character sketch of Mr and Mrs othis

Mr Hiram B Otis was an American Minister who bought Canterville Chase, with the furniture and the ghost at valuation. He was a modern man without any old world superstitions. He was the father of four children, Washington, Virginia, and the twins, Stars and Stripes. He had bought Canterville Chase and moved to England although he was anything but old-world or conservative. He was a man with a pioneering outlook on life. He had grit and determination, he was a supreme believer in being fair and rational, a man of practical concerns who was paving the way for a new world order. But he was also quite a family man, a loving husband and a doting father.

Mrs. Otis had been a Miss Lucretia R. Tappan before her marriage to Mr. Otis. She had been a celebrated New York belle and was now a very handsome, middle-aged woman with fine eyes and a superb profile. Many American ladies on leaving their native land adopted an appearance of chronic ill-health but Mrs. Otis was different. She had a magnificent constitution and a really wonderful amount of animal spirits. In many respects, she was akin to the robust English ladies. 

Regards