"Laura Ingalls Wilder 1867-1957"
American Author & Pioneer






Laura was born Laura Elizabeth Ingalls in Pepin, Wisconsin, in February 1867. She was the second of four daughters born to Caroline (Quiner) and Charles Philip Ingalls. Wilder's early life was spent constantly moving from place to place. Her father called himself a pioneer man and dreamed of going West to explore and settle on unknown territory. They traveled through thick woods, over barren prairies, through the swollen Mississippi, and over icy waters all in their covered wagon. They moved from Missouri, to Kansas, to Wisconsin, to Minnesota, to Iowa and finally settled in De Smet, South Dakota, where her father claimed a homestead, where Laura and her three sisters grew up.

Laura's schooling was sporadic. She attended several different schools in her youth. Each move of her family meant she would have to start her education again in a new setting and often times no school was yet available. Her father, however, had made the promise to her mother that the children would receive a consistent education. After her father had made the decision to stay put for a while, she and her sisters were able to attend the school in De Smet. Her formal education continued in De Smet until she was 16, although she never graduated.

She worked as a seamstress, earning 25 cents a day, until she received a teacher's certificate in December 1882. Her first teaching job was miles from her home and the children in her care were little younger then herself. Her savior during this time was Almanzo James Wilder, her future husband, who would drive through the Dakota blizzards to deliver her safely back to her own family every weekend.

A farmer's wife On August 25, 1885, Laura Ingalls married Almanzo Wilder, who was 10 years her senior. Originally from New York state, his family had moved to Minnesota and from there Almanzo and his brother left this new home to stake out their own claims near De Smet. After many misfortunes and in the tradition of the Ingalls family, the Wilders moved several times but then settled in the Ozarks on a small farm in Mansfield, Missouri. This is where they were to stay for the rest of their lives. Here they raised their one surviving child, Rose Wilder, born on December 5, 1886.



From August 1919, until September 1927, Wilder was the secretary-treasurer of the Mansfield Farm Loan Association. This organization allowed local farmers to borrow money from the Federal Land Bank in St. Louis. Here she was the sole paid officer, and she handled loan applications and transfers of funds with skill. This job brought her connections with other farmers. She used this and also her long experience as a farmer to begin her first writing attempts. She began successfully by writing columns about farm households for the Missouri Ruralist and about poultry for the St. Louis Star. She also sold a few articles to McCall's and Country Gentleman magazines between 1911 and 1924.

Laura did not begin writing her first book, Little House in the Big Woods, until 1931 and it was released the following year. The instant success of the book led to the Little House series, which became popular with young readers. Laura took great care with each book to make sure that the point of view was consistently from that of a child.

In 1954 the American Library Association established the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in her honor and Wilder was the first recipient.
A weekly television series, Little House on the Prairie, which was based loosely on Wilder's books, began in 1974 and ran for many seasons.
Wilder died in February 1957 in Mansfield of a stroke. Forty years after her death, children continue to read and enjoy her books.

THE LITTLE HOUSE BOOK SERIES:

Little House in the Big Wood (1932)
Farmer Boy (1933)
Little House on the Prairie (1935)
On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937)
By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939)
The Long Winter (1940)
Little Town on the Prairie (1941)
Those Happy Golden Years (1943)


Quote By Laura Ingalls Wilder

"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."




Source: U·X·L® Biographies, U·X·L, 1996. Photo Credit

Source: Anderson, William, Laura Ingalls, Wilder: A Biography, HarperCollins, 1992.

Contributed by: Crimson (GSR)






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