Shellina (Shellby) Hefner
Kathleen Love Smith
March 22, 2008
HUMANities
Character Biographies
Amelia Marina Hathorne:
Amelia was born on October 31st, 1664 to Judge John Hathorne and his wife in the fairly sized town of Salem, surrounded by farmland and forests. She grew up under the parenting of a religious judge, yet a mother not so; the only child.
She lived her childhood under her religious father and mother, who were very well off though not wealthy, as was the rest of the town. Salem was a Catholic town, against anything that might even suggest the devil. At the tender age of nine, Amelia witnessed her father, who was believed by the town to beat his wife, kill her mother after a brutal beating. With her last few moments, her mother gave her a necklace, decorated with a flower. Thus, she discarded her ambitions to pursue any sort of religious life and began to practice witchcraft.
She was taught by a private tutor at her home until the age of fourteen, where she began to learn to write poetry and music and perform to large audiences of the town. She was a fan of romance novels, which were believed to damage a woman’s brain. When she was thirteen, she took in a stray bird, a dove... yet black. Her father disapproved greatly but, with much begging, she was able to keep him.
Amelia Hathorne was a tall woman for her age (5’6 around the height of most of the men), with fiery curly red hair and brown eyes, she didn’t not have the perfect figure that women were supposed to have back then (a hour-glass figure). She has very fair skin from being kept inside all her life and never being able to go outside and play and an oval face.
Witchcraft, as she got older, became her ambition for life. She used it as an escape from her father and the dreary life of Salem. Amelia was a hard worker and a quick learner. In her early childhood she was a singer for the town and played piano. As Amelia got older she began writing her own songs and music about things such as nature and virtues. This disturbed the town for her songs were not based off the Catholic Religion or God. Though Amelia was intelligent and beautiful she was open minded and spoke her opinion, making it hard to hold her tongue when she was around others. She was witty and fiery, and often got into heated debates with the representatives of the church and law. Under all this though, she felt weak and exposed without the protection of her mother.
Pierre Cotton
Pierre Cotton, the investigator of the town, was born on June 14, 1661 in the town of Salem as well, the oldest of three children to Stephen and Mary Cotton. He was named after his great grandfather of French descent. His father was an investigator as well and expected Pierre to continue his work.
Pierre grew up in the middle class and knew that he would have to continue on with his fathers work when grew old enough. Pierre went to school until he was 18 and then became an investigator like his father, he didn’t like being an investigator always having to amuse that people were guilty of doing something before he had any clue as to what the crime was that they were supposed to have committed. Pierre’s father was his biggest influence as he was growing up. When Pierre was 31 at the start of the “witch trails” he met Amelia, as you will hear more about during the story.
Pierre was smart, witty, and practical. He was not as outspoken as Amelia but outspoken nonetheless when he saw something that was not to his liking. He based his opinions off facts more than his religion, though he was brought up a Catholic and respected God. He was looked down upon by some of the judges and lawyers for they thought that he was not useful enough, no matter how many people he “brought to justice”.
He, as a man living on his own, was well off enough, due to the money that his father left him, yet with his own money, he was near poor. He did find time, however, in his life to read and watch theatre. His favorite books were practical ones such as the works of scientists and philosophers. He enjoyed listening to piano and violin, any type of classical music.
Pierre Cotton was a tall man, the height of 5’7 with black hair, somewhat ragged but nonetheless clean, and brown eyes. Is skin is tanned, though not too, and a scrawny figure, making this his worst characteristic.
His life ambition is to rid the world of the terrible people in the world, therefore, when an innocent person is put in jail, they become his enemies. Many families dislike him as well, for putting their relative in jail, whether they are innocent or otherwise.
Jason Wayne:
Jason Wayne, at the age of 35, born on September 12, 1657, is the banker for the town, wealthy and sophisticated. He is an only child to John and Johanna Wayne, betrothed since young childhood to Amelia Hathorne. His father was a banker as well, owning the Wayne Bank. Like many other men, Jason continued his father’s work and continued to bear the family name. Both of his parents died when he was very young, leaving him to live with his aunt and uncle on the outskirts of Salem until he was old enough to live on his own and inherit his father’s money, accepting the job at the bank. He was educated by his aunt and uncle until the age of eighteen. It was said throughout his family that his father was killed by a woman of witchcraft, making witches his main enemy.
He is not the smartest person on earth, though he is intelligent, and runs a business well though he is very easily subjected to pressure from his superiors. He is a full on Catholic and respects the law to the fullest extent.
He was also a practical man, never reading fiction books or writings of any kind except writings of philosophers and, of course, his records for the bank.
Jason is a short man, bald and overweight, though very well off. He does, however have amber eyes, which is considered to be his best trait. However, to many women in Salem... his wealth is the only thing they see in him.
