# The Case of Charles Dexter Ward — Character guide

> Key figures in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H. P. Lovecraft.

- [Charles Dexter Ward](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/charles_dexter_ward.md): Charles Dexter Ward is the only son of a wealthy Providence family, a gifted, meticulous boy whose antiquarian enthusiasms his parents indulged until his health and habits began to change. His genealogical digging into t
- [Dr. Marinus Bicknell Willett](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/dr_willett.md): Dr. Marinus Bicknell Willett has attended the Wards for decades, which gives him both intimate knowledge of Charles and standing to challenge the specialists who dismiss the boy as merely mad. Where the alienists see pat
- [Theodore Ward](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/theodore_ward.md): Theodore Ward presides over a comfortable Providence household and a family name he assumes is unremarkable, until his son's researches begin to disturb the house's peace and his wife's sleep. He is not a man of occult c
- [Joseph Curwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/joseph_curwen.md): Joseph Curwen was a wealthy, reclusive eighteenth-century Providence figure whose long life, strange cargo, and nocturnal habits made him the subject of whispered legend and, eventually, of a conspiracy among his neighbo
- [Dr. Allen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/dr_allen.md): Dr. Allen appears in Charles Ward's life as a medical man of vague credentials, present at the bungalow, consulted by telephone, and never quite where he is expected to be. His voice unsettles those who hear it, and his 
- [Ezra Weeden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/ezra_weeden.md): Ezra Weeden belongs to a Pawtuxet family with a colonial-era legend attached to its name, and his grave is rifled with deliberate, splintering malice during the worst of the disturbances. The nocturnal howling near the r
- [Mrs. Ward](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/mrs_ward.md): Charles's mother, who suffers from the strain of her son's mysterious transformation.
- [Captain Abraham Whipple](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/captain_abraham_whipple.md): An old sea captain who provides information about Curwen's past activities.
- [Eleazar Smith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/eleazar_smith.md): A former associate of Joseph Curwen who left behind revealing documents.
- [Luke Fenner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/luke_fenner.md): A local man who witnessed strange events at Curwen's farm.
- [John Merritt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/john_merritt.md): A merchant who had dealings with Joseph Curwen in the 18th century.
- [Edward Hutchinson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/edward_hutchinson.md): A Salem man who was involved with Simon Orne and Joseph Curwen.
- [Simon Orne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/simon_orne.md): A Salem sorcerer and associate of Joseph Curwen who vanished in 1771.
- [Ann Tillinghast](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/ann_tillinghast.md): An old servant who remembers strange occurrences at the Curwen farm.
- [Captain Dutie Tillinghast](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters/captain_dutie_tillinghast.md): A sea captain who transported mysterious cargo for Joseph Curwen.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_case_of_charles_dexter_ward_se/characters