Daniel Summerborn

Daniel Summerborn was the son of Honey Summerborn, determined from a young age to escape poverty any way he could. He ran away from home and took up a servant position in the house of Wallace Scorpio, who taught him to read and write, and sponsored him to go to school. Daniel was the clerk and accountant for the Scorpio brothers' law practice and eventually became Wallace's private secretary.

When Wallace died, he left an inheritance to the boy, who used to it to buy a home and send for a wife, Polly Clarke. He had hoped bringing a wealthy wife from out of town would make him more popular among the elite but she was ostracized by the locals, and Daniel soon learned her inheritance had been exaggerated. After the death of Polly in childbirth, Daniel was eager to arrange marriages for their daughters that would raise him up socially. His eldest daughter Alice Scorpio reluctantly married William Wallace Scorpio. His daughter Diana married the decrepit Samuel Ipswich only a few months before his death.