Hannah Coulter

Hannah loves her children and is thankful for them, but they have left home, and Hannah blames it on their decision to attend college, saying, “The way of education leads away from home” (125). Neither she nor Nathan went to college, but Nathan encouraged all three of their children to pursue higher education “to have a better chance” (125). Hannah has learned that one must be content with the life they have and make the most of it, rather than constantly working for something better. She worries that when they told the children the stories of their childhood, which were absent of modern luxuries like indoor plumbing and paved roads, they drove their children away from rural life.

From an early age, Margaret had a mind of her own, and sometimes she and Hannah didn’t get along. During those times, Margaret visited the Feltners, and they shared stories about Virgil, which helped her get to know the father she had never met. At the end of high school, after one such visit, Hannah found Margaret sobbing in her room, finally grieving over her dad. She and Hannah cried together, and it mended something between them. Margaret went away to college to study to become a teacher. Hannah and Nathan had always hoped she would return home to teach at the school in Hargrave, as Port William’s school had closed, but during her junior year, she became engaged to Marcus Settlemeyer. After the wedding, they moved to Lexington. Marcus and Hannah began their marriage in debt, working two jobs, and Hannah and Nathan were concerned about the choices their daughter made. Despite grieving the realization that Margaret would never return home, Hannah and Nathan had “to let her go” (133), trusting that they had done the best they could in raising her.

Matthew Burley “Mattie” Coulter is Nathan and Hannah’s first son and aptly named after his great uncle, as he had a “wild streak” and they knew from an early age he would never become a farmer. Mattie was good at school and always dutifully did his farm chores, but he never went beyond what was asked of him, which frustrated and angered Nathan, often causing arguments between Hannah and Nathan. Unlike Margaret, when Mattie went away to college, it relieved Hannah as they “gave him up to whatever he was going to do” (136), reducing the tension. Mattie studied electrical engineering and eventually moved to the West Coast to work for an information technology company, and Hannah and Nathan never fully understood the nature of his work.

Mattie eventually had four children with two women, and Hannah grieves that she never knew them the way she wanted. They rarely visit, and when they do, they aren’t interested in any of the activities Hannah offers, preferring to watch television or play video games. She doesn’t blame them, though, considering they are a product of a different time and place than she is. She reconciles that Mattie and his family don’t “fit” in Port William or its way of life and that “He was always looking away […]” (137) from home since he was a child.

Caleb, the youngest of Hannah’s children, was the opposite of Mattie. He didn’t excel in school, but he loved farming. Caleb learned all aspects of running the farm from his father, and Hannah and Nathan were sure they’d found their heir. Caleb went away to school to study agriculture with the intent of returning to run the farm. However, in college, he began to love learning and spent less and less time at home. Hannah knew the truth but was too afraid to discuss it with Nathan. The last summer Caleb was home, Nathan offered him their land, the Feltners’ land (which was now Margaret’s), and his parents’ land—all of which Nathan was tending. Caleb turned it down, having received a scholarship to graduate school. Nathan took it hard and cried.

Caleb earned his doctoral degree and went on to become a professor. He got married in his thirties but had no children. He proudly sent Hannah his publications, but in her heart, she knew Caleb was “unfinished” and secretly felt ashamed for not coming back to the farm. Now that he’s in his forties, she wonders if he’ll come to the farm in retirement. Hannah reflects on how Nathan hated the idea of being “employed” or having “employees,” yet all three of his children became just that. In speaking with Andy, she worries about what will happen to them. Andy remarks that she is concerned because they left the protection of the “membership,” which never forgets even “horses and mules and milk cows and dogs” (146).

With all the children gone, Nathan and Hannah focused on work as there was so much to do with fewer people to help. Although the house was empty, they reconnected with each other, and Nathan pledged that they would continue, “live on” together, making a happy life for a long time.

After Mr. Feltner died, Mrs. Feltner lived for five more years. Mrs. Feltner’s death was hard on Hannah, as she was like a mother to her. After her death, the Feltners’ estate was split between Bess and Margaret, with Margaret getting the farm. Although she ensured the property was well-maintained, primarily through Nathan’s help and stewardship, Margaret couldn’t truly love the home as it was meant to be loved, since she didn’t live there. Eventually, she and Marcus paid off the debt and rented the house, but it was never truly hers. Marcus and Margaret had a son they named Virgil. Hannah and Nathan were closer to “Virgie” than any of their other grandchildren, as he came to visit often and loved helping Nathan on the farm. Though not his grandson by blood, Hannah saw that Virgie was Nathan’s delight.

In 1988, Margaret and Marcus separated as Marcus had an affair and left to start a new life. Margaret came home to tell her parents, and Nathan told her she had a place there, but Margaret chose to stay in Lexington. The divorce was hard on Virgie, and he began spending more time at the farm, sometimes skipping school and hitchhiking to get there. In his teenage years, Virgie’s pain evolved into bitterness and rebellion, and he stopped coming to the farm and became estranged from them and his mother.

Virgie was still missing, yet Hannah and Nathan kept on, but when Nathan was 70, he began to need help with farming. Danny Branch is Burley’s son by Kate Helen, though they never married. Danny quit school, married Lyda in 1950, and they moved in with Burley. They eventually had seven children. Hannah noted that, unlike her and Nathan, Danny and Lyda didn’t emphasize school. Instead, they allowed their children to learn from Burley through hands-on experiences, such as working, hunting, and farming. Danny and his children eventually took over farming on the Feltner’s place, the Coulter’s, and their land, and to this day, Branches still farm in Port William. Hannah says the Branches lived a “futureless life” in that they didn’t worry about the future and instead lived for the present, which produced contentment. Lyda was a good friend to Hannah as they spent time sewing and working together. Unlike Hannah, Lyda was intimately connected to each of her many grandchildren and enjoyed shopping for Christmas presents for them. Hannah struggled to know what to buy for herself, and Lyda offered her help. Hannah and Nathan were able to continue only through the help and support of Danny, Lyda, and their children.