The Ingalls and Little House on the Prairie

Have you ever searched the internet for information on Laura Ingalls Wilder. There are numerous sites to look through. Some the facts seem to be confusing and others are very good. I have found myself wondering what happened to the Ingalls children when they grew up. Now I may be the only one who is curious about this and maybe there are numerous people out there wondering as well. I watched Little House on the Prairie as a young child and even as an adult. I love the program it is one of the few that there is no sex, violence, foul language and is a good all around family program. I began researching about the family and found there is a lot of information but you have to look at many sites. I also found out that during my research that no matter what person I was working on it always would take me back to Laura Ingalls Wilder. It made my research a lot of fun in extracting the information I was looking for. I thought it might be nice to have some of the pertinent facts in one area. So I began working.

I found that Charles Ingalls (Pa) was born in Cuba, N.Y. January 10, 1836. Caroline Lake Quiner Ingalls (Ma) was born December 12, 1839 Brookfield, Wisconsin. Charles and Caroline married on February 1, 1860 in Concord, Wisconsin. They were married 42 years and had 5 children. The Ingalls moved around a lot in hopes to better their lives. In my research I tried to follow their path, I only hope I have the path very close to true.

The path begins in Pepin, Wisconsin the year 1860 - 1868. There is a reconstructed cabin built on the site that is supposed to be an accurate replica of the Ingalls home at the time. This is where Mary and Laura were born at. I didn't find anywhere where it said that is was the exact site of where old cabin used to be. The location of this cabin is 7 miles north of Pepin, Minnesota, on County Road CC. The family then moved south to Missouri.

1868 -1869 it is reported Charles had bought some property in Chariton County, Missouri. He paid $11.25 an acre but then sold it in a short amount of time. It was reported that Charles had heard of homestead land in Kansas and so they moved. There was a discrepancy in information about Carrie's birth being here. In the genealogy of the family Carrie was born in Kansas.

1869 -1871 the family settled south west of Independence, Kansas. This is the area that Carrie was supposed to actually have been born. This area is where Laura based her story Little House on the Prairie from. Laura would have only been 2 years old upon arrival and 4 years old when they moved again. There is information that the Ingalls were 3 miles inside the Indian Territory and the Indians resented this. The information suggested that Charles new this but in Laura's books it says that he wasn't aware that the land was opened to settlement yet. This is also the reason the family left Kansas and went back to Pepin, Wisconsin. The information I found shows Charles selling the land in Pepin, Wisconsin in October 1873 for $1000. The family moved forward at this time towards Minnesota and stopped at New Ulm. Charles didn't like this area as it was already too crowded.

1874 - 1876 the family continued west along the Cotton Wood River, while staying with a friend Eleck Nelson near the tiny town of Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Charles heard of a piece of land in North Hero Township that was for sale. The land belonged to Mr. Hanson, Charles purchased this land and this is where the dugout they lived in is located. This site is 1.5 miles north of Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Charles and Caroline settled on the property in May with the intent to homestead it. While living here their son Charles Frederick was born. This is the site that Laura wrote On the Banks of Plum Creek. After 3 crop failures in a row Charles and Caroline decided not to finish out their homestead process and instead decided to purchase the ground. In July of 1876 Charles bought the ground for $413 and sold it immediately to Abraham Keller for $400.

In 1947 Harold and Della Gordon purchased this 172 acre farm not knowing the historical connection it had. Garth Williams who was researching the Ingalls family footsteps found in Court House Records that this land had been homesteaded by the Ingalls family. In 1947 Mr. Williams visited the Gordon family and informed them of their connection. The Gordon family must have taken great pride in this knowledge because they maintain the land. There is a depression in the Creek bank that is believed to be the dugout that the Ingalls family lived in along Plum Creek. None of the buildings remain standing nor is the exact location known of them. The Gordon family does give tours for a small fee.

According to the History page of Walnut Grove, Minnesota the town began in 1870 and was incorporated on March 18, 1879. The name came from the beautiful walnut trees that grow along the banks of Plum Creek. It is also listed Charles Ingalls as the Justice of the Peace at this time.

1876 - 1877 the family moved to Burr Oak, Iowa to help the Steadman's operate the Master's Hotel. The Ingalls only son Charles Frederick died during their travel at 9 months old. Grace was born here; it wasn't long after her birth the family headed back to Walnut Grove. There was no documentation of how the Ingalls became affiliated with the Steadman's to even know there was work there.

1877 - 1879 the family returned to Walnut Grove, Minnesota. They didn't like Iowa and the work became scarce once they were there. I wonder if the hard times and the grief didn't just make them want to go back to a familiar location.

1879 Charles went to DeSmet, S. D. to work for the Silver Lake R.R. Company. The family followed soon after. The family lived in the Surveyors house to begin with. It was posted that Carolyn made Charles promise her this would be their last move. Carolyn wanted the children to get an education and she was getting tired of the moving as well.

1880 Charles filed a claim on land 1 ½ miles south east of DeSmet. The family would spend summers on the homestead and winters in town at Charles Store. I could only come to the conclusion that this store it the Surveyor's house.

1887 Charles built a home on 3^rd St. in DeSmet, S.D. and this is where Caroline, Charles and Mary resided till their death.

There are writings called The Caroline Years and Little House in Brookfield. Caroline Years is an extension of the Little House on the Prairie series, it follows Caroline's life from age 5 through to her engagement to Charles. It is reported that Caroline's father was killed in a shipping accident on Lake Michigan near the Straits of the Mackinac. Caroline was 5 years old. Caroline had 3 brothers and a 2 sisters. Caroline began teaching school at the age of 16. This is where the book Little House in Brookfield is talked about written by Maria D. Wilkes. I was unable to find out how Charles and Caroline met, or how Charles ended up in Wisconsin from N.Y., without buying the book.

After Charles and Caroline were married there isn't much written of the first 5 years of marriage that I was able to find. Most of the information begins when their first child Mary was born in 1865.

Mary Amelia Ingalls was born January 10, 1865 in Pepin, Wisconsin. Mary became blind at the age of 15 due to a brain fever. Brain fever is a general term used to include numerous diseases. There is speculation in my readings that Mary could have had Scarlet Fever or Meningitis and this was a huge factor in what caused Mary's blindness. Laura became Mary's eyes, by explaining in great description what she was seeing. Laura read to Mary for many hours and helped her memorize the important information she needed to know since there wasn't a blind school in S. D. It was reported that Doc Baker told the family about the Blind School in Iowa but I also found information that a traveling missionary was the one who told them. On November 23, 1881 Mary was enrolled in the Iowa School for the Blind. Mary and her parents arrived by train at a town near the school, they were met by a horse drawn bus. When the students arrived at the school they would first have a conference with Mr. Carothers. Once done with this conference they would join Lorana Mattice for the rest of the instructional time of the conference. Lorana Mattice was a highly competent blind teacher, she displayed a warm friendly manner that made the students and parents feel at ease. The parents were always encouraged to stay a couple days till their child became a little more comfortable with their new housing. Mary attended the blind school from 1881 to 1889. It was reported that Mary did miss a year during this time but nothing was documented as to why. Speculation was that Mary may have had a bout of illness, Mary did graduate from the school on June 12, 1889, and there were 5 girls and 3 boys in Mary's graduating class. Mary was 24 years old at the time she graduated. Mary recited a Robert Burns essay at the commencement exercise.

After Mary graduated she went back home to DeSmet, S.D. and lived with her parents. This information was a huge shock to me as I always thought due to the series that Mary had married Adam. The real fact is she never married and never had any children, she lived with her parents. Mary and Caroline were very active in the church. Mary did teach Sunday school classes. After Charles death Mary began making fly nets that were used on horses to with the family income. This was a trade among others Mary learned at the blind school. After Caroline's death Mary went to live with her sister Grace for a short period of time, and then moved to Keystone, S.D. and lived with her sister Carrie. Mary lived with Carrie till she passed away on October 20, 1928. Mary was 63 years old and died from pneumonia and complications of a stroke. Mary is buried in the family plot in the DeSmet Cemetery, DeSmet, S.D. Mary passed away without knowing of her sister Laura's writings that immortalized the family.

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was born February 7, 1867 in Pepin, Wisconsin. Laura grew to be a very famous woman with her Little House on the Prairie books. Through all the research of Laura she was a very strong willed young lady. Laura seemed to be a very family oriented child and very loyal to her sister Mary when she went blind. Laura read to Mary for hours and helped her memorize the facts she needed to know for everyday life. It was reported that Laura took a job with a seamstress basting skirts for 12 hours a day for .25 a day to help pay for Mary to go to the blind school. Laura fell in love with Almanzo Wilder, he was born February 13, 1857 in Malone, N.Y. They were married August 25, 1885 on Brown's Hill, in DeSmet S.D. Laura and Almanzo were married for 64 years. Laura and Almanzo traveled some themselves. Almanzo contracted diphtheria and cause some partial paralysis, they moved to Florida in hopes the climate would help with his legs but Laura didn't much like the climate so they came back to DeSmet. They then moved to Mansfield, Mo and this is where Laura and Almanzo established their home for the remainder of their life. They bought a small parcel of land with the hundred dollars they had and set up their home. Laura and Almanzo raised chickens, cattle, and apples for a living. Almanzo and Laura did have other jobs as well when times were hard.

They had 2 children, one son who died at infancy; I didn't ever find any documentation of the cause of death for this child. The other child was a daughter Rose Wilder Lane. Rose became a famous journalist herself. It is questioned that Rose played a big part in the writings of Little House on the Prairie. There is some discrepancy that Rose edited some of Laura's writing and even changed some of the facts. I'm not sure why this is so important because she was Laura's daughter and sure enough she is going to help her if she needed it. It is very evident that the information I have been researching has several discrepancies with the series as they played which makes me wonder if some facts weren't changed by someone. One would hope Rose wouldn't have changed her mother's memoirs but maybe she knew a different version would sell better. I guess we will never know the exact truth.

Caroline (Carrie) Celestia Ingalls was born August 3, 1870 Montgomery County, Kansas, near Independence, Kansas, in a log cabin built by Charles on the Osage Indian Territory. At was 9 years old when the family moved to DeSmet, North Dakota. Carrie's childhood is better known than her adulthood is. The only writing of Carrie's adulthood is via her connection to her sister Laura. Carrie worked and financially helped the family put Mary through the College for the Blind. Carrie wanted to follow in Laura's footsteps by becoming a teacher. Carrie studied hard and passed her teacher's exam. Carrie did teach for a short period but soon decided teaching really isn't what she wanted to do. Carrie was an apprentice on the Leader staff, which was a weekly local newspaper. Carrie was 19 years old at this time. It is questioned that Carrie may have worked for the rival paper of Kingsbury Independent. I was unable to find corroborating evidence of this being true. Carrie worked for the DeSmet, North Dakota paper as a typesetter for about 5 years. She also worked as a clerk in stores; substitute taught and worked in the Post Office. At 35 years old Carrie moved to Boulder, Colorado in search of a climate that would clear her sinus and asthma conditions. It is believed she may have worked for newspapers in Colorado and Wyoming.

I found information that Carrie had entered a homestead lottery and won. The government opened various sections of Indian Territory lands to white settlers. When Carrie won in the homestead lottery she became a land owner. Carrie's homestead ground was near Topbar north of Phillip, South Dakota. Carrie lived in a tar paper shanty. Tar paper shanties were normal for the era of time. Carrie would live on the homestead 6 months out of the year and spent the rest of the year in DeSmet. Carrie finally met a Mr. E. L. Senn. Mr. Senn was the Final Proof King of South Dakota. This is how he made his living by filling final proof sheets for the homesteaders. Government Rule was the proof sheet had to be listed in the newspaper for 5 consecutive weeks and the newspaper was to be paid $5.00 by the land holder for each final proof published. Carrie began working for Mr. Senn in Pedro, a town not too far from her claim. By 1909 Carrie was the manager of the Pedro Bugle for Mr. Senn.

Pedro was the original camp of Chief Big Foot on the Cheyenne River, the chief and his tribe was driven out of their camp here. On 12/29/1890 Chief Big Foot and his tribe met tragedy at the Wounded Knee Battle. Pedro was a very popular spot to cross the Cheyenne River. It had a population of 300 at one time. Pedro is now a ghost town and only occupied by the ranchers of today.

In 1910 Carrie was transferred to Roseland, South Dakota to oversee the Roseland Review. Carrie now 40 years old is a seasoned newspaper woman and has never been married. Information showed Mr. Senn is now settled in Deadwood, South Dakota which is a mining town. Mr. Senn also realized that mining claims had to be filled and seen the opportunity to make even more money. The mines fell under the same rule as the homesteaders. Mr. Senn's began buying newspapers in mining area and sent Carrie ahead to run them.

In 1911 Carrie arrived in the mining town of Keystone, South Dakota. Carrie managed the Keystone Recorder. Legal mining ads were more expensive than the $5.00 required from the homesteaders. Miners were thought to be wealthier than farmers and were expected to pay a flat $9.00 fee for mine notices in the Recorder. The Keystone Historical Society delves into Carrie's adult life with memorabilia of her newspaper career, life in a small town and her raising her 2 step children.

On 8/1/1912 Carrie married widower David N. Swanzey. Carrie was almost 42 years old at this time. Carrie retired from the newspaper business and devoted her time to raise her 2 stepchildren, Mary 8 years old and Harold 6 years old.

David came to Keystone as a gold prospector in the 1890's and staked out a placer claim along the Grizzly Creek. The Roosevelt Inn sits on this site today and is reported there is still gold on his claims. Some of David's old digging's can still be seen in the hill behind the property. The Keystone Cemetery is the only cemetery with a view of Mt. Rushmore. The cemetery is just up the road from the Roosevelt Inn. Down by the Post Office, about a 10 minute walk, is a plaque showing exactly where David and Carrie lived.

Carrie's husband David is remembered for his involvement of being on the committee that recommended Mt. Rushmore to sculptor Gutzon Borglum. David named a rocky out crop area Mt. Rushmore after a N.Y. City lawyer, Charles Rushmore. David didn't know how famous the granite peak would become. David's son was also one of the many excavators on the Mt. Rushmore project.

David passed away April 15, 1938 in Keystone and is buried in Keystone, South Dakota. David was 83 years old.

After Carrie's mother passed away, Carries sister Mary came to live with her. Mary passed away in Carrie's home on October 17, 1928. Mary was 63 years old. Mary passed away due to pneumonia and a stroke. Mary is buried at the family plot in DeSmet, South Dakota.

Carrie remained in Keystone for 36 years. Carrie passed away June 6, 1946 at 76 years old. Carrie died in Keystone but is buried in the family plot in DeSmet, South Dakota. Carrie passed away due to complications of diabetes.

Grace Pearl Ingalls born May 23, 1877 in Burr Oaks, Iowa. I was unable to find a lot of information on Grace other than she did become a teacher and taught in Manchester, South Dakota. Manchester is just west of DeSmet, South Dakota. On October 16,1901 Grace married Nathan Williams Dow in the parlor of her parents' home in DeSmet, South Dakota. Grace and Nathan were unable to have children. Grace was a farm wife and also dabbled in journalism. Later in life Grace became a stringer for several local newspapers. Grace took care of Mary for a short time after her mother passed away. Mary then moved on to Carrie's home in Keystone, South Dakota.

Grace passed away November 10, 1941 at 64 years old in Manchester, South Dakota. Grace is buried in the family plot in DeSmet, South Dakota. Grace passed due to complications of Diabetes, which was a family disease.

Nathan passed away in 1943 at 84 years old in DeSmet, South Dakota. Nathan was a nephew of the famous prairie artist Harvey Dunn.

Rose Wilder born December 5, 1886 in DeSmet, South Dakota. Rose married Claire Gillette Lane on March 23, 1909 in San Francsico, California. They were married 9 years and divorced in 1918. They had no children. Rose became a well known writer herself. Rose traveled all over writing her articles. It is suggested she played a big part in her mother's writing of Little House on the Prairie. It is even suggested that while she was editing she changed the story base and facts. Rose became the only living grandchild to Charles and Caroline Ingalls. Rose appears to be the last of the blood line for Charles and Caroline Ingalls as well. Rose was the only heir of Laura and Almanzo.

Other facts I found:

Laura, Almanzo and Rose left DeSmet, South Dakota for Mansfield, Missouri in 1894.

The Wilder family was of English decent.

The Ingalls family was of English, French and Scotch decent.

The Quiners were of Scotch decent.

The Ingalls family lived in the Surveyor's House from 1879 to 1880.

The family then lived in the Homestead and Pa's store on Main Street from 1880 to 1887. I still haven't found any information on what kind of store Charles Ingalls had.

Charles built the Ingalls home in 1887 and they moved into it on December 24, 1887.

Charles sold the Homestead in 1892 and the in 1893.

After Caroline and Mary's deaths the house in DeSmet was rented out until 1944.

1944 Carrie sold the Ingalls home to the Ferguson family in DeSmet. It remained a private residence.

1967 The Surveyor's Home was purchased by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society and opened to the public.

1972 The Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society purchased the home and renovated it.

1973 The Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society opened the Ingalls home to the public.

After all that I began to wonder what happened to the Royalties from Laura's books. I found that Laura's first royalty check from Harper Publishing was for $500.00. This would be the equivalent of $7,300.00 in today's money. This must have been an exciting day for Laura Ingalls Wilder. There was information that Rose Wilder Lane had been paid $30,000.00 by Saturday Evening Post. This would be equivalent to $400,000.00 today.

The next information I came upon was in 1972 the Laura Ingalls Wilder Public Library in Mansfield received a check from Laura's publisher for $28.011.00. The board of the library began to check into this because it had been reported that in 1957 Laura Ingalls Wilder had written a will stating the library was to receive all royalties from her work after the death of her daughter Rose.

In 1951 the town officials of Mansfield, Missouri elected to name the local library after Laura Ingalls Wilder. Laura 84 at the time attended the ceremony. It is reported that Laura used this library a lot. 6 years later Laura's final gift to the library was announced in the newspaper headlines, "The Local Library to get Royalties from Wilder Works."

Rose was living in Danbury, Connecticut at the age of 56. Rose had befriended the Roger Lea MacBride boy when he was 14 years old. He was the son of the editor of the Reader's Digest. He became Rose's agent and attorney after he graduated Harvard Law School.

MacBride was the Libertarian Candidate for the President of the United States in 1976. MacBride referred to himself as being the adopted grandson of Rose Wilder Lane. MacBride never honored Wilder's wishes of the royalties going to the library instead he began transferring the copyrights to his name and helped develop the TV series.

The Library Board filed a lawsuit against the MacBride estate and Harper Collins Publisher. Since MacBride passed away in 1995 the suit goes against his daughter Abigail MacBride Allen. It is estimated the publishing royalties could be as high as a million dollars.

In the School Library Journal 6/1/2001 it is reported that Harper Collins and the Wilder Estate have tentatively agree to pay $875,000.00 to the Wright County Library System in the return the Wright County Library relinquish its claim to the copy rights of The Little Town on the Prairie and These Happy Golden Years. The Wright County Library Board oversees 4 libraries and reported the Laura Ingalls Wilder library in Mansfield, Missouri would be the main beneficiary.

This has been a very fun project for me. I have enjoyed this so much. There are a few more things I would like to touch basis on just from my perspective. I never found any facts that Charles and Caroline ever adopted 3 children as per the series shows. I was unable to find any information on those 3 children other than their characters played on the series. Makes me wonder if this wasn't another added part to the story, for the sake of keeping the interest in the series.

It is very apparent this family adapted well to all the hardships they encountered. It was written of Mary and her parents eating fried black bird on the train ride to the blind school. Can you imagine anyone today eating black birds. The black birds devastated their crops a couple years in a row. It is also amazing the sacrifices this family made during their growing up years.

Just want to say thank you to the Ingalls for their life and times. Thank you to Laura and Rose for writing about them. The book and series has been a huge impact on a lot of people. Many of us love the stories and now that I am in North Dakota my fiancé and I plan to travel to DeSmet and visit the Ingalls home. I am very excited about doing this.