Notes for: Laura Elizabeth INGALLS
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was born February 7, 1867, in a little log house in the Big Woods of Wisconsin. Laura's childhood was spent traveling west by covered wagon, to Indian Territory in Kansas, to Grasshopper Country in Minnesota, and then to Dakota Territory, where she met and married Almanzo Wilder.
Laura's daughter Rose grew up listening to her mother's stories of those pioneer days. She urged her mother to write them down so that other children could enjoy them, as well. So in the 1930s and 40s, Laura recorded her memories of those days of long ago in a children's series known as the "Little House"® books.
Although Laura died on February 10, 1957, at her home in the Ozarks of Missouri, she and her family will live forever in the hearts of her readers.
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was born February 7, 1867, the second daughter of Charles and Caroline Ingalls, in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, seven miles north of Pepin. In 1868, Pa and Ma (as Laura would later call her parents) took baby Laura and her sister Mary , age three, from the Big Woods to Chariton County, Missouri.
The family did not stay in Missouri long. Inspired by the Homestead Act of 1862 which offered 160 acres of "free land" to settlers who would farm and live on it for five years, Pa took his family to the prairies. The land Pa chose was about 12 miles from Independence, Kansas, within the boundaries of the Osage Diminished Reserve.
There Pa built a house and stable with the help of a neighbor, Mr Edwards. Later, the family contracted malaria and were fortunate that Dr Tann, who was actually a doctor to the Indians, was in the area. After building a house and planting crops, the Ingalls family was forced to leave in the fall of 1870, just after the birth of their third daughter, Carrie. Pa heard that the government had changed their minds about opening the land for homesteading and that soldiers were on their way to force the settlers out.
Pa did not wait for the soldiers. He took his family to their old home in the Big Woods. This enabled the girls to see more of their grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Laura and Mary attended the Barry Corner School, and spent many happy hours playing with their cousins. Ma was glad to be home, but Pa longed to go west again.
In 1874, the Ingalls journeyed west, trading for a small farm near Walnut Grove, Minnesota. The family lived in a dugout in the creek bank until Pa could build a wonderful new house made of sawed boards.
In Walnut Grove, the family joined the church pastored by Rev. Alden and Laura and Mary were able to attend school again. It was here that Laura met the snobby and cruel Nellie Owens.
Pa raised a wonderful wheat crop, and the family felt that surely this was the end of their troubles. However, grasshoppers invaded the area and destroyed all the crops. The family tried again the next year to raise a crop, but the grasshopper eggs left the previous year hatched and destroyed the crops again.
On November 1, 1875, a son was born to the Ingalls family, Charles Frederic . The following summer, the family traveled to Uncle Peter's farm in eastern Minnesota, where Pa helped with the harvesting. While there, baby Freddy became ill died on August 27, 1876.
The family, saddened at the loss of their son, moved on to Burr Oak, Iowa, where Pa's friend Mr. Steadman had purchased a hotel. The family lived in the hotel, and Ma and Pa helped the Steadmans manage it. They did not like the work, and moved first to some rented rooms over a grocery, and then to a little brick house outside of town.
The family's last child, Grace, was born in Burr Oak on May 23, 1877. The family was homesick for their friends in Walnut Grove, so they returned in the summer of 1877 to live in town while Charles did carpentry and other odd jobs, and opened a butcher's shop.
Laura and Mary were eager to find out what had happened in Walnut Grove while they were away. They found that Nellie Owens now had a rival, Genevieve Masters, the school teacher's daughter. Nellie and Genny fought for the leadership of the girls but it was Laura who became the leader, without even trying.
In 1879, Mary suffered a stroke and lost her eyesight. In that same year the Ingalls family made their final move when Aunt Docia from the Big Woods arrived and offered Pa a job as a railroad manager in Dakota Territory.
When the railway work moved on, the Ingalls family stayed. Together with their friends, the Boasts, they became the first residents of the new town of De Smet. Pa and Laura would have happily gone further west but Ma insisted that they stay put so that the children could get an education. Pa filed a claim on 160 acres of land 3 miles southeast of De Smet.
The Hard Winter of 1880-81 resulted in almost continuous blizzards from October to the following May. The blizzards made it all but impossible to travel in or out, and trains could not run to bring in supplies.
By late 1881, the family had saved up enough money to send Mary to the blind school at Vinton, Iowa. The government supplied the money for her tuition, but Ma and Pa had to pay for transportation to and from the school, and for suitable clothes for a young college girl.
As a teenager Laura had become rather a shy girl and initially found it difficult to mix with people. She seemed quite fearful of crowds. Laura worked hard at school and showed a great interest in English, history and poetry. Unfortunately, Genevieve Masters had arrived in De Smet and along with the teacher, Eliza Jane Wilder, began to cause trouble for Laura. However Miss Wilder left the school and Laura was able to become top of her class.
At the early age of 15, Laura earned her teaching certificate. She was hired by the Bouchie School, 12 miles away, and boarded with the Bouchie family. Mrs. Bouchie was apparently going through a mental breakdown due to the isolation of the settlement, and Laura was frightened of her. She was therefore very grateful when a young man, Almanzo Wilder, a local farmer and brother of her old teacher, offered to drive his sleigh through howling gales and freezing temperatures each weekend to bring her home.
At first Laura thought Almanzo was doing it only as a favor to Pa. Over the next three years, however, she gradually allowed Almanzo into her affections and they married on August 25, 1885.
Their daughter Rose was born December 5, 1886, but the farming life was no easier for the newly married couple than it had been for Laura's father and mother. Droughts and hail storms ruined crops and kept them in debt. Diphtheria and over work led to Almanzo being crippled. Their second child, a baby boy, died unnamed soon after his birth in August 1889. An accident in the kitchen resulted in their house burning down.
Almanzo and Laura left De Smet to live with Almanzo's parents in Spring Valley, Minnesota, but the weather did not help Almanzo's health. They moved to Westville, Florida, where Laura's cousin Peter had made his home. Almanzo's health improved, but Laura could not take the heat, and the women did not accept her socially because she was a "Yankee". In 1892, Almanzo, Laura, and little Rose returned to De Smet.
On July 17, 1894, the Wilders left South Dakota again. This time, they traveled to Mansfield in the Ozarks of Missouri. They arrived on August 30, and purchased Rocky Ridge Farm. The house began as a small log cabin, but Laura and Almanzo added to it over the years, until it became the large rambling farmhouse that it is today.
Laura began to write articles for the Missouri Ruralist and other magazines. In 1930 she wrote her autobiography which she called Pioneer Girl. She could not find a publisher, but she rewrote part of it, with Rose's help, as Little House in the Big Woods. The book was an instant success, and children all over the world begging Laura to tell more stories about Laura and Mary. The result was the Little House books
Almanzo died on October 23, 1949, at the age of 92. Laura died on February 10, 1957, at Rocky Ridge Farm at the age of 90.
There were three marriages between the Ingalls and Quiners, making Laura's family quite complicated.
Charles Ingalls (Pa) (Laura's father)
Caroline Ingalls (Ma) (Laura's mother)
Mary Ingalls (Laura's oldest sister)
Carrie Ingalls (Laura's younger sister)
Freddy Ingalls (Laura's younger brother)
Grace Ingalls (Laura's youngest sister)
Almanzo Wilder (Laura's husband)
Rose Wilder Lane (Laura's daughter)
Landsford and Laura Ingalls (Laura's paternal grandparents)
Henry and Charlotte Quiner (Laura's maternal grandparents)
Henry and Polly Quiner and children (Laura's uncle and aunt)
Peter and Eliza Ingalls and children (Laura's uncle and aunt)
Thomas Lewis Quiner (Laura's uncle)
Docia Waldvogel Forbes and children (Laura's aunt)
James and Angeline Wilder (Almanzo's parents)
Royal Wilder (Almanzo's brother)
Eliza Jane Wilder (Almanzo's sister)
Laura Ingalls Wilder
1867 - 1957
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was the second child of Charles and Caroline Ingalls. She was born on February 7, 1867, in Pepin, Wisconsin. When she was about one year old, her parents lost all their money, so they left Wisconsin for the free land offered to homesteaders in the West. She lived a rugged pioneer life with her family as they moved from place to place. The family finally settled in De Smet, South Dakota. Laura was known as a tomboy, loving snowball fights and handball.
When she was only 15 years old, she became a teacher at a school of 5 students 12 miles away. During the 2 months she spent teaching at the Bouchie School, Laura got to know Almanzo James Wilder, a farmer who braved the winter storms to drive her home from school each weekend. During those long drives behind Prince and Lady, the Morgan horses she loved so much, Almanzo gained her affection. After courting for 2½ years, they were married on August 25, 1885, with the bride wearing black. Life was no easier as a farmer's wife than her childhood had been. They spent 4 years trying farming which is documented in The First Four Years, which ended with a fire which destroyed the home "Manly" had worked so hard to build. Daughter Rose was born on December 5, 1886 in De Smet. In August 1889, Laura gave birth to a baby boy who died shortly thereafter. The Wilders then spent several years living with various family members while Almanzo gained his strength back from a bout of diphtheria, which resulted in his partial paralysis. In 1890, Laura, Almanzo and Rose lived with Almanzo's parents in Spring Valley, Minnesota. Between 1891 and 1892, the family then moved to Westville, Florida in the hope that the warmer climate would help Almanzo's legs. Laura hated living there so much that they returned to De Smet. In July 1894 they then left for Laura and Almanzo's final home near Mansfield, Missouri--Rocky Ridge Farm. Laura's diary of the trip is published in On the Way Home. In 1915, during World War I, Laura traveled to San Francisco to visit her daughter and see the Panama-Pacific International Exposition-- West from Home is a collection of letters she wrote to Almanzo while she was there.
After publishing many articles locally and spending 12 years editing the Missouri Ruralist, at the urging of her daughter, Laura began to write. She worked on her memoirs, in a manuscript entitled Pioneer Girl. The concept of this book, which was essentially the whole series in one, lead to the start of the Little House series which was published by Harper and Brothers (now known as HarperCollins) children's department. The stories centered on the male unrest and female patience of pioneers in the mid-1800s and celebrated their peculiarly American spirit and independence. Little House in the Big Woods was published in 1932, when she was 65. The book was well received and she expanded it into a series. Laura died on February 10, 1957 at her Rocky Ridge home, the last surviving member of the pioneering Ingalls family.
Note:
(Research):Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was born in a log cabin seven miles north of Pepin, Wisconsin, on February 7, 1867. Her first book, Little House in the Big Woods is about her childhood years here in the Big Woods of Wisconsin. This book is full of the stories Pa told Laura when she was a little girl, as well as the family's way of life.
She describes a butchering, smoking of venison, food preparation, the making of bullets, hunting, and weaving hats of straw, activities that most children today are unfamiliar with. She tells of the Christmas where she got her beloved rag doll Charlotte, and of playing with cousins, and making molasses-on-snow candy. She also tells of going to town for the first time and picking up pebbles with her sister Mary along Lake Pepin.
Although Laura writes in On the Banks of Plum Creek that she and Mary began school for the first time in Walnut Grove, they actually attended the Barry Corner School near Pepin for a short time, with Anna Barry as their teacher.
The Ingalls family left Pepin in 1868 and went to Missouri, and then Kansas, before returning to Pepin in late 1870. The family left Pepin for good in 1874 and moved to Walnut Grove, Minnesota. The events of Little House in the Big Woods occurred during the family's second stay in Pepin.
Present: Today, a replica cabin stands on the Ingalls' former property. In town, the Pepin Historical Museum houses memorabilia of Laura and her family members, as well as period items. Several of Laura's relatives, and other characters mentioned in Little House in the Big Woods can be found in a nearby cemetery. And no visit to Pepin is complete without a picnic on the shore of Lake Pepin, picking up pretty pebbles as Laura did so many years ago.
Independence, Kansas
Past: After leaving their home in Pepin, Wisconsin, in late 1868 or early 1869, the Ingalls family lived in Chariton County, Missouri, for about a year. They then moved to Montgomery County, Kansas, about 12 miles southwest of Independence. The family made their home on the Osage Diminished Reserve after receiving word from Washington that the land would soon be open for settlement.
Though Laura was only 2 or 3 years old when the family lived here, she wrote of the family's experiences here in Little House on the Prairie based on Pa's, Ma's, and Mary's memories. It was in this cabin that Mr. Edwards, their bachelor neighbor, crossed the flooded creek to bring Christmas presents to the girls. Laura also mentions her neighbors, the Scotts, several times, and Dr. Tann, who brought the family through a bout with malaria. The Ingalls family also had Osage neighbors, including the French speaking chief, Soldat du Chene. Though not mentioned in the book, Laura's sister Carrie was born while the family was living here.
Present: Today, a replica cabin stands on what is believed to be the Ingalls' former property, now owned by Bill Kurtis. Near the cabin are the remains of a handmade stone well, believed to be the one made by Pa and Mr. Scott. The Verdigris River and Walnut Creek, mentioned in Little House on the Prairie, flow near the site. Sunnyside School and the old Wayside Post Office are also located beside the cabin, as they are part of Montgomery County history.
In 1894, Almanzo, Laura, and Rose Wilder left their home in De Smet, South Dakota for good, hoping to find a better life in the Ozarks of Missouri. They bought a piece of property which Laura named Rocky Ridge, and over the years, cleared the land, planted an apple orchard, and built a beautiful home made from materials found on the land. Laura and Almanzo spent the rest of their lives in Mansfield.
Their daughter Rose, however, was not satisfied with small town life, and left Mansfield to travel the world. She married Claire Gillette Lane in 1909, had an infant son who died in the summer of 1910, and divorced Gillette in 1919. In later years, she returned to Rocky Ridge. She and her friend Helen Boylston moved into the farmhouse, and Rose had a rock house with modern conveniences built for her parents. After Rose moved out, however, Almanzo and Laura returned to the farmhouse, saying they were homesick.
Laura wrote her books at Rocky Ridge in the 1930s and 1940s. Even though the royalties from the books must have made the Wilders very wealthy, they did not change their way of life. Almanzo continued to farm until his death on October 23, 1949. Laura lived on the farm alone despite Rose's pleading with her to leave until her death on February 10, 1957.
Present:
After Laura's death, Mansfield residents L.D. and Irene Lichty began a nonprofit organization in commemoration of Laura and her books. They later persuaded Rose to repurchase the home and grounds, and were active in its preservation. Today, the house stands just as Laura left it. A museum next to the home contains many of Laura's personal belongings and a number of items mentioned in her books, such as Pa's fiddle, Ma's sewing machine, Mary's nine-patch quilt, autograph albums, name cards, and much more. One section of the museum is devoted to Rose Wilder Lane and her literary career.
The modern rock house that Rose had built for her parents has been undergoing restoration over the past several years, and was officially opened at Rocky Ridge Day 1997. The rock house is now available for tours.
Other Mansfield points of interest include the Laura Ingalls Wilder Library, and the Mansfield cemetery, where Laura, Almanzo, and Rose are buried.
"Little House Memories" is an outdoor pageant which recreates scenes from Laura's books, held on weekends during late summer and early fall. Two annual events in Mansfield, also held in the fall, are Wilder Days and Rocky Ridge Day. Wilder Days is held in September, and features arts and crafts, music, and a parade. On Rocky Ridge Day, scheduled for October 17, 1998, Laura fans can meet "Little House" authors and artists. In recent years, guests have included authors William Anderson and Evelyn Thurman, Roger Lea MacBride's daughter Abigail, photographer Les Kelly, and artists Cheryl Harness and Renee Graef, as well as Dean Butler and Alison Arngrim, members of the television series cast.
Another attraction in Mansfield is Friendship House, a bed and breakfast which used to be the boarding house of Neta and Silas Seal. Laura and Almanzo were close friends with the Seals, and often ate Sunday dinner with them at the boarding house.
Laura's Letter to Children
Laura died in 1957, and she can no longer write to the many children who read her books today. However, she wrote these two letters which may answer questions children still have today.
February, 1947 Dear Children: I was born in the "Little House In the Big Woods" of Wisconsin just eighty years ago the 7th of February. Living through all the Little House books, as told in those stories, I came fifty years ago with Almanzo and our little daughter, Rose, to live on our farm in the Ozarks. Rose, now Rose Wilder Lane, grew up and went away. Her home is in Connecticut. Almanzo and I still live on the farm but are not farming now. We care for our pet bulldog, our comical Rocky Mountain burro and our milk goats. We no longer keep horses but still go driving together in our car. Schoolmates and friends of the "Little Town on the Prairie" are scattered. Perhaps you would like to hear about them. Ida married her Elmer and went to California, where her children and grandchildren are now. Mary Power married the young banker and did not live many years. Nellie Oleson married in the East; later separated from her husband and died long ago. Cap Garland was killed in an explosion of a threshing machine soon after Almanzo and I were married. Sister Mary lived at home after graduating from College. She never recovered her sight but was always cheerful and busy with her work, her books and music. Carrie married a mine owner in the Black Hills. Her home was near Mt. Rushmore where statues of our presidents are carved in the solid rock of the mountain top. Grace married a farmer and lived only seven miles from De Smet. Pa and Ma died years ago and Mary soon after. Grace followed them several years ago and Carrie died last June, so I am the only one of the family left. Pa's fiddle is in Memorial Hall of the museum of the state historical society at Pierre, South Dakota. And every year at their public concert someone will play on it the songs Pa used to play. The Little House books are stories of long ago. The way we live and your schools are much different now, so many changes have made living and learning easier. But the real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong. With love to you all and best wishes for your happiness, I am, Yours sincerely
This similar letter was written in the 1950s. Although much of the information is contained in the previous letter, there are a few added bits which you may find interesting.
Dear Children, I was born in the "Little House in the Big Woods" of Wisconsin on February 7 in the year 1867. I lived everything that happened in my books. It was a long story, filled with sunshine and shadow, that we have lived since "These Happy Golden Years"... After our marriage Almanzo and I lived for a little while in the little gray house on the tree claim. In the year 1894 we and our little daughter Rose left Dakota in a covered wagon and moved to a farm in the Ozarks. We cleared the land and built our own farm house. Eventually we had 200 acres of improved land, a herd of cows, good hogs, and the best laying flock of hens in the country. For many years we did all our own work, but now almost all of the land has been rented or sold. For recreation we used to ride horseback or in our buggy -- later on, our Chrysler. We read and played music and attended church socials. In 1949 Almanzo died at the age of 92. We had been married 63 years. Our daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, the novelist, now lives in Connecticut. You may be interested to know what happened to some of the other people you met in my books. Ma and Pa lived for a while on their homestead then moved into town where Pa did carpentry. After Mary graduated from the College for the Blind she lived at home. She was always cheerful and busy with her work, her books and music. Carrie worked for The De Smet News for a while after finishing high school, and then she married a mine owner and moved to the Black Hills. Grace married a farmer and lived a few miles outside of De Smet. All of them have been dead for some years now. Several years before Almanzo's death he and I took a trip back to De Smet for a reunion with our old friends. Many of the old buildings had been replaced. Everywhere we went we recognized faces, but we were always surprised to find them old and gray like ourselves, instead of being young as in our memories. There is one thing that will always remain the same to remind people of little Laura's days on the prairie, and that is Pa's fiddle. Every year at a public concert, someone plays on it the songs Pa used to play. The "Little House" books are stories of long ago. Today our way of living and our schools are much different; so many things have made living and learning easier. But the real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with the simple pleasures and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong. Great improvements in living have been made because every American has always been free to pursue his happiness, and so long as Americans are free they will continue to make our country ever more wonderful. With love to you all and best wishes for your happiness, I am Sincerely Your Friend,
"Pioneer, Author. Born Laura Elizabeth Ingalls in Pepin, Wisconsin, the second daughter of Charles and Caroline Quiner Ingalls. The Ingalls family traveled by covered wagon to short residences in Iowa, Minnesota, and Kansas, before settling in DeSmet, South Dakota, one of two families who founded the town. To help her sister, Mary , receive an education at a college for the blind, Laura obtained her teaching certificate at age 15. In 1885, Laura married Almanzo James Wilder in DeSmet, and their daughter, Rose, was born the following year. In 1894, the young family relocated to Mansfield in the Missouri Ozark Mountains, where Laura and Almanzo built the prosperous Rocky Ridge Farm. During World War I, Laura became a columnist for The Missouri Ruralist , with the popular and thoughtful weekly, "As A Farm Wife Thinks". In 1932, she began writing the "Little House" books, an 8-part series, hand-written over 11 years, and delightfully illustrated by Garth Williams, based on her pioneer childhood and youth. In her books, Laura stressed the importance of family, faith, simple values, and self-sufficiency. The books have remained enduringly popular, continuing to be published and read worldwide today. After 63 years of marriage, Almanzo died in 1949, Laura continued to live at Rocky Ridge Farm until her passing in 1957, at the age of 90. In 1954, Garth Williams designed the bronze Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for presentation to Laura as the first recipient. The medal, administered by the Association for Library Service to Children, is an annual award presented to "an author or illustrator whose books, written in the United States, have made, over the years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children." There are museums across the United States at the sites where the Ingalls and Wilder families lived, including the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum at Rocky Ridge Farm, where the home that Laura and Almanzo built by hand has been preserved just as when the Wilders' were in residence. Laura and Almanzo's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, became a noted novelist and political writer.