Their children are: twins Tom Jr. and Addie, born in 1931. Tommy was killed in Korea in 1953. His wife Kitty, whom he met while in basic training, had their daughter Sandy while Tommy was off in the war. Addie married Ben Olson in 1949, and they had 2 kids Julie and Steven. Mickey Horton was born in 1932, and Bill Horton was born in 1940. The baby of the family was Marie who was born in 1942. (All dates from Lorraine ZenkaÕs book).
A brief history of the characters: Ben Olsen's father was the richest man in Salem, who was the President of First National Bank. Mickey was an attorney (still is), and a very popular bachelor. And at the start of the show Bill was in his final year at Harvard Medical School. Marie was a biochemistry graduate from Salem University. At the beginning of the show, she was engaged to Tony Merritt.
Julie, Addie's daughter, was a very rebellious and troublesome teen. She was the first born grandchild, and she was used to getting all of the attention, until little brother Steven, two years younger than she, started being noticed. Steven was a very popular young man, and he had a superior academic record, which made Julie even more jealous. So Julie, found a different way to get attention.
One time Julie tried to impress two girlfriends by stealing a fur at a department store. A store security guard saw her, and took her to the police station. Julie gave her last name as Horton and not Olson, so Tom was called to come to help her. Mickey came along with him to give Julie legal advice. Julie tried to self-righteously deny stealing the fur, it was far less valuable than any that she already had, so she claimed. It had been a joke, she said. Mickey warned her that this was no joke. Records showed that Julie has been questioned about stealing 3 previous times. Her father was furious when he found out, and he wanted to keep the whole thing a secret. Mickey and Ben argued over the punishment she should get. Later Tom noted that Ben was so caught up in making money, that he had forgotten at being a good father. After the Olsons' viewed the surveillance tape at the store the next day, it was clear that the charges against Julie weren't going to be dropped. At home, Ben had laid down the rules for Julie, less privileges and more chores, but Julie remained defiant.
At home, Alice was discussing wedding plans with Marie and Tony (they were to be married on Thanksgiving). Marie and Tony were secretly planning to move to Boston, where he was interviewing for a teaching position. Tony was also hiding spells of pain and dizziness from Marie.
While visiting Marie, Julie met Craig Merritt (Tony's father), and she became infatuated. Some of the members of the family began to ridicule Marie for her choice of marrying Tony. She was engaged to Rick Butler, who was far more wealthy, and Tony was only a teacher.
Unfortunately, Tony made an appointment with Tom and was diagnosed with a rare blood disease that could be fatal. He kept his illness a secret. The night before the wedding, he broke off his engagement to Marie. Marie was shocked! She fell to pieces, slipping into a deep depression and eventually attempting suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills in December.
The Hortons ended the year with family tradition. At Christmas they all hung up their personalized ornaments made by TomÕs mother on the Christmas tree.