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Uncle
Uncle was born in Ohio at some point prior to the fall of 1849. He had an "uncle" named Jeb (who was actually the cousin of his maternal uncle), who Uncle implies to be a pedophile, saying that he was a man that "you didn't want to be left alone with". Uncle was nine years old when both of his parents died, forcing him to move to a new city and "live on his wits" from there on out. He was also married at least twice before 1899. -
Hosea Matthews
Born in roughly 1844, Hosea states that he was "raised in the mountains" during his early years. He also mentions that his father lived a life of "sin and debauchery that would make an emperor blush" until he died at age 75, and that he did love him - despite only seeing him 3 times in his life. In his early years, Matthews was briefly a stage actor who had dreams of being a comedian, although he later became an outlaw. -
Leopold Strauss
Strauss was born circa 1846 into poverty in the city of Vienna, Austria. By the age of twelve, his brother was already a petty crook beating night watchmen for food scraps. Strauss' father sold his youngest, a nine-year-old named Anna, away into bonded labor in order to provide for the rest of his family, breaking her brothers' hearts. -
Simon Pearson
Simon Pearson was born to a family of whale hunters, and he initially wanted to follow in their footsteps. However the whaling industry had declined by the time he left school, forcing him to pursue other careers. Pearson once served as a sailor in the United States Navy, though it is unknown how long for. Notably, he mentions being stranded at sea for fifty days on a ship struck with plague, and is generally nostalgic for his time at sea. -
Orville Swanson
Swanson worked as a clergyman in the past, but as he indulged in earthly pleasures such as alcohol and sex, he slowly lost his job and his family, as well as his faith. At some point, he affiliated himself with a woman named Margaret, but he never goes into detail about his relationship with her. Under unknown circumstances, Swanson saved the life of Dutch van der Linde at some point; with Dutch in his debt, Swanson was allowed to stay with and join the Van der Linde gang. -
Susan Grimshaw
Susan was one of the original members of the Van der Linde gang, alongside Dutch van der Linde, Hosea Matthews and Arthur Morgan. She became romantically involved with Dutch at some stage, and long nights playing poker with the gang, often sitting in Dutch's lap. Their relationship later ended, and Dutch eventually moved on to another woman named Annabelle. -
Micah Bell
Micah Bell III was born circa 1860 to Micah Bell Jr., a ruthless petty outlaw. When Micah was 17 in 1877, he and his father were on the run for the brutal double homicide of Roscoe and Jean Briggs, who were hung from the rafters with their throats slit.[1] It can be assumed that he was his father's partner-in-crime throughout his upbringing, although evidence suggests that he also ran with his brother, Amos, for a time. -
Arthur Morgan
Arthur Morgan was born circa 1863 to Beatrice and Lyle Morgan in the northern US. As a child, his mother died of unknown causes, while his father was a petty criminal and outlaw. In 1874, when Arthur was 11 years old, his father was arrested for larceny. Morgan later witnessed his death and, despite a strained relationship with him, also donned his hat and kept a picture of him. -
Bill Williamson
Marion Williamson was born in 1866. Embarrassed by his first name, which was supposedly a "family name," he would later adopt the name "Bill" after his surname. Bill's father was an alcoholic who slowly lost his mind due to his excessive drinking, notably mixing whiskey with moonshine. Bill was always afraid of suffering the same fate. -
John Marston
John Marston was born in 1873. His father was an illiterate Scottish immigrant who was born on the boat to New York, while his mother was a prostitute, who died during John's birth. John initially lived with his father, a man who loved Scotland and always talked about it. However, he was blinded in a bar fight south of Chicago and died at some point later, when John was eight years old. -
Javier Escuella
Javier Escuella was born in Nuevo Paraíso, Mexico. Javier's father was a drunkard who worked as a laborer on land owned by Allende's uncle. When he was a boy, Escuella witnessed his uncle and four other men castrated and fed to pigs because they suggested the villagers demand a fair wage. Eventually, Javier became a notorious bounty hunter and revolutionary, fighting against what he saw as a corrupt system. -
Karen Jones
A scam artist with a love for the outlaw lifestyle, Karen became a member of the Van der Linde gang sometime prior to 1899. At some point between 1895 and 1897, she helped Arthur and Javier rob a bank in Tucson, Arizona by dressing up as a Nun and hiding firearms under her clothes. -
Sadie Adler
Sadie grew up in a harsh environment and learned to hunt animals and ride horses in her youth. In September 1896, she became married to Jake Adler. The couple lived on a ranch in the state of Ambarino, where they shared the work evenly between them and had a happy marriage. -
Molly O'Shea
Molly was born into a wealthy family in Dublin, Ireland. She came to the United States searching for adventure, eventually joining Dutch van der Linde and his gang at some point prior to 1899. She and Dutch later became lovers. -
Charles Smith
Born to an African American father and a Native American mother, Smith became one of the most recent additions to the Van der Linde gang, joining roughly 6-7 months before the events of the game. He states that he and his father lived with his mother’s tribe until the US Army drove them away. His mother was captured by soldiers a couple years later and was never seen again, whilst his father fell into a depression and became an alcoholic. -
Abigail Marston
Abigail Marston was born in 1877 as Abigail Roberts. An orphan, Abigail eventually became part of the Van der Linde gang after being introduced to them all by Uncle in 1894. As a prostitute, she slept with most of the members of the gang, but ultimately fell in love with John and fell pregnant with their son, Jack, when she was only eighteen. She and John later also had an unnamed daughter, sometime later. -
Sean MacGuire
Sean was born in Ireland (presumably Donegal) and spent his early childhood there. Sean's father was Darragh MacGuire, an infamous Fenian outlaw who fled to America with Sean, before being hunted down and killed. The young Sean was sent to a reform school, but it did little for him. -
Tilly Jackson
The daughter of a former slave, Tilly became an outlaw at the age of 12, running with a gang called the Foreman Brothers after they kidnapped her from her mother. At some point, she killed Anthony Foreman's cousin, Malcolm, slitting his throat when he tried to make advances on her and left the gang. Tilly then returned to her mother's working place, only to found out that she had passed away. -
Mary Beth Gaskill
At some point prior to 1899, Mary-Beth got into trouble when she stole watches and wallets from several men. She was found by the Van der Linde gang while being chased by her pickpocketing victims, and was presumably rescued by them before joining the gang. -
Leonard Summers
Lenny Summers was born circa 1880. Both of his parents were former slaves. His family's life had been hard even before he was born; his mother was born in a cotton field and immediately confiscated by the overseer from her own mother. When the Civil War ended, the overseer continued harassing Lenny's grandmother, who eventually killed him with a knife and subsequently fled, narrowly avoiding a lynching. -
JackMarston
Jack Marston was born in 1895 as the first child of the outlaw John Marston and prostitute Abigail Roberts, two members of the Van der Linde gang. He would also have a younger sister, who died at some point before 1911. As the child of John and Abigail, Jack lived his early years around the various members of the Van der Linde gang such as Bill Williamson, Javier Escuella, Hosea Matthews, Arthur Morgan, Uncle, and even Dutch van der Linde, among others.