Samantha Pearce

Samantha Helen Pearce (formerly Franklin) is currently one of the ghost residents in the Ghost House. Born in 1929, she and Gabriel Pearce, who was a lawyer, married in 1849. They had two children together, Mildred Pearce and Bartholomew Pearce, born in 1851 and 1855, respectively.

In 1856, Samantha slept with her best friend, Genevieve Hartley's husband, Benjamin Hartley, but managed to convince both Genevieve and Gabriel that the child she was carrying was actually Gabriel's. However, three year's after the birth of the child, Constance, Samantha came clean about cheating on her husband, and was consequently kicked out of her home. That same night, she successfully committed suicide.

Early life (1829 - 1848)
"I grew up in a rich family; I had it easy. I had an air of power surrounding me. Everything I wanted was brought to me at the clap of my hands."

- Samantha describing her early childhood Samantha Helen Franklin was born into a rich family in 1829. She was the second child in a family of three children which included her older brother Orville and her younger sister Patsy. Her sister died of scarlet fever when Samantha was five, and she grew up "with a small piece of her heart still attached to her loss". She met Benjamin Hartley and Gabriel Pearce when she was about eight, and whilst she constantly quarrelled with Gabriel, she slowly grew to fall in love with Benjamin, although the two barely ever spoke to one another about their feelings.

Samantha grew up as one of the best students in her class and was always excited to learn. She expressed interest in becoming a doctor, but her parents deemed it ridiculous and told her that if she was to get any job at all, she would be stuck teaching. Samantha's relationship with her parents was known to be very sour, as she often went against their decisions, which was seen when she tried to get one of her teachers to go on a special field trip.

In 1847, Samantha was denied her right to go to continue her studies at a college or university, so she went to Benjamin for comfort. The day after she heard that she was disallowed to go to school anymore, she overheard her parents talking about her getting married to Gabriel, something which they both disapproved of. However, in 1848, the decision that the two would get married was made final.

Marriage and children (1849 - 1855)
In 1949, marriage arrangements for Gabriel and Samantha were being made and the word about their marriage was being spread all over town. One evening, when Samantha wanted to see Benjamin for comfort, she found him kissing another girl whom she later came to know as Genevieve Abbott. Although disheartened at first, Samantha later came to accept and grow close to Genevieve, with the two becoming best friends quite soon. Genevieve was Samantha's bridesmaid at her and Gabriel's wedding, whereas Benjamin was the best man.

In October of 1850, Samantha realized she was pregnant with her first baby, and Mildred Pearce was born the following year. She was overjoyed about the beauty of her child, and apparently loving her more than she loved Gabriel, which was probably true, as she had been forced to love Gabriel but not forced to love Mildred.

In 1855, Samantha had yet another child, naming this one Bartholomew and loving him just as much as she loved Mildred. He struggled through illness for the first few years of his life, which greatly worried Samantha, but he did eventually recover and was perfectly fine after that. During the time of Bartholomew's illness, it was Benjamin, not Gabriel, who'd assured her that her son would be all right. This action was probably what drove Samantha to sleep with him.