Almanzo Wilder
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Almanzo James Wilder (February 13, 1857 - October 23, 1949) was the husband of Laura Ingalls Wilder and father of Rose Wilder Lane, both noted U.S. authors. He was born the fifth child of successful farmers James and Angeline Day Wilder on their farm near Malone, New York on February 13, 1857. As part of her "Little House" series of autobiographical novels, Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote a book titled Farmer Boy about Almanzo's childhood in upstate New York.
Almanzo is a well-known character in the "Little House" books, and Laura writes about him, their relationship, and subsequent marriage in Little Town on the Prairie, The Long Winter, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years. Almanzo was characterized as a quietly courageous, hardworking man who loved horses and farming. He was also an accomplished carpenter and woodworker.
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[edit] Early life
Farmer Boy, the third book written in the "Little House" series, recounts events from when Almanzo was nine years old, in 1866. Among other things, he goes to school (when not needed at home for the farm work), learns to drive an oxen team, and enjoys a mid-19th century Fourth of July celebration in town. He also learns how to deal with being bossed around by his older siblings, particularly his strong-willed sister Eliza Jane.
[edit] Moving out West
The Wilders left Malone in 1871 due to crop failures, and settled in Spring Valley, Minnesota where they farmed. In 1879, Almanzo, his brother Royal, and sister Eliza Jane all moved further west to the newly established De Smet, South Dakota (then known as Dakota Territory). All three took claims, and it was in De Smet that Almanzo and Laura met.
Laura wrote of Almanzo's admirable character in The Long Winter, a book based on the hard winter that De Smet suffered in the early 1880's. The story tells how Almanzo and fellow townsman Cap Garland saved the town (including Laura's family) from starvation by making a risky journey over 20 miles through life-threatening blizzards to bring the town a load of wheat that provided food until supply trains arrived in the spring.
[edit] Marriage to Laura Ingalls
This act of bravery made quite an impression on Laura, and she and Almanzo eventually began to court. The ten-year difference in their ages was not uncommon in newly-established homesteading communities on the frontier. After three years of courting, they married on August 25, 1885. Almanzo, already an established homesteader, and Laura made their new home on his claim. On December 5, 1886 their daughter Rose was born.
During their first years of marriage, described in The First Four Years, the Wilders were plagued by bad weather, illness, large debts and other hardships. In spring of 1888, when Rose was still a baby, Almanzo and Laura suffered from diphtheria. Almanzo resumed work too soon, however, and suffered a relapse, causing an apparent stroke that left him partially paralyzed. Although he recovered from the paralysis, his legs and feet were permanently weakened, resulting in his needing a cane to walk. Almanzo's inability to perform the hard physical labor associated with wheat farming in South Dakota, combined with a lengthy drought in the late 1880s-early 1890s, further contributed to the Wilders' downward spiral into debt and poverty.
The year 1889 proved to be the breaking point for the Wilders. In early August, Laura gave birth to a son, who died after only a few days. That same month Laura and Almanzo lost their home to a fire and their crops to drought. In the words of Almanzo's daughter, Rose, "It took seven successive years of complete crop failure, with work, weather and sickness that wrecked his health permanently, and interest rates of 36 per cent on money borrowed to buy food, to dislodge us from that land."
[edit] Years of ill health and wandering
In 1890, Almanzo moved his family to Spring Valley, Minnesota, to stay with his parents on their prosperous farm. It was a time of rest and recovery for the weary family. Between 1891 and 1892, the Wilders moved to Westville, Florida in hopes that the warmer climate would help Almanzo regain his strength. Laura did not like the humid climate or the customs of the backwood locals, so they returned to De Smet in 1892, and purchased a small house in town. Between 1892 and 1894, Laura and Almanzo lived in De Smet, with Laura's family nearby. Rose was given special permission to start school early, and she soon proved to be an outstanding scholar. Laura worked as a seamstress in a dressmaker's shop, and Almanzo found work as a carpenter and day laborer. Together, they practiced extreme frugality and carefully saved money toward starting a new farm.
[edit] Settling down in Missouri
On July 17, 1894, with the proceeds of their labors and the sale of their small house, Almanzo, Laura, and Rose left for the Ozarks of Missouri by covered wagon. On August 31, they arrived near Mansfield, Missouri and placed a $100 down payment on 40 acres (162,000 m²) of hilly, rocky undeveloped land that Laura aptly named "Rocky Ridge Farm." This farm was Almanzo and Laura's final home. In Missouri, Almanzo and Laura's luck finally changed, and they lived the rest of their life happily and successfully. Over the 20 years, Almanzo built Laura her dream house: a unique 10-room home in which he custom-built kitchen cabinets to accommodate her small, 5' (1.52 m) frame.
Rocky Ridge Farm was eventually expanded to about 200 acres (809,000 m²) and was a productive poultry, dairy and fruit farm. Almanzo's lifetime love of the Morgan breed of horses was indulged, and he also kept a large herd of cows and goats. Having learned a hard lesson by focusing on wheat farming in South Dakota, the Wilders chose a more diversified approach to farming suited to the climate of the Ozarks. Almanzo lived out the rest of his life on his farm, and both he and Laura were active in various community and church pursuits during their time in Missouri.
[edit] Later years
While the Wilders were never wealthy until the publication of the Little House books in the 1930s and 1940s, their efforts at Rocky Ridge farm provided a secure enough income to allow them to attain a financial stability not known earlier in their marriage. Laura also contributed to their income by taking in occasional boarders, writing columns for a rural newspaper and serving as Treasurer/Loan Officer for a Farm Loan Association. Later, Rose contributed to their support as her writing career flourished and their physical ability to work the farm declined as they grew older.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Rose lived on the farm for long periods of time, bringing electricity and other modern updates to the place, even building an English-style stone cottage for her parents, while taking over the farm house herself for about 10 years. Almanzo learned to drive an automobile, which greatly improved the Wilders' mobility. They eventually took several long auto trips, including to California and the Pacific Northwest, and went several times to visit Laura's remaining family in South Dakota. When Rose moved permanently to Connecticut in about 1937, her parents quickly returned to their beloved farm house, later selling off the eastern land with the stone cottage.
Almanzo spent his last years happily tending small vegetable and flower gardens, indulging his lifetime love of woodworking and carpentry and tending his goats. He also aided his wife in greeting the carloads of Little House fans who regularly found their way to Rocky Ridge Farm. Almanzo Wilder died at the age of 92 on October 23, 1949 after suffering two heart attacks. Laura died eight years later, on February 10, 1957. Rose lived until 1968. All three of them are buried in Mansfield, and many of Almanzo's possessions and handiwork can be seen at Rocky Ridge Farm, now the Laura Ingalls Wilder/Rose Wilder Lane Museum, as well as the Malone, NY and Spring Valley, MN sites.
Almanzo Wilder appears to have been a quiet, stoic man--representative of the time and culture in which he lived. His love of farming, horses and rural living are well documented. Most of what is known of his personality and inner character must be gleaned from his wife's and daughter's literary portrayals (the lead character of Rose's homesteading novel Free Land was based on Almanzo) and the remaining evidence left among his family and friends' written recollections.
[edit] External links
- Almanzo Wilder Farm - Almanzo's boyhood home
- Information on Malone, New York - from the website "Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frontier Girl."
