James
James is the fictional “author” of Letters from an American Farmer. He is a Pennsylvanian in the late 1700s who inherited his farm from his father and has little formal education, but has come…
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J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur
Crèvecoeur is the author of Letters from an American Farmer. He writes most of the Letters from the perspective of a character named James (with the exception of one letter written by Iwan)…
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Mr. F.B.
F.B. is James’s friend, recent guest, and the recipient of his letters. Though F.B. doesn’t appear directly in the book, James portrays him as an educated Englishman who’s much more cultured, well-read, and widely…
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James’s Wife
James’s wife doesn’t play a direct role in the Letters, but James often mentions her (though he never names her directly) when writing about life on his farm. James expresses deep affection for his…
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Andrew the Hebridean
Andrew the Hebridean is a friend of James’s who emigrated from the remote island of Barra, Scotland, in 1774. James gives Andrew’s story as an illustration of how a virtuous, hardworking man of humble…
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Iwan
Iwan is a Russian gentleman and friend of James’s and the author of Letter XI. On James’s encouragement, Iwan visits botanist John Bertram to learn about American farming practices. Iwan is struck by the…
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John Bertram
John Bertram is a friend of James’s, a Pennsylvania farmer, Quaker, and celebrated botanist whom Iwan visits in Letter XI. Bertram has little formal education but became a self-taught botanist after he began noticing…
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Minor Characters
Minister Friend
The minister is James’s friend who appears in the first of the Letters. Besides preaching and pastoring his congregation, the minister is also a farmer. He encourages James to write to Mr. F.B. about American life even though James isn’t an experienced writer or as educated as his correspondent.
