"The way we are, we are members of each other. All of us. Everything. The difference ain't in who is a member and who is not, but in who knows it and who don't." Burley Coulter in "The Wild Birds"
The People of Port William and Thereabouts
The Port William Membership in the Poetry of Mr. Wendell Berry
See the fine genealogy by David McCowen that has been included in most Port William fiction since That Distant Land (2004), including Library of America volumes of Wendell Berry: Novels & Stories.
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The Feltners
Ben Feltner (1840-1912)
primary stories: The Memory of Old Jack, "Pray Without Ceasing" in Fidelity
husband of Nancy Beechum (b. 1845)
father of Mat Feltner
Jack Beechum (1860-1952)
primary stories: The Memory of Old Jack, "Pray Without Ceasing" in Fidelity
brother of Nancy Beechum
uncle of Mat Feltner
husband of Ruth Lightwood (1871-1935)
father of Clara (Petit)
Mat Feltner (1884-1965)
primary stories: The Memory of Old Jack, A Place on Earth, "Pray Without Ceasing" in Fidelity, "The Boundary" and "That Distant Land" in The Wild Birds, "The Hurt Man" in That Distant Land: The Collected Stories
son of Ben and Nancy Feltner
husband of Margaret Finley (1885-1969) [sister of Ernest Finley,1894-1945]
father of Virgil and Bess (Catlett)
Virgil Feltner (1915 -1945)
primary story: A Place on Earth
son of Mat and Margaret Feltner
husband of Hannah (1922- )
father of Margaret (1945- )
The Catletts
Marcellus Catlett (1864-1946)
primary story: The Memory of Old Jack
grandson of Amos Abner Coulter
son of Mason Catlett and Lucy Coulter
younger brother of Will
husband of Dorie Wheeler (1870-1947) [Coulter in first version of Old Jack]
father of Andrew (1895-1944) and Wheeler
Wheeler Catlett (1900-1992)
primary stories: The Wild Birds, "Fidelity" in Fidelity
son of Marce and Dorie Catlett
cousin of Burley Coulter
husband of Bess (Feltner)
father of Henry and Andy
Andy Catlett (1934- )
primary stories: The Memory of Old Jack, Remembering, A World Lost, "Where Did They Go?" in The Wild Birds, A Place on Earth, "Pray Without Ceasing" in Fidelity, Andy Catlett: Early Travels
grandson of Mat Feltner
son of Wheeler Catlett
brother of Henry Catlett
husband of Flora
father of Betty and Virgil (1964- )
Henry Catlett (1936- )
primary story: "Fidelity", A Place on Earth
grandson of Mat Feltner
son of Wheeler Catlett
younger brother of Andy Catlett
husband of Sarah
The Coulters
Dave Coulter (1860-1938)
primary story: Nathan Coulter
great-grandson of Jonas Thomasson Coulter
grandson of Amos Abner Coulter
son of George Washington (1826-1889) and Parthenia B. Coulter (1835-1917)
cousin of Thad Coulter (1855-1912)
husband of Zelma Humston
father of Jarrat (1891-1967) and Burley (1895-1977)
Jarrat Coulter (1891-1967)
primary stories: Nathan Coulter, A Place on Earth
son of Dave and Zelma (Humston) Coulter
husband of ?
father of Nathan (1924-2000) and Tom Coulter (1922-1943)
Burley Coulter (1895-1977)
primary stories: Nathan Coulter, A Place on Earth, "Fidelity" in Fidelity, Jayber Crow
son of Dave and Zelma (Humston) Coulter
brother of Jarrat
uncle of Nathan and Tom Coulter
father of Danny Branch by Kate Helen Branch
Nathan Coulter (1924 -2000 )
primary stories: Nathan Coulter, "The Bringer of Water," "Fidelity" in Fidelity, Hannah Coulter
grandson of Dave and Zelma (Humston) Coulter
son of Jarrat Coulter and ?
brother of Tom (1922-1943)
husband of Hannah Steadman (widow of Virgil Feltner)
father of Mathew Burley Coulter (b.1950), Caleb Coulter, and (adopted?) Margaret Feltner (b.1945)
Hannah Coulter (1922- )
primary stories: A Place on Earth, Hannah Coulter
wife of Virgil Feltner and Nathan Coulter
mother of Margaret Feltner, Matthew Burley Coulter, and Caleb Coulter
grandmother of Virgil Feltner Settlemeyer
Danny Branch (1932- )
primary stories: Nathan Coulter, "Fidelity" in Fidelity
son of Burley Coulter and Kate Helen Branch
husband of Lyda
father of Will (1955- ), Royal, Coulter, Fount, Reuben, Rachel, and Rosie
Essential Others
Elton Penn (1920-1974)
primary stories: The Memory of Old Jack, "It Wasn't Me (1953)" in The Wild Birds, "A Jonquil for Mary Penn" in Fidelity, "A Friend of Mine" in Two More Stories of the Port William Membership
son of Albert
husband of Mary
father of Elsie and Jack Beechum Penn
Early Rowanberry
primary stories: "Making It Home" and "Pray Without Ceasing" in Fidelity
father of Arthur and Martin
Arthur Rowanberry (d.1987)
primary stories: "Making It Home" and "Are You All Right?" in Fidelity
son of Early
uncle of Roy Lee (sister's son)
Martin Rowanberry (c.1910 - )
primary stories: "Making It Home" and "Are You All Right?" in Fidelity
son of Early
uncle of Roy Lee (sister's son)
Jayber (Jonah) Crow (1914 - )
primary stories: A Place on Earth, "The Discovery of Kentucky," Jayber Crow
son of Luther Crow (blacksmith) and Iona (Quail, see Cotman Ridge below), both deceased 1918
raised at Squire's Landing by Aunt Cordie (Cordelia Quail) and Uncle Othy (Otha) Dagget
barber of Port William 1937-1969, church janitor and grave-digger
primary stories: "A Jonquil for Mary Penn" in Fidelity, Watch With Me
Braymer and Josie ("Josie Braymer") Hardy
Tom and Josie ("Josie Tom", sister of Walter Cotman) Hardy
Walter and Thelma Cotman (and daughter Irene)
Jonah and Daisy Hample (and children)
Uncle Isham and Aunt Frances Quail (parents of Thelma Cotman and Daisy Hample)
Elton and Mary Penn (parents of Jack Beechum Penn and Elsie)
Ptolemy Proudfoot and Miss Minnie Quinch