After initially settling and developing the Gray Harbor area, the Baxter family fell into disrepute and then obscurity. Those who still used the family name struggled with the stigma of being a Baxter, so that many chose to change their name or leave the region. By the 1920s, almost no known Baxters remained in Gray Harbor.

Family History

Little is known about either Adam Baxter or his wife Joan, save that Adam was born circa 1805, and they are generally accepted to be the progenitors of the Baxter family line in Gray Harbor. Rumors abound about their children, but none more than Lindon Baxter. In the late 1800s, he reportedly had numerous residents of the then-fledgling town rounded up and killed (purportedly burned at the stake) for being in league with the devil, while simultaneously turning a blind-eye to the fact that the Addington family was busy purchasing all the land surrounding the Baxter homestead.

His son, George Baxter, was born in 1885, the same year that the Addington Sawmill opened. In the wake of the Addingtons establishing themselves as the premiere family in Gray Harbor, the Baxter line became scattered, and many of the records that should exist were lost or obscured. The family history has become fragmented at best.

Closed Doors

Members of the Baxter family will find many doors closed to them throughout Gray Harbor County. Even those who don't know they're Baxters will find that positions of prestige - such as local politics - are denied them; they can't get themselves on the ballot or earn appointments, even if they would otherwise be qualified. It's almost like their name is cursed around these parts.

While individual Baxters can and do become successful business people, even in Gray Harbor, they will find that it's an uphill battle to establish themselves. Efforts to uncover how or why they're being blacklisted ultimately lead nowhere - coincidence, simple bad luck, et cetera.

Family Members

Verifying that a person is actually a Baxter descended from the original Gray Harbor Baxters is a difficult undertaking. Birth, death, and marriage records have all been lost or destroyed since the Baxters left the region in the 1920s, leaving huge gaps in the family history. Thus, many people who are Baxters (especially if they have a different surname) may not even know it.

Alexander

Chris

Grant

Isabella

Jac

Tim

Tor

Family Tree

The Baxter family tree is difficult to piece together at best. Many of the records were lost or destroyed. If your character wants to know more than just their immediate family, please:
roll <Your Character>/Research vs Baxter Family Tree/6

Click here to navigate the Baxter Family tree.

William Gohl

Elizabeth Baxter was the eldest daughter of Joan and Adam, born in 1838 in the Gray Harbor region. She married a man named William Gohl, believed to be a German immigrant born circa 1843. On the 6 February 1873, Elizabeth gave birth to a son, also named William Gohl.

William "Billy" Gohl worked in Gray Harbor as an officer for the Sailor's Union of the Pacific. Little is known about his personal life or history, except that he married a woman named Virginia and they had at least one child. What is known is that, from around 1905 until his arrest in 1910, he murdered dozens of people, typically by shooting them, stabbing them, or cutting their throats and dumping them into the harbor.

Billy was arrested on 2 February 1910 by Sheriff Addington and a posse, who holed him up in a local bar. The Gray Harbor Gazette gave him the moniker "Billy the Ghoul" when announcing his arrest, sensationalizing his crimes by suggesting he had killed several dozen men. Ultimately, Billy was convicted of two murders - those of Charles Hatfield and John Hoffman - but, in the years since, it has come to light that the Gazette may have undersold his body count. Modern historians assume Billy killed closer to 140 people.

After his arrest, Billy was sentenced to life in prison at the State Prison. A few years later, he was transferred to an asylum for the criminally insane, where he died 23 March 1927.

Billy the Ghoul Plot

Billy the Ghoul was used as a plot device on the game. The details of the plot are on the plot page here: https://gray-harbor.com/plot/5 Most people won't know all the details, but it's a small town, and word gets around, so feel free to know that - in the summer of 2019 - rumor has it that the ghost of William Gohl haunted Thomas Addington. While under the influence of this ghost, Thomas used his own psychic abilities to murder at least eight people - including several members of the Addington family.

The killing spree lasted from July to September 2019. Victims were:

• 07/01/19 - Susan Lewis-Addington - throat slashed at home
• 07/12/19 - Robert and Isabel Addington (nee Velez) - tires slashed while driving, drove off a cliff on Bayside Road
• 07/13/19 - Derrick Henderson - throat slashed at home
• 07/20/19 - Kelly Carr - throat slashed at the home of her sister
  • Rebecca Carr survived the attack
• 07/23/19 - Gregory Addington - throat slashed at home
• 07/27/19 - Irene Reede - throat slashed at home
  • Isabella Reede survived the attack
• 08/27/19 - Penny Faust - attacked on 07/13/19 with her brother Derrick Henderson, died of sepsis
• 09/13/19 - Michael Addington - throat slashed at home