Cecilia Margaret Vance

Character Name: Cecilia Margaret Vance
Nickname: Sissy May
Hometown: Vacherie, Louisiana
Occupation: Socialite
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Relationship Status: Unwed/In courtship
Horse: Romeo - American Saddlebred - Gelding

Cecilia is petite with an hourglass figure. Her hair shimmers between the richest strawberry blonde in the summer and the deepest of auburn in the winter depending on how much time she's spent outside. A smattering of freckles adorn her face as well as two large hazel eyes.
Played by Monica Ollander

Cecilia was raised to be a respectable young woman. She is amiable and well-behaved in the presence of company and makes the effort to stay poised. Naturally independent, Cecilia's desire to satiate curiosity often takes over rational thought, making her quite impulsive.

She is constantly teased by her family for being a little coquette, swearing that she is going to break many hearts the day she weds. As they are no longer in the South surrounded by suitable bachelors, Cecilia has a mind to enjoy her young adulthood, even if most of her time is spent reading or tending chores.

Those who don’t intimately know Cecilia might assume she is spoiled. Perhaps she is to some degree, based on her upbringing, and that she seems to have quite a bit of free time on her hands.

Desires: Cecilia wants more than anything to fall in love with a man of her own choosing without having to worry about the size of his pocketbook.

Secrets: As a young woman, she is full of secrets. However, the one that she is finds most embarrassing is when she was expelled from finishing school.

Fears: Sissy fears being forced into a marriage based solely on economic standing.

Cecilia Vance was born to Edgar and Myra Vance in 1846. She was born into wealth and privilege, on a prosperous Louisiana sugar plantation right outside New Orleans. Quarrels and sibling rivalry only lasted so long with Cecilia for being the first girl, it was quite evident that she was her father’s favorite and she would never want for anything.

On the eve of war, Edgar sold the family plantation, located about fifty miles outside of New Orleans, investing a portion of the profits into elsewhere. Edgar moved his family from their comfortable sugar plantation to an affluent district within the bustling city. That same year right around her fourteenth birthday, Cecilia followed her brother to boarding school. She was enrolled at Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In April of 1861, war was finally declared between the states. New Orleans was captured by the Union Army for its advantageous trade routes along the Mississippi River and its access to the Gulf of Mexico. The Vance’s were forced to free their remaining slaves. Though retained several former house slaves by offering to pay them fair wages for their servitude.

Life during the war was hectic for the Vance family. The greatest burden they endured was having to feign sincere “southern hospitality” as they often quartered union soldiers during the war. The children never quite understood why they had to constantly entertain guests, but it became a normal routine as the months marched into years. When Cecilia was expelled from boarding school and rejoined her family, she rather liked having a revolving door of handsome soldiers.

Though the war had come to an end, Edgar was sick of the city and the reminder of the Union Army who had occupied his family's home. Having grown bored with the pomp and fuss of southern traditions anyway, began preparations to move the family from Louisiana to the Wyoming Territory. Once their youngest children were away at school, the Vance’s begin their trek to Red Rock, Wyoming. Cecilia had hoped the move would be more of an adventure. Instead, the only excitement to be had is finding ways to escape her father's watchful gaze.

The family’s time in Red Rock came to an end just when Cecilia was finally beginning to settle in. She had made a deep, albeit brief connection with the town’s mayor and was forced to part ways before they could officially began a courtship. This time, Edgar was moving the family to be near his newest investment, the Cimarron Railroad Company. Sissy had assumed they would simply be moving to live near the CRC headquarters, but that was not the case. The Vance Family would be following along with the railroad’s construction beginning in Kansas.

Edgar Vance, 52 - Father
Myra Vance, 47/Deceased - Mother
Frederic Vance, 26-28 - Brother
Vincent Vance, 19-22 - Brother
Lydia Vance, 17 - Sister