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- Laura Elizabeth INGALLS Wilder was born on February 7, 1867 in Pepin, WI. She lived in Pepin, WI before 1868. She lived in Chariton County, MO after 1868. She lived within the boundaries of the Osage Diminished Reserve in Independence, KS between 1869 and 1870. After building a house and planting crops, the family was forced to leave in the fall of 1870, hearing that the government had changed their minds about opening the land for homesteading and that soldiers were on their way to force the settlers out. She lived in Pepin, WI between 1870 and October 1873. She was educated at Barry Corner School after 1870 in Pepin, WI. She lived on the banks of Plum Creek in Walnut Grove, MN between May 1874 and July 1876. She lived in Burr Oak, IA between 1876 and 1877. She lived in Walnut Grove, MN before 1879. She lived in De Smet, Dakota Territory between 1879 and 1890. She lived in Spring Valley, MN in 1890. She lived in Westville, FL between 1891 and 1892. Had moved in hopes the warmer climate would help her husband Almanzo's legs. She hated living there so much that they returned to De Smet. She lived in De Smet, SD between 1892 and July 17, 1894. About 1893 she was a Seamstress in De Smet, SD in a dressmaker's shop. She lived at Rocky Ridge Farm on Highway 60 in Mansfield, MO after August 31, 1894. The farm began as 40 acres of thickly wooded, stone covered hillside with a windowless log cabin, but over the next 20 years, it evolved into a 200 acre, relatively prosperous, poultry, dairy and fruit farm. By 1910, Rocky Ridge Farm was established to the point where they focused their efforts on increasing the farm's productivity and output. The ramshackle log cabin was eventually replaced with an impressive and unique ten-room farmhouse and outbuildings in 1912. Having learned a hard lesson from focusing solely on wheat farming in South Dakota, the Wilders' Rocky Ridge Farm became a diversified poultry and dairy farm, as well as boasting an abundant apple orchard. Laura, always active in various clubs and an advocate for several regional farm associations, was recognized as an authority in poultry farming and rural living, which led to invitations to speak to groups around the region.
After 1911 she was an Author. Authored the series of historical fiction books for children based on her childhood in a pioneer family. The most well-known of her books is Little House on the Prairie. An invitation to submit an article to the Missouri Ruralist in 1911 led to a permanent position as a columnist and editor with that publication, a position she held until the mid-1920s. Her column in the Ruralist, "As a Farm Woman Thinks", introduced her to a loyal audience of rural Ozarkians, who enjoyed her regular columns, which ranged in topic from home and family, World War I and other world events, to the fascinating world travels of her daughter and her own thoughts on the increasing options being offered to women during this era. Little House in the Big Woods (1932); Farmer Boy (1933) - about her husband's childhood on a farm in New York; Little House on the Prairie (1935), a Newbery Honor book; On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937), a Newbery Honor book; By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939), a Newbery Honor book; The Long Winter (1940), a Newbery Honor book; Little Town on the Prairie (1941), a Newbery Honor book; These Happy Golden Years (1943), a Newbery Honor book; On the Way Home (1962, published posthumously) - a diary of Laura and Almanzo's move from De Smet to Mansfield, Missouri, edited and added to by Rose Wilder Lane; The First Four Years (1971, published posthumously); West From Home (1974, published posthumously) - letters to Almanzo from Laura on her visit to daughter Rose in San Francisco in 1915.
She was ill with Diabetes after 1956. She died on February 10, 1957 in Mansfield, MO. She was buried on February 13, 1957 in Mansfield Cemetery, Mansfield, MO. She was Congregational. She was Scotch, English, and French. She was also known as Bess Wilder.
Source: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~chatweb/sources.htm>
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1867 - 1957 (90 years)
