List of Little House on the Prairie characters

Cast timeline

Cast notes

The Ingalls family

Townsfolk

One-shot characters

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)

Animals

• Dogs: Jack and Bandit
• Horses: Pat and Patty
• Pony: Bunny
• Goat: Fred
• Bull: Fagin
• Raccoon: Jasper
• Cat: Pepper
• Orangutan: Blanche (played by Strawberry)
• Turkey: Tom
• Chicken: Mathilda
• Cow: Gertrude and Spot

The Ingalls family

• Ingalls line :

Henry Ingalls and Joan/Johan Wytton

Robert Ingalls (1563–1617) and Elizabeth ? (1567–1631)

Edmund Ingalls (1598–1648) and Ann Tripp (1599–1648)

Henry Ingalls (1627–1718) and Mary Osgood (1633–1686)

Samuel Ingalls (1654–1733) and Sarah Hendrick (1661–1738)

Samuel Ingalls Jr. (1683–1747) and Mary E. Watts (1687–?)

Timothy Ingalls (1720–1757) and ?

• Delano line :

Jonathan Delano (b.1647) and Mercy Warren (1658–1727) (gdau. of Richard Warren of the Mayflower)

Jonathan Delano (b.1680) and Amy Hatch (b.1687)

Jabez Delano (b.1708) and Prudence Hibbard (b.1711)

• Colby line :

Matthew Colby (b.1530) and (from 1555) Mary (last name unknown) (b.1532)

Thomas Colby (b.1567) and (from May 4, 1596) Anne Jackson (b.1571)

Anthony Colby (b.1605) and (from 1632) Susanna Haddon (b.1608)

John Colby (b.1633) and (from January 14, 1655) Frances Hoyt (b.1636)

John Colby (b.1656) and (from December 27, 1675) Sarah Eldridge (b.1658)

Joseph Colby (b.1680) and (from November 22, 1704) Anne Bartlett (b.1684)

Nathan Colby (b.1710) and (from December 18, 1735) Hannah Worthen (b.1716)

Based on the data from : The Genealogy of Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder

• Peter Riley Ingalls (1833–1900) – born in Cuba, New York. On June 5, 1861, in Brookfield, Wisconsin married Eliza Ann Quiner (see : The Quiners) and they had 6 children (see below). They left Pepin in 1874, together with Laura's family, and stopped in Zumbro Falls, Minnesota. Next they moved to South Troy, Minnesota where the Ingalls visited them for some time (in 1876).
  • Alice Josephine Ingalls (Apr 23, 1862 – January 30, 1934) – married Arthur Whiting. They had five children, born between 1883 and 1899 (Altha Whiting Taylor, Jay Whiting, Fred Whiting, Vena Whiting Clark and Roy Whiting).
  • Ella Estella Ingalls (Jan 23, 1865 – March 9, 1945) – married Leslie Lee Whiting and had four sons, born between 1885 and 1894 (Earl Whiting, Floyd Whiting, Harry Whiting and Clarence Whiting). She spent some time in DeSmet, with her husband and the eldest baby Earl Leland.
  • Peter Franklin Ingalls (Nov 16, 1866 – September 23, 1932) – lived with Laura and Almanzo in De Smet for a while. Married Mary Edith "Molly" McGowin and they had between seven and eight children (presumed to be Edith Ingalls, Alexander Ingalls, Florence Ingalls Lindsey, Pearlie Ingalls Chiles, Fred Ingalls, Mary Ingalls, Mable Ingalls Mims and an unnamed infant)
  • Lansford Newcomb Ingalls (April 5, 1870 - January 17, 1946)
  • Edith Florence "Dolly Varden" Ingalls (Jun 23, 1872 – July 13, 1951), on June 9, 1892, married Heil Nelson Bingham and they had eight children, born between 1893 and 1912 (Frederick Bingham, Estella Bingham Mahoney, Pearl Bingham Shanahan, Percy Bingham, Mabel Bingham Leverty, Thomas Bingham, Edna Bingham and James Bingham).
  • Edmond Llewellyn Ingalls (b. August 26, 1880), married Edith Mae Ide and they had 6 children. (Lois Ingalls Gibson, Herbert Ingalls, Wallace Ingalls, Margaret Ingalls Cowsar and William Ingalls).
• Aaron Ingalls (1835–1835). Died at approximately two weeks of age, of "convulsions".
• Charles Phillip Ingalls (1836–1902) – Laura's father
  • Mary Amelia Ingalls (1865–1928)
  • Laura Elizabeth Ingalls (1867–1957)
  • Caroline Celestia 'Carrie' Ingalls (1870–1946)
  • Charles Frederick 'Freddie' Ingalls (1875–1876)
  • Grace Pearl Ingalls (1877–1941)
• Lydia Louise Ingalls (1838–1913) – on January 15, 1856, she married Robert Fulton Clough and later – in 1859, Joseph Stouff. She had five children, first of whom was Clough's.
  • Issac Lafayette Clough (1858–1893, got married in 1876)
  • Amos Alvin Stouff (1860–1893)
  • Minnie Stouff (1868–1941)
  • Amy Stouff (1870–1947)
  • Robert Stouff (1875–1926)
• Polly Melona Ingalls (1840–1886) – born in Cuba, New York. In 1859 married Henry Odin Quiner (see : The Quiners) and they had seven children (see below). The family left Pepin with Laura's family in 1868 and both families stopped in Rothville, Missouri. In 1869 they returned to Pepin. Some time later they went West.
  • Louisa Martha Quiner (1860–1917), m. Walter Smith and had at least one son, William Smith
  • Charles Henry Quiner (1862–1881)
  • James Albert Quiner (1865–1947), m. Gertrude Frances Price (1866–1945) in 1903
  • Charlotte A. "Lottie" Quiner (1867–?), m. Charles Sheldon (1857–1942) and had three daughters (May Sheldon Scharen, Grace Sheldon and Blanche Sheldon)
  • George Lansford Quiner (1870–1884)
  • Lillian M. "Lillie" Quiner (1873–1881)
  • Ruby Quiner (1878–1885)
• Lansford James Ingalls (1842–1928) – was married twice; to Sarah Dickinson (1846–1897) and later to Mary Dickinson. Both of them were born in England.
  • Samuel James Ingalls (1866–1933)
  • Sara Belle Ingalls (1870–1856)
  • William Walter Ingalls (1872–1846)
  • Mary Elizabeth Ingalls (1874–1923)
  • Andrew Jackson Ingalls (1876–1959)
  • Charles Reuben Ingalls (1878–1880)
  • Edward Eugene Ingalls (1881–1888)
  • Horace Foster Ingalls (1883–1888)
  • Olive May Ingalls (1885–1888)
  • Martha Esther Ingalls (1887–1977)
• Laura Ladocia "Docia" Ingalls (July 8, 1845 – January 18, 1918) – married August Waldvogel (divorced later) and the couple had two children (see below). Next she married Hiram "Hi" Forbes and they had seven daughters. Hiram was a contractor for the Chicago and North Western Railway. They spent some time in DeSmet with the Ingalls but soon moved to Nebraska. They lost contact. Hiram died in 1906, and Docia subsequently moved to Colorado. She died twelve years later.
  • Lena Evelyn Waldvogel (1866–1943), m. Samuel Aughey Heikes and they had eight children (Agnes Heikes Kate, Eugene Heikes, Marion Heikes Lueder, Samuel Heikes, Lola Heikes Flack, Winfred Heikes, Warren Heikes and Geraldine Heikes Sloan)
  • August Eugene "Jean" Waldvogel (1870-1945), m. first Maria Luella Harmon and subsequently Leona Beatrice Hinton, and had seven children in total (Earl Waldvogel, William Waldvogel, Velma Waldvogel Mellor, Verne Waldvogel, Ernest Waldvogel, Robert Waldvogel and Leonard Waldvogel). Died in a car accident along with Leona, Verne and Leonard.
  • Ida May Forbes (1875–1953), m. Charles W. Norman
  • Adeline Forbes (1877–1936), m. Algernon "Al" Russell
  • Emma Laura Forbes (1879–1912), m. Henry Schneider
  • Mary Amanda Forbes (1881–1958), m. Edward Oscar Baker
  • Maud Marie Forbes (1884–1983), m. Joseph Gregg or John Gunderson
  • Frances I. Forbes (1887–1968), m. Joseph Halda
  • Katie P. Forbes (1890–1919) - possibly married a man with the surname Wilton
• Hiram Lemuel Ingalls (1848–1923) – on October 18, 1867, married Sarah Elizabeth Woodward (1847–1910) and on February 27, 1919 – Ellen Parker
  • Laura Eliza Ingalls (1867–1943), m. John Monroe Butterfield (1856–1943)
  • Ruby Evaline Ingalls (1871–1941), m. Austin Johnson Beers (1852–1929) in 1884 and William E. Garrison (1874–1947) in 1931
  • Phillip L. Ingalls
  • Sarah Jeanette Ingalls (1877–1956), m. Emil Otto Kreiner (1865–1937) and later Bernard Connor (1871–1914) in 1896
  • Mary Rose Ellen Ingalls (1880–1951), m. Marion Ormal Kezer (1875–1942)
  • Hiram LeRoy "Roy" Ingalls (1882–1949), m. Mathilda Bartosh (1883–1966) in 1901
  • Leo Vincent Kreiner Ingalls (1896–1974), m. Viola Edna Edgerton. Adopted by Hiram in 1898.
• George Whiting Ingalls (1851–1901) - married Julia E. Bard (1858–1910) in Alden, Wisconsin, and moved with her to Webster, Wisconsin
  • "baby boy" Ingalls (b. 1878) - died shortly after birth
  • "baby boy" Ingalls (b. 1880) - died shortly after birth
  • Benjamin Ingalls (1884-1885) - suffocated on the way back from a family visit
• Ruby Celestia Ingalls (1855–1881) - married Joseph Card (1849-1923)
  • George Card (?)
  • Sherman Card (?)
  • Alma Josephine "Dolly Varden" Card (1880-1885)

NOTE: A second daughter of Ruby Ingalls Card, Lettie Letishia Card Anderson, is listed as being born in 1888, seven years after Ruby's death. How this is possible is unknown.

The Quiner family

(Laura's maternal great-great-grandparents)
Allan Alexander Morse and Margaret Drummond *These are fictional names. Real names unknown.

(Laura's maternal great-grandparents)
Lewis Tucker (1779–1870) and Martha Gráinne Morse (1772–1862)
William Quiner (1773–1831) and Margaret Doer (1774–1839)

(Laura's maternal grandparents)
Charlotte Tucker and Henry Quiner

THEIR CHILDREN (Laura's aunts and uncles) :

• Martha Morse Quiner (1832–1836)
• Joseph Carpenter Quiner (1834–1862). He married Nancy Frank in Wisconsin in 1856. Died of wounds suffered at the Battle of Shiloh.
  • Frank R Quiner (1859–1944)
  • John Carpenter Quiner (1861–1950)
• Henry Odin Quiner (1835–1880) – born on December 7 in Ohio. He married Polly Ingalls (for more – see above)
• Martha Jane Quiner (1837–1927) – married Charles Carpenter in 1860 and had fourteen children.
  • William Augustus Carpenter (1861–1884)
  • Joseph Quiner Carpenter (1863–1923) married Elizabeth C.Reese.
    • Phoebe Carpenter
    • Joseph Carpenter
    • Elizabeth Carpenter
    • Clara Carpenter
    • Martha Carpenter
    • Charles Carpenter
    • Theodore Carpenter
    • Donald Carpenter
    • Lillian Carpenter
    • Emilie Carpenter
  • Lettice "Lottie" Jane Carpenter (1864–1949)
  • Nancy Cora Carpenter (1865–1955)
  • Martha Eliza Carpenter (1868–1871)
  • Millicent Ann Carpenter (1869–1960)
  • Charles Carr Carpenter (1871–1918)
  • Emma Bertha Carpenter (1873–1955)
  • Etta Minerva Carpenter (1874–1899)
  • Martha Josephine Carpenter (1876–1962)
  • Marion Caroline Carpenter (1879–1939)
  • Myrtie Emmeline Carpenter (1879–1956)
  • Thomas Quiner Carpenter (1882–1944)
  • George Lockwood Carpenter (1882–1954)
• Caroline Lake Quiner (December 12, 1839 – April 20, 1924) – Laura's mother
• Eliza Ann Quiner (1842–1931) – born on April 21 in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Both families – the Ingalls and the Quiners – moved several times and stopped finally in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. Eliza married Peter Ingalls in Concord, Wisconsin, on June 5, 1861 (for more – see above).
• Thomas Lewis Quiner (1844–1903) – born on November 23. He married Lillian Graham 'Lily' Hill (1858-1924) and they had six children. They lived for some time in DeSmet. Died in an accident at the Columbia River on February 23, 1903.
  • Helen Marion Quiner (1881–1961)
  • Alice Quiner (1882–1883)
  • Donald Quiner (1885–1887)
  • Lillian Josephine Quiner (1887–1959)
  • Dugald Lewis Quiner (1889–1964)
  • John Hill Quiner (1900–1978)

Henry Quiner died in October 1844 in the sinking of a trading ship on the Great Lakes. Charlotte Tucker Quiner remarried, to Frederic Holbrook, and they had one child

• Charlotte Elizabeth "Lottie" Holbrook (January 20, 1854 – February 15, 1939). She married Henry Moore (b. 1852) in 1875 and they had five children.
  • Frederick Moore (b. 1878)
  • Arvin Moore (b. 1880)
  • Harry C. Moore (b. 1882)
  • Ralph Moore (b. 1887)
  • Pearl Eva Moore (b. 1888)

The Wilder family

• Royal Gould Wilder (1809–1815)
• Thomas Payne Wilder (1811–?)
• James Mason Wilder (1813-1899) – Almanzo's father. Married Angeline Albina Day.
  • Laura Ann Wilder (1844–1899) – born June 15, 1844, in 1874 married Harrison Lomanzo Howard.
    • Kearny Howard (step-child, born c.1869)
    • Angelina Esther Howard (1876–1964), in 1897 married Fred Merritt.
      • Ralph Merritt
      • Ethel Merritt
      • Howard Merritt
    • Harrison J.Howard (1878–1918)
    • Josephine Howard (1880–1918), married to William Walker
    • Ralph Waldo Howard (1881–1934), married to Estelle C.
      • Charles E. Howard (1908–1978)
      • Clarence Howard (1909–1913)
      • James J. Howard (1911–1981)
      • Ralph R. Howard (1913–1921)
      • Ralph Waldo Howard (1914–1976)
      • Paul Martin Howard (1920–1923)
  • Royal Gould Wilder (1847–1925), born February 20, 1847. In 1893, married Electa Averill Hutchison.
    • Ethel Hutchinson (step-child, died 1905), married Willard Stevens (died in 1928)
    • Clyde Hutchinson (step-child), married Edna Baily
    • Rae Hutchinson (step-child), married Bertha Luedtke (died 1910)
    • Mae Hutchinson (step-child), in 1912 married George Pooler
    • Angeline Bernice Wilder (1894–1957), in 1917 married Arlow Laging and in 1929, George Granger.
    • "baby girl" Wilder (stillborn in 1897)
    • Susan E. Wilder (1898–1899)
  • Eliza Jane Wilder (1850–1930), born January 3, 1850. In 1893, married Thomas Jefferson Thayer and in 1904, Maxwell Gordon. Died in Los Angeles.
    • Walcott Wilder Thayer (1894–1965), in 1918 married Frances Cockrell.
      • Walter Thayer – married Elaine Ditch
        • Cynthia Thayer
        • Walter Thayer
      • Francis Gervaise Thayer – married Alena Jobe.
        • Thomas Thayer
        • Larry Thayer
      • Betty Mae Thayer – married a man with the surname Raymond, and later, married a man with the surname Huey.
        • Cynthia Raymond
        • Walter Raymond
        • David Huey
        • Joan Huey
        • Donald Huey
  • Alice Maria Wilder (1853–1892), born September 3, 1853. In 1879 married Albert A.Baldwin (1848–1905). Died in Florida.
    • Myrtle Baldwin (1880–1945), married to John R. Brown
    • Leland Edward Baldwin (1884–1913)
  • Almanzo Wilder (1857–1949)
  • Perley Day Wilder (1869–1934), born June 13, 1869, In 1897 married Elsie Lillian Merritt (1879–1948). Died in Los Angeles.
    • James Wilder (1903–1990), married Thelma Gricourt
    • Gladys Wilder (1905–1987)
    • Harold O. Wilder (1909–2003)
    • Perley Wilder Jr., (1912–1977), married to Ethel Smith, and later, Dolores Moore
    • Dorothy A. Wilder (1914–1966). Married to Carl Pittman
    • John Wilder (1916–1916)
• Hannah Payne Wilder (1814–1891)
• Royal Gould Wilder (1816–1887) – born after his eldest brother's death (and so named after him). He became a reverend and married Eliza Jane Smith (1822–1910).
  • Edward Payson Wilder (1847–1890)
  • Mary Jane Wilder (b.1856)
  • William Royal Wilder (1858–1925)
  • Grace Evelyn Wilder (1861–1911)
  • Robert Parmelee Wilder (1863–1938)
• Phoebe Wilder (1821–1890) – married Joseph C. Lamson.
  • Chester Lamson (1854–1934) – married Catherine McDonough.
    • Mabel Lamson (1888–1982)
  • Charles Lamson
  • Gussie Lamson
  • "baby girl" Lamson
• Polly Maria Wilder (1824–1851)
• William Wilder (1828–1909) - married Adeline Hastins (1831-1909)
  • William A. "Willie" Wilder (1847–1860)
  • George Wilder (1868–1922)
• Sarah Charlotte Wilder (1820–1892) – married Andrew Day (her sister-in-law's – Almanzo's mother – brother)
  • Carrie May Day (1856–1898) – married Orville Everett.
    • Frances Everett – married a man with the last name of Smith.
      • Dorothy Belle Smith
  • Elmer A.Day (1862–1947) – married to Mary MacMaster (1864–1945)
  • Willard R.Day (1858–1891) – married Emma Hubbard
  • Grace Day (1864–1894) – married to Grant Collins
• Joshua Prince Wilder (1832–1832)

The Day family

• Laura Day (1819–?)
• Delia Day (1824–?)
• Angelina Albina Day (1819–1905) – married James Mason Wilder and they had six children, including Almanzo James Wilder (Laura Ingalls Wilder's husband). For more information, see above.
• Celinda A.Day (1826–?)
• Andrew J. Day (1828–1894) – married Sarah Charlotte Wilder (1820–1892) and they had four children. For more information, see the Wilders' tree above (since Sarah was a sister of Almanzo's father).
• John Wesley Day (1829–1907) – married Alcesta Lindy.
  • Fred Day
  • Frank Day
  • Albert Day
  • Wilton Day
• George W.Day (1831–1873)

Real people

• Robert and Ellie Boast were neighbors and friends of the Ingalls family.
• Reverend Edward Brown was the reverend and Ingalls's neighbour in De Smet, South Dakota
• Ida Wright-Brown was the Reverend's adopted daughter, and Laura's school friend in De Smet
• Oscar Edmund "Cap" Garland was one of Laura's male school friends. He saved the town from starvation by going 15 miles to find wheat in a blizzard, along with Almanzo Wilder.
• Florence Adelia Garland Dawley was Cap Garland's older sister and a teacher in De Smet.
• Mary Power was Laura's friend in De Smet
• Neta Seal was a real-life close friend of grown-up Laura in Mansfield, Missouri
• Dr. George Tann was the Indians' doctor in Kansas during the Ingalls' stay there

Characters based on real people

• Lew Brewster was a pseudonym for Louis Bouchie, a homesteader who offered Laura her first teaching job.
• Mr. Edwards, Ingalls' fictional friend
• The Kennedy Family were the Ingalls' neighbors in Walnut Grove, Minnesota; their children went to school with Mary and Laura
• Nellie Oleson was actually three real people: Nellie Owens, Genevieve Masters, and Stella Gilbert.
• Soldat du Chene, was a fictional Osage chief in Kansas during the Ingalls' stay there