Who is Cal Cooley from Stern Men and what is their importance?

Cal is a jack-of-all-trades, keeping the grounds of Ellis House on Fort Niles Island and performing other duties summers when Lanford is in residence. Cal comes from Missouri and speaks with what protagonist Ruth Thomas believes is an exaggerated Southern accent. For years Cal ferries Ruth to and from school and on visits to her mother in Concord. Ruth finds him a phony, particularly when he refers to himself in the third person as Old Cal Cooley. He is tall and thick-built, with black hair combed back, large blue-black eyes, a thick nose, huge chin, and a lined forehead. He could be anywhere from 40 to 60 and has served the family for some 20 years. Cal clearly has sexual desires towards young Ruth. He is not pleased being reminded that he and drunken Kitty Pommeroy, Ruth's aunt, are former lovers.