Abbie is a spirited young girl with a vivid imagination and a natural talent for singing. Inheriting physical hardiness from her Irish immigrant mother and aristocratic dreams from her Scottish father, she is torn between her desire for a cultured life and the realities of frontier living. She possesses deep resilience and a strong commitment to her loved ones, often putting their needs above her own artistic ambitions.

Will is a hardworking and responsible young man who stays behind during the initial Civil War draft to manage his family's farm. He has a steadfast pioneer mindset and dreams of escaping the control of his parents to build his own community on unsettled land in Nebraska. He is ambitious, deeply devoted to Abbie, and constantly looking toward the future.

Ed is the wealthy, attractive son of Doc Matthews. He represents a life of comfort, city living, and the financial means to support artistic ambitions. He openly adores Abbie and proposes marriage to her, though he is followed by local rumors of heavy drinking and possesses a bold temperament.

Laura is one of Abbie and Will's granddaughters. She is a quiet, sensitive child with a budding talent for writing poetry. She loves listening to stories of the past and understands her grandmother on a deeper emotional level than the rest of the family.

Mackenzie is the eldest child of the Deal family. Growing up on the Nebraska prairie, he develops interests outside of agricultural work, particularly a passion for playing the brass horn. He eventually seeks a career away from the manual labor of his father's farm.

Margaret is the Deals' second child. She is a creative young woman who develops a talent for painting. She represents the new generation's ability to pursue education and interests beyond pure survival, benefiting from her parents' sacrifices.

John is the Deals' third child. He serves as a vital source of labor on the family farm as he grows up. Despite his usefulness in agriculture, he harbors personal ambitions of studying law rather than working the land indefinitely.

Isabelle is Abbie and Will's second daughter. She grows up as Cedartown becomes more established, allowing her to receive the formal musical education and piano lessons that her mother once dreamed of having.

The youngest Deal child, Grace arrives after the family has achieved greater financial stability. She grows up with modern sensibilities and pursues higher education to become a teacher, though she occasionally shows a disconnect from the harsh realities the original pioneers faced.

Sarah is one of the original pioneer women who helps establish the Cedartown settlement. She becomes a comforting presence and close friend to Abbie during the isolated early years on the prairie, sharing in the daily labor and grief of frontier life.

Christine is the sturdy, practical wife of Gus Reinmueller. She forms a vital support network with the other women in the settlement, stepping in to help during medical emergencies and difficult childbirths.

Gus is an early pioneer who moves out to the prairie at the same time as Will Deal. He works the unyielding land and participates in the communal effort to build a functioning town from nothing.

An Irish immigrant and widowed mother working hard to keep her family together. She treasures a small trove of family heirlooms, including a string of pearls, which she preserves to pass down to her daughters as a connection to their past.

Will's mother runs her household with a critical eye. She expects strict adherence to constant labor and often finds fault with those who struggle to meet her demanding standards, creating friction when her children marry.

Doc Matthews is a wealthy man in the Iowa community. He has the financial means to buy his son out of military service, demonstrating the clear class differences that exist before the characters move to the frontier.

An old friend of Abraham Lincoln whose work frequently takes him away from home. He relies heavily on his son to maintain the family's agricultural livelihood in his absence.

Katherine is one of Abbie's granddaughters who grows up with the benefits of established society. Her views on romance and wealth are vastly different from the pioneer generation, occasionally creating a generational divide between her and her grandmother.

Dan is the young son of Sarah Lutz. He lives in the early Cedartown settlement, representing the extreme vulnerability of children growing up surrounded by the untamed natural world.

Emma is the daughter of the Lutz family. She spends her childhood on the prairie alongside the Deal children and eventually becomes romantically involved with their eldest son.

Fred is a young man studying to become a doctor. He enters the Deals' lives when Margaret attends school away from the farm, representing the professional class that the second generation marries into.

Eloise is a schoolteacher who meets John Deal after he establishes his legal career. She joins the growing Deal family and brings her own professional background to the frontier town.

Harrison is a young man who elopes with Isabelle. He joins the military during the Spanish-American War shortly after their wedding and later pursues a modern, urban life in Chicago with his wife.

Ezra is a reverend originally from Vermont. He moves to the rural Iowa community to lead the local congregation, bringing Eastern religious practices and refinement to the frontier.

The reverend's wife is a painter who brings an artistic presence to the pioneer settlement. She provides Abbie with art lessons but quickly recognizes and encourages the young girl's true talent for singing.