Wilder family

The Wilder family refers to parents and siblings of Almanzo Wilder (husband of Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder).

Angelina and James Wilder

Angelina Albina Day Wilder was born to Justin Day (1790-1861) and Diadema Bateman Day (1792-1868) in 1819 or 1821.^[1][2]

James Mason Wilder was born to Abel Wilder (1786-1849) and Hannah (Payne) Wilder (1790-1842) in 1813 in Bridport, Vermont^[3] and in 1817 his family moved with him to the farm near Malone, New York.^[4]

Biography

The two married near Chateaugay, New York on 6 August 1843^[5] and had six children (including Almanzo Wilder), born between 1844 and 1869. They lived on the prospering farm, near Malone^[6] until 1875, and then moved to Spring Valley, Minnesota, where they stayed until 1898, when they moved to Crowley, Louisiana (urged by their daughter; Eliza Jane Wilder). They tried their luck at the rice farming, which was a very popular business there, but failed.

James died in 1899, and Angeline died in 1905. They were buried at Old Crowley Cemetery.

In the media

Angelina and James Wilder, called Mother and Father, are the characters on Farmer Boy novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Farmer Boy Goes West by Heather Williams, as well as in the documentary-biography book The Story of the Wilders: All about Almanzo and his Family^[7] by William Anderson.

Laura Wilder

Laura Ann Wilder (born June 15 1844, died April 16 1899) was the first of six children of Angelina and James Wilder, and the eldest sister of Almanzo Wilder.^[8]

Biography

Little is there known of the eldest of the Wilder children. She was never mentioned in any of the Little House on the Prairie books, since she was already grown up and living separately at the time Farmer Boy took place. Another reason was Laura Ingalls Wilder's decision to not mention another Laura Wilder in order to not confused the readers.

In 1874, she married Harrison Howard and they had four children; Angelina Esther Howard Merritt (1876-1964), Josephine Mahala Howard (1879-1918), Harrison Howard (1878-1918) and Ralph Waldo Howard (1881-1934).^[9][10]

She is buried in Crowley, Louisiana.

Royal Wilder

Royal Gould Wilder (February 20, 1847 - April 21, 1925) - was the second of six Wilder children and the elder brother of Almanzo Wilder. He is buried in the local cemetery of Spring Valley, Minnesota.^[11]

Biography

Having moved with his parents and siblings from Malone, New York to Spring Valley, Minnesota in middle 1870s, Royal Wilder soon continued the journey. Together with his brother Almanzo and sister Eliza Jane, he went to De Smet, South Dakota, where he ran a shop.^[12] However, in 1890 he decided to return to Spring Valley.

He opened a store on Broadway.^[13] Soon he married Electa Hutchinson with four children and they had three more of their own, of whom only one lived until adulthood – Bernice Angeline Wilder Laging Granger (1894-1957). The second daughter died unnamed at birth in 1897, while the third; Susan E. Wilder (1898-1899) at the age of five months.^[14][15][16]

In the media

Royal Wilder is a character on the following: Farmer Boy, The Long Winter novels and Pioneer Girl autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Farmer Boy Goes West by Heather Williams.

His character guest-appears three times on the Little House on the Prairie television series, played by Woody Eney in the episode 7.14 "The Nephews" and Nicholas Pryor in 9.01-2 "Times Are Changing: Part 1 and 2". He is also in the Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder movie, played by Kurt Woodruff.

Biography of Royal Wilder is also told in the book The Story of the Wilders: All about Almanzo and his Family^[17] by William Anderson.

Eliza Jane Wilder

Eliza Jane Wilder was the third of six children of James and Angelina Wilder. She was born in Malone, New York on January 1, 1850 and died on June 1, 1930 in Lafayette, Louisiana, where she is buried on the local cemetery.^[18]

Biography

In 1870s, she moved with her parents to Spring Valley, Minnesota, where she worked as a teacher in 1877 and 1878. The year later she joined her brothers; Royal and Almanzo, and went West to De Smet, South Dakota. She took a claim there and again worked as a teacher but was not very likeable.^[19] Soon she went back East and even reached Washington D.C.. She was a "Government Girl", working for the Department of the Interior.^[20]

She was married twice. Between 1893^[21] and 1899 to Thomas Jefferson Thayer (twice married before), with whom she had a son; Walcott Thayer (born in June, 1894).^[22] The marriage ended due to Thomas Jefferson's death in 1899. The second husband to Eliza Jane Wilder was Maxwell Gordon (since 1904) but the marriage was not successful.

Between 1903 and 1904,^[23] her niece, Rose Wilder (daughter to Laura Ingalls Wilder and her brother; Almanzo Wilder), lived with Wilder in Crowley, Louisiana.

In the media

Eliza Jane Wilder is a character on the following: Farmer Boy and Little Town on the Prairie novels and Pioneer Girl autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Farmer Boy Goes West by Heather Williams.

Her character (although strongly changed), played by Lucy Lee Flippin, appears in seasons 6 to 8 on the Little House on the Prairie television series.

Biography of Eliza Jane Wilder is told in the books A Wilder in the West: The Story of Eliza Jane Wilder^[24] and The Story of the Wilders: All about Almanzo and his Family^[25] by William Anderson.

Alice Wilder

Alice Maria Wilder (September 3, 1853 – February 22, 1892) was the fourth of six Wilder children, born directly before her brother, Almanzo.^[26]

Biography

Alice Wilder graduated from Franklin Academy in Malone. She did not move to Spring Valley with the rest of the Wilder family but stayed in Malone, where she met and married Albert Baldwin and the couple moved to Marshall, Minnesota.^[27] The couple had two children; Myrtle Baldwin Brown (1880–1945) and Leland Edward Baldwin (1885–1913).^[28] In 1877, the family moved to Georgiana, Florida, where Alice Wilder died in 1892.^[29]

In the media

The character of Alice Wilder appears in the Farmer Boy novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder, as well as Farmer Boy Goes West by Heather Williams.

Her biography is told in The Story of the Wilders: All about Almanzo and his Family^[30] by William Anderson.

She never appeared in any of the Little House on the Prairie books screening.

Almanzo Wilder

Almanzo James Wilder was the fifth of six Wilder children, husband of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the character of Little House on the Prairie series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, as well as Farmer Boy Goes West by Heather Williams.

For more information, see: Almanzo Wilder.

Perley Wilder

Perley Day Wilder (June 13 1869 – May 10 1934) was the sixth and youngest child of Angelina and James Wilder, born twelve years after Almanzo.^[31]

Biography

Little is there known of Perley Wilder since he was not born at the time farmer Boy novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder took place. He spent most of his childhood in Spring Valley, Minnesota, and in 1895 moved to Crowley, Louisiana.^[32][33]

In 1897, he married Elsie Merritt and they had six children; James Wilder (1903-?), Gladys Wilder (1905-?), Harold Wilder (1909-?), Perley Day Wilder Jr. (1911 or 1912–1977), Dorothy A. Wilder Pittman (1913 or 1914–1966), John Wilder (1916–1916 or 1918–1918).^[34][35]

He had a general store in Kinder, Louisiana.^[36] The local airport there is named by his last name.^[37]

In the media

The baby Perley appears in Farmer Boy Goes West by Heather Williams.

He also gueat-appears on the Little House on the Prairie television series episode 6.20 "Wilder and Wilder", played by Charles Bloom.

Family tree

References

Sources

• Wilder Women in The New Yorker
• A Visit to Almanzo Wilder's Farm
• Laura Ingalls Wilder: Truth from Fiction