Charles Phillip Ingalls (; January 10, 1836 - June 8, 1902) was the father of Laura Ingalls Wilder, known for her Little House series of books. He is depicted as the character "Pa" in the books and the television series.
Video Charles Ingalls
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.
Lansford was born in Dunham, Missisquoi County, Lower Canada (now Dunham, Quebec, Canada), and was a descendant of Henry Ingalls (1627-1714), who was born in Skirbeck, Lincolnshire, England, and settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony; Laura was born in Vermont and was a descendant of Edmund Rice, an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony. Lansford's mother was Margaret Delano, of the famed Delano family, and was a descendant of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren. In the 1840s, when Ingalls was a young boy, his family moved from New York to the tallgrass prairie of Campton Township, just west of Elgin, Illinois.
Ingalls grew into a high-spirited, outgoing man, with a love of music and reading, as well as becoming an accomplished hunter-trapper, carpenter, and farmer.
On February 1, 1860, Ingalls married a neighbor, the quiet and proper Caroline Lake Quiner. They had five children: Mary, Laura, Carrie, Charles Frederick "Freddie" (who died in infancy), and Grace.
For his entire life, Ingalls had a strong case of "wanderlust". He is quoted by Laura in her Little House series of books as saying: "My wandering foot gets to itching". He loved travelling and did not 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 home in the woods of Wisconsin, he moved his family to Indian Territory in southeastern Kansas, then back to Wisconsin, and from there to southern Minnesota. Presented with an opportunity to work for a railroad in Dakota Territory, he longed to move yet again, as the family was struggling financially in Minnesota. Caroline agreed, but extracted a promise from him that this would be their last move. She was not only tired of moving from place to place herself but, as a former schoolteacher herself, she also feared her children would never get a proper education unless the family put down roots somewhere. He agreed, and the family settled down for good in De Smet, South Dakota. 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 held various elected positions in the town, including Justice of the Peace and Deputy Sheriff. He also operated a retail store in De Smet for a few years and lastly, sold insurance. He died on June 8, 1902, of cardiovascular disease, at the age of 66. He is buried at De Smet Cemetery.
Ingalls helped organize, and was an active member of, the Congregational Church in De Smet. He was a Freemason and he was given Masonic rites at his funeral.
Maps Charles Ingalls
In the media
Ingalls has been portrayed in the adaptations of Little House on the Prairie by:
- Michael Landon in the television series Little House on the Prairie and its movie sequels
- Matthew Laborteaux as a young Charles in the third-season episode "Journey in the Spring" and the fourth-season episode "I Remember, I Remember" of the television series
- Sh?sei Nakamura (voice) in Laura, The Prairie Girl Japanese cartoon series
- Richard Thomas in both Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder films
- Cameron Bancroft in the miniseries Little House on the Prairie
- Steve Blanchard in the musical
References
External links
- Image of Charles Ingalls homestead land grant
- Charles Phillip Ingalls at Find a Grave
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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