- Niel Herbert – the main character who meets Mrs. Forrester as a young boy. He falls in love with what she represents and struggles to preserve his boyhood image of her. After watching her first have an affair with Frank Ellinger and later Ivy Peters, he finally leaves Sweet Water. Niel realizes by the end of the novel that his love of Marian was based on Captain Forrester's idealization of her.
- Mrs. Marian Forrester – a charming socialite and the wife of Captain Forrester. Niel falls in love with what she represents, and is dismayed to discover her affair with Frank Ellinger. After her husband's death, she becomes the mistress of Ivy Peters who runs her estate. She eventually leaves the town and moves to California, dying before Niel ever sees her again.
- Captain Daniel Forrester – an aging man of the Pioneer generation who made his fortune building track for the railroads in the old days. He is proud of his beautiful wife. The novel opens at a time when he has already been physically destroyed by a fall from a horse. After suffering two strokes he eventually dies, signifying the end of the pioneering era.
- Frank Ellinger – a muscular bachelor and businessman of the Gilded Age generation. Frank is Mrs. Forrester's lover and visits her when the Captain is away from the house. He marries Constance Ogden.
- Ivy Peters – a cocky and pretentious older boy of the Jazz Age generation who later becomes a lawyer. He becomes very wealthy and eventually succeeds in owning the Forrester estate.
- Constance Ogden – an envious Southern girl who is Niel's age and who is envious of Marian's beauty. She later marries Frank Ellinger.
- Judge Pommeroy – Niel's uncle, he is a lawyer that falls on hard times much the way the Forresters do.
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