"Little" Sister Pt. 08

Author's note: This is an appendix for "Little" Sister. I have done some revisions and additions to make the story more of a stand-alone, but there are many cross-over characters. For the politically mind, Donald Trump has a bit in part 7. First is a cast of characters, followed by a history of the Richards family and their estate.

Cast of "Little" Sister

Characters from other stories (Kitty & Teddy, LLC; K&T, LLC; [K][T] and Family; Postcards from the Pacific)

Residence/Hometown

Siobhan Richards―Self, Sister to Sean Richards

Sean Richards―Brother, CEO Richards Enterprises

Sheila Schwartz-Richards―Sean's wife

Lars Gunter―Boyfriend, Fiancé

George Richards―Brother, nerd, Cal Tech grad

Gerald―Residence Security Head

Francine Martel―Theater star/Theater and movie producer, Known from childhood and through Sheila

Christine Collins(Collingsworth)--Sheila's nanny/assistant/sub

Jason Porter―Nationally known model, Christine's lover

Sharon―Yoga instructor/gym manager

Richard―Sheila's apprentice

Roxanna DeWinter―Sheila's personal assistant, ties to Francine through Hollywood

Clayton "CR" Roberts―in charge of The Other Shoe refurbishing

New York

Pedro de la Garza―Top Broadway producer, retired, Once owner of JB Productions

Angela Molinari de la Garza―New York socialite, Wife of Pedro

Edith Dryden―Multiple Toni award winning actress, Angela's close friend

Deirdre Walters―Pedro's personal assistant/sometimes sub

Sean and Sheila's Wedding

Elspeth Otis-Endicott―First met in Boston, Siobhan's personal assistant/sub, also one time class student

Conrad and Kerin―Wedding grad students (History), discover historical papers in attic

Evaine Schaeffelker―Wedding grad student, liaison with Amish

Vivian Wright―Wedding grad student, MIT degree (Statistical Analysis)

Honeymoon―(Postcards from the Pacific)

Don and Barbara Micelli―Sean and Sheila's resort operator friends in Hawaii

Kiku Toda--Flight attendant, friend of Sean and Sheila

New Characters

Yale

Alice Dumervil―Vice chairwoman of Women's Studies, now deceased

Fiona―Flatmate at Yale, Pharmacy major, low level witch

Madalyne Stone―1st PhD thesis adviser

Donald Eisenmann―Asst/(later) Dean of Yale Graduate Studies―Source of quote, Make Yale proud.

Dr. Gupta―2nd/final thesis adviser

Dartmouth

Dr. Karol Krelinov―Dean of Anthropology (Siobhan's thesis field)

Anne Wilson―Dean Krelinov's secretary

Dr. Remington "Remmy" Steele―Thesis adviser

Emilia Lancaster―Dean of Woman's Studies, one of Siobhan's "before" supporters

Dr. Susan Hiller―source of quotes, "Sister, you don't know your own strength." and "You pay by making Dartmouth proud."

Boston

Veronica "Roni" VanKampen--Lover, Siobhan's 1st serious Romantic interest

Mimi Montenegro―Director of Shelter where Siobhan interned

David Winthrop―Elspeth's escort/debater at coffeehouse, Accountant at 1st Boston National Bank

Adele "Grandmother" Cabot―Grand Dame of Beacon Hill

Inanimate 'characters'

Honda Accord―'econobox', drive-in-public car

Toyota Camry―Accord's replacement

Shadow―Midnight blue vintage BMW 503 cabriolet, Yale graduation present

The Crows Nest―Francine's restaurant, hosted Christine's hot sauce exhibition

Le Chat Noir―Francine's bondage club

Elizabeth―City in New Jersey, where Julian the corset maker is located

Civitano's―Restaurant in "Little Italy", site of "meet and greet" between Sheila and Manhattan's dance and theater people

The Other Shoe―Sean's yacht (when Sean met Sheila, he tied her up and left her standing on just one of her high heeled shoes)

Important Media/misc

Sean Hannity―Radio/TV show host

NH State Senator Morgan Robertson―Politician/half-way house

Marc Brunner―Sylvania

Ann Coulter―Writer, guest on Hannity Show

Siemens

Georg Karl―Vice President of American Operation

Robert Swenson―Director of International Relations -- USA Branch

Amish

Mother Lapp―Residence cook and unofficial head of all things Amish

Miriam Lapp―Niece/indoor staff

Sarah Beiler―Niece/indoor staff

A Short History of the Richards Family and their Estate

The Richards estate was founded circa 1677 by Thomas Aquinas O'Brien and son-in-law William Richards. Thomas O'Brien was a staunch Catholic who disliked the influence of the Dutch Reformed church in New York City and environs. Hearing that there were land grants available in New Jersey, he took his son-in-law William into the northern part of New Jersey in search of a homestead. He found one by a small lake in what is now Morris county and spent the bulk of the following year securing clear title.

During the next few years, the two built a temporary house, cleared the level area of the homestead, built a boathouse and dug the foundation for the main house. Thomas oversaw setting of the house's cornerstone, but suffered a fatal stroke during the following winter. Due to the death and various business reasons, the main house remained unbuilt for over fifty years. By that time, the property was a prosperous farm, and Richards Trading Company was a significant name in local business.

About 1740, Marian Sparks-Richards expressed a desire for a country house to raise children. Since the family owned a suitable piece of land, her husband, Henry Richards, undertook construction of a manor house, using Thomas O'Brien's original foundation. Construction was complete in 1742. Marion and Henry took up residence, along with their extended household. Henry retained the town house and continued the Richard's merchantile tradition in Randolph and other nearby communities. He changed the name from Richards Trading Company to Richards and Sons on the birth of his first son (and fifth child) William Thomas Richards III.

Both the family and company prospered in the coming years. Henry Richards had business and social contact with notables such as Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and John Witherspoon, who signed the Declaration of Independence for New Jersey. Witherspoon was instrumental in gaining William an officer's commission in the Continental Army under Charles Lee. Recently discovered correspondence shows that this relationship with became close. In addition to his duties as an officer, William was active behind the lines. Richards and Sons and the Richards estate were significant conduits of supplies for the Army's winter quarters at Morristown. Colonel Richards was killed in an ambush in 1779.

After the war, family matters shifted. Henry continued to run the business until he died at his desk at age 84. At the estate, things had developed separately. William left behind two sons and three daughters. In 1794 work began to expand the house, including a new floor to house the servants. Work was completed in 1795. Additional work was done in 1849, celebrated by a lavish ball heralding many similar balls to introduce the family's young ladies to society. The Richards' ballroom was a hub of local society up to the coming of the Model T car.

The 20th century was unkind to the estate. With automobile transport available, live in servants fell out of style. The number of family in residence dwindled. Though the house had been electrified in 1922, nothing else was modernized. By 1955 there was only onecouple in residence, and they were jet setters. In 1963 they commissioned a new wing to raise their children. On its completion, the family essentially abandoned the rest of the house. Both sons moved away on completion of their college education. In 1972, Gregory Sparks took his wife Emilia's family name so that there would be another generation of Richards on the estate.

That marriage proved rocky. Though it produced three children, the couple often quarreled and separated after ten years. Their middle child, Sean, took up the family name with pride. As a child, he expressed interest in the family business, still called Richards and Son. By his early twenties, it was apparent that no other family members wanted the responsibility of running the business, which had grown into a polyglot—import/export, food service, estate sales/auctioneering, consulting, rentals, personnel services, etc. Sean became the de facto President while still serving a four year Army enlistment. On graduation from Brown's business school with an MBA, he became the President and Chairman of the board.

Sean reorganized the various sub-firms into formal divisions and created Richards Enterprises as an umbrella holding company. The divisions were Import/Export, Events Management, Consulting, Marketing and Promotions, Staffing, Property Management, and Holdings. Within ten years, billings had doubled, profits had tripled and Sean was featured in a Forbes cover story. At approximately that time Sean met and married Sheila Schwartz who would head a new division—Digital Arts. The two also formed [K]&[T] Properties, a real estate firm specializing in depressed property reclamations. Their oldest child Cindy was the star of the 20xx Olympics, winning a record five Gymnastics Gold Medals—Team, Individual All-around, Vault, Floor Exercise, Beam.