Laura Ingalls Wilder

:This article is about Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author. There is an article on the aviatrix Laura Ingalls.

Early life and marriage

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was born near Pepin, Wisconsin, to Charles Phillip and Caroline Lake (Quiner) Ingalls. She was the second of five children. The details of her family life through adolescence are chronicled in her semi-autobiographical "Little House" books. As her books reveal, she and her family moved extensively throughout the mid-west during her childhood. Although she was a bright student, her education was rather sporadic, a result of her family often living in isolated areas where schools were not yet established, or the family's financial needs causing Laura to interrupt her schooling several times to earn money. The family eventually settled in De Smet, Dakota Territory., where she attended school more regularly and worked as a seamstress and teacher before she married homesteader Almanzo James Wilder (1857–1949) in 1885. She had 2 children: the novelist, journalist and political theorist Rose Wilder Lane (1886–1968), and an unnamed son, who died soon after birth in 1889.

Related Topics:
Pepin, Wisconsin - De Smet - Almanzo James Wilder - 1857 - 1949 - 1885 - Rose Wilder Lane - 1886 - 1968 - 1889

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In the late 1880s, complications from a life-threatening bout of diphtheria left Almanzo partially paralyzed. While he eventually regained nearly full use of his legs, he needed a cane to walk for the remainder of his life. This setback began a series of disastrous events that included the death of their unnamed newborn son, the destruction of their home and barn by fire and several years of severe drought that left them in debt, physically ill and unable to earn a living from their 320 acres (1.3 km²) of prairie land.

Related Topics:
1880s - Diphtheria - Paralyzed - Drought

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In about 1890, the Wilders left South Dakota and spent about a year resting at Almanzo's parents' prosperous Minnesota farm, before moving briefly to Florida. The Florida climate was sought to improve Almanzo's health, but Laura, used to living on the dry plains, wilted in the heat and southern humidity. They soon returned to De Smet and purchased a small house in town. The Wilders received special permission to start precocious Rose in school early, and took jobs (Almanzo as a day laborer, Laura as a seamstress at a dressmaker's shop) to save enough money to once again start up a farming operation.

Related Topics:
1890 - Minnesota - Florida

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