been an old fool and that Rose knew more than the midwife, and that she alone couldn't have helped Mrs. Merriman have a safe birth.

Mrs. Whitehurst

Mother's dressmaker. In Lady Margaret's Ghost, Felicity remembers that Mrs. Whitehurst was looking for an apprentice who is hardworking, easygoing, and a strong seamstress. Mr. Merriman agrees to talk to her about an apprenticeship for Anne.

Mr. Whythe

A lawyer and friend of Mr. Merriman's. In Traitor in Williamsburg, he approaches Mr. Merriman to let him know that broadsides were printed accusing him of treason. The men talk about it for a moment before Father reminds Felicity she has lessons; she knows Father wants to discuss this in private with Mr. Whythe. Later, Mrs. Merriman takes tea at the Whythes' to discuss Mr. Merriman's defense. In Lady Margaret's Ghost, Mr. Merriman says he will talk to Mr. Whythe when he learns of the abuse William Yancey has inflicted on Anne. They will pursue charges against Mr. Yancey and help find another guardian for Anne.

He is based on a real historical figure and legal scholar in Williamsburg.

William Yancey

A man who took in Anne after her parents died, as he had been a friend of her father's. Anne says he was not truly a friend and only wanted the money in her father's will for taking care of her. He and wife mistreat Anne, however, and forced her to address them as "Father Yancey" and "Mother Yancey." They make Anne steal for them during public events and beat her if she doesn't bring them enough. He lives on Nicholson Street near the jail.

Mr. Yancey is described as short and slight with intelligent eyes, and he enters a cream-colored stallion in the Publick Times races. He asks Anne to collect gum burrs, which he secretly sneaks under Penny's blanket to sabotage her chances in the horse race. He even tells Felicity he put a small bet on Penny so she wouldn't suspect him. One night, while Anne is sneaking into the Merrimans and staying at their house, she looks out the window at night and Mr. Yancey is standing on the street, staring right at her. She's afraid he knows she's thinking of leaving.

Yancey is only in Lady Margaret's Ghost.

Zachary

Richard Capps' nephew and Mr. Ramsey's apprentice. He is described as a tall, yellow-haired boy with messy clothes and hair. Mr. Ramsey is impatient with him because he does sloppy work. His mother is Mr. Capps' wife's sister. Zachary is fired after it is revealed that he printed broadsides accusing Mr. McLeod and Mr. Merriman of treason.

Zachary is in Traitor in Williamsburg.