Jack Fender

[The Doctor plus one]

Name: Jacob Henry Fender
Rank: former sergeant
Occupation: blacksmith, but he has been working in many different jobs
Nick Names/Aliases: Jack Fender
Age: 35, August 1st 1845
Appearance: 6'1”, brown hair, green eyes. Jack's hardly wealthy and his clothes give that away. They have this well used look and are usually either brown or grey.
Belongings/Equipment:
1873 Colt Army, 7.5”
Spencer carbine, 56-56
chestnut gelding named Gremlin
Any distinguishing features: scars on his upper left arm and back from several wounds from the Civil War
Place of Birth: Bowmans Crossing, Virginia
Family:
Father: Peter S. Fender
Mother: Anna
Sisters: Emily & Patricia
Brother: William

Brief Personal History:
Jack Fender -nobody calls him Jacob- was born in Bowmans Crossing, Virginia in 1845 as the first of four children to Peter and Anna Fender. Peter Fender was the local blacksmith and, despite the fact that he had to deal mainly with horses, was rather skilled. As a child Jack spent a lot of time around the furnace watching his father doing his work and he soon learned the first steps in this trade. It seemed clear that Jack would take over the business from his father.

However the change in politics brought also a change for the Fender family. When the Union fell apart the family was also caught by these events. Being 15 in 1860 Jack soon found himself enthralled with the idea of... revolution! It came down to a quarrel with his father in 1861. Jack wanted to enlist, to protect the cause of freedom. His father was against it and denied Jack's wish. After that incident Jack simply ran away from home, made his way into one of the neighboring counties and enlisted there. He joined the Confederate army and finally served in the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Master Robert himself (Jack was there, at Gettysburg, limping back from the charge at the Federals on Cemetery Ridge, when Lee rode towards the men and said "It's my fault, it's all my fault". At that moment Jack knew that he would die for this man).

In those four years of bloodshed Jack learned that war was not really the big adventure that the politicians had told them. His regiment took part in all the big engagements. During those the 16 year old grew slowly into a man and ended up as a sergeant by the end of the war, simply because all those who had been sergeant had been killed by then. During the war Jack was also shot twice and was almost hit by enemy artillery countless times.

He, together with his regiment, was there when Lee surrendered in 1865. The cause of freedom had lost. The war was over. The men returned home to their farms and fields, to their factories and shops and so did Jack. He returned to Bowmans Crossing in Virginia, but nothing was the same anymore. Farms and plantations in the county had been destroyed by the Yankees. His little sisters had been hiding in the basement of the family's house when the Yankees were near. The landscape he knew looked a bit different when he returned, thanks to Sheridan and his raids into the Shenandoah Valley.

Nevertheless, life continued. After reuniting with the family Jack picked up the work as blacksmith again, and worked alongside his father for almost three years. But during those three years a gap began to appear and it slowly but steady widened. Peace was not really Jack's thing anymore. It felt strange. After living in an army for four years living such a civilian life just seemed wrong. Many people had died, but for what?

Eventually the gap was too big. Jack picked up the few possessions he had and left Bowmans Crossing once again. From Virginia he set out to the west, since it was the only open way. What followed was an almost 12 year long odyssey through the western territories. Jack didn't manage to stay anywhere for a longer time. After a while he just had to get moving again. During those years he usually worked when he ran out of money and he was doing all kinds of jobs. Ranch hand, miner, trapper, once even as blacksmith, the list was almost endless.

Personality/Quirks: He can't settle down, it just doesn't work. He has to move on. Though, despite this fact Jack is a very dedicated man, otherwise he wouldn't have survived 4 years in the meat grinder of the Civil War. The only problem is, that, ever since the end of the war, there hasn't been anything to awaken his dedication.
Other important notes: none as of yet