Charles Ingalls
Encyclopedia
Charles Phillip Ingalls was the father of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote the Little House series of books based on her childhood in a pioneer family...

, known for her Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie
Little House is a series of children's books by Laura Ingalls Wilder that was published originally between 1932 and 1943, with four additional books published posthumously, in 1962, 1971, 1974 and 2006.-History:...

series of books. Ingalls is depicted as the character "Pa" in the series
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...

.

Biography

For information on the relatives, see : List of real-life individuals from Little House on the Prairie


Ingalls was the second of nine children of Lansford Whiting Ingalls (1812-1896) and Laura Louise Colby Ingalls (1810-1883), both of whom appear (as "Grandpa" and "Grandma", respectively) in the book Little House in the Big Woods
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House in the Big Woods is a children's novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder and was published in 1932. This book is the first of the series of books known as the Little House series....

.

Lansford was born in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

; Laura was born in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

 and was a descendant of Edmund Rice
Edmund Rice (1638)
Edmund Rice , was an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony who was born in Suffolk, England, and lived in Stanstead, Suffolk and Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire prior to sailing with his family to America. He arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in summer or fall of 1638, presumed to be first...

, an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...

. Lansford's mother was Margaret Delano, of the famed Delano family
Delano family
The progenitor of the Delano family in the Americas was Philippe de Lannoy whose family name was anglicized to Delano. The 19-year-old Pilgrim of Flemish descent arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts on November 9, 1621 on the second Pilgrim ship, Fortune...

, and was a descendant of Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...

 passenger Richard Warren
Richard Warren
Richard Warren was a passenger on the Mayflower in 1620. He settled in Plymouth Colony and was among ten passengers of the Mayflower landing party with Myles Standish at Cape Cod on November 11, 1620...

. In the 1840s, when Ingalls was a young boy, his family moved from New York to the tallgrass prairie
Tallgrass prairie
The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America, with fire as its primary periodic disturbance. In the past, tallgrass prairies covered a large portion of the American Midwest, just east of the Great Plains, and portions of the Canadian Prairies. They flourished in areas with...

 of Campton Township
Campton Township, Kane County, Illinois
Campton Township is located in Kane County, Illinois. It is a square, of which is land and is water. Its population in the 2000 Census was 14,072. It has 4,417 housing units.The township's rural character is subject to increased development...

, just west of Elgin, Illinois
Elgin, Illinois
Elgin is a city in northern Illinois located roughly northwest of Chicago on the Fox River. Most of Elgin lies within Kane County, Illinois, with a portion in Cook County, Illinois...

.

On February 1, 1860, Charles Ingalls married Caroline Quiner
Caroline Ingalls
Caroline Ingalls, born Caroline Lake Quiner was the mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House books.-Biography:...

. They had five children: Mary
Mary Ingalls
Mary Amelia Ingalls was born near the town of Pepin, Wisconsin. She was the first child of Caroline and Charles Ingalls...

, Laura
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote the Little House series of books based on her childhood in a pioneer family...

, Carrie
Carrie Ingalls
Caroline Celestia "Carrie" Ingalls Swanzey was the third child of Charles and Caroline Ingalls, and was born in Montgomery County, Kansas...

, Charles Frederick "Freddy", and Grace
Grace Ingalls
Grace Pearl Ingalls Dow was the fifth and last child of Caroline and Charles Ingalls. She was the youngest sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder, known for her Little House on the Prairie books.-Biography:...

. Freddy died as an infant.

For his entire life Ingalls had a strong case of "wanderlust
Wanderlust
Wanderlust is a strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world.-Etymology:The loanword from German language became an English term in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a characteristically German predilection for wandering that may be traced back to German...

". He is quoted by Laura in her Little House
Little House on the Prairie
Little House is a series of children's books by Laura Ingalls Wilder that was published originally between 1932 and 1943, with four additional books published posthumously, in 1962, 1971, 1974 and 2006.-History:...

series of books as saying: "My wandering foot gets to itching". He loved travelling and didn't like living among big crowds of people, so with his family in the early years of his marriage, he traveled a great deal and often changed homes. From their original married home in the woods of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, he moved his family to Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...

 in southeastern Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, then back to Wisconsin, then to southern Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, then for a year to Burr Oak, Iowa
Burr Oak, Iowa
Burr Oak is a small unincorporated community in Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States, very close to the Minnesota state line. Burr Oak is a census-designated place and the population was 166 in the 2010 census -History:...

, then back to Minnesota. Presented with a job opportunity in Dakota Territory
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...

, he longed to move yet again, as the family was struggling in Minnesota. Caroline agreed, but extracted a promise from her husband that this would be their last move. She was not only tired of moving from place to place herself but also feared her children would never get a proper education unless the family put down roots somewhere. Ingalls agreed, and the family settled down for good in De Smet, South Dakota
De Smet, South Dakota
-External links:* * * * *...

. He stayed with farming in De Smet for several years, but after he had "proved up" on his claim, he sold the farm and built a home on Third Street in De Smet, where he lived out the rest of his days. He died on June 8, 1902 of heart disease at the age of 66. He was buried at De Smet Cemetery
De Smet Cemetery
De Smet Cemetery is a cemetery located southwest of the town of De Smet in Kingsbury County, South Dakota, USA.- Notable people buried in De Smet Cemetery :*Robert Boast, appeared in a number of the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder....

.

In the media

Ingalls was portrayed in the television adaptation of Little House on the Prairie by :
  • Hideo Nakamura (voice) in Laura, The Prairie Girl
    Laura, The Prairie Girl
    was a Japanese anime TV series based on the novels Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Twenty-six episodes were released, between 1975 and 1976, each lasting about 30 minutes.-Characters:Laura Ingalls...

    Japanese cartoon series,
  • actor Michael Landon
    Michael Landon
    Michael Landon was an American actor, writer, director, and producer. He is widely known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza , Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie , and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven...

     in the television series Little House on the Prairie
    Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
    Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...

    and its movie sequels,
  • in Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder
    Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder
    Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder and its sequel, Beyond the Prairie, Part 2: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder, are television films which were presented in two parts, the first in 2000, and the second in 2002, which presented episodes from the later books in the...

    films by Richard Thomas
    Richard Thomas (actor)
    Richard Earl Thomas is an American actor, best known for his role as budding author John-Boy Walton in the CBS drama The Waltons.- Early life :Thomas was born Richard Earl Thomas in New York,...

    ,
  • in I Remember, I Remember, fourth season episode of the Little House on the Prairie
    Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
    Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...

    series, Matthew Laborteaux
    Matthew Laborteaux
    Matthew Laborteaux is an American actor who has starred in television and film. He is perhaps best known for portraying the character Albert Quinn Ingalls on the hit NBC series Little House on the Prairie from 1976 to 1983....

     portrays young version of Charles,
  • in the miniseries
    Miniseries
    A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

     Little House on the Prairie
    Little House on the Prairie (TV miniseries)
    Little House on the Prairie, also known as Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie, is a five-hour miniseries which was broadcast on ABC as part of The Wonderful World of Disney anthology series. It was made in 2004. It was directed by David L...

    by Cameron Bancroft
    Cameron Bancroft
    Cameron Bancroft , sometimes credited as Cam Bancroft is an actor known for playing Joe Bradley on the TV Series Beverly Hills, 90210. He was on the show from 1995 to 1996....

    .
  • and in the Musical
    Little House on the Prairie (musical)
    Little House on the Prairie is a book musical adapted from the children's books, Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The creative team includes Rachel Sheinkin , Rachel Portman , Donna di Novelli , and Francesca Zambello...

     by Steve Blanchard
    Steve Blanchard
    Steve Blanchard is a stage actor best known for his musical theatre roles, being most closely associated with the role of Beast in the musical Beauty and the Beast, which he played both on Broadway and on tour for eleven years...

    .

External links

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