Just Another Jen Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I remember being disappointed when I found out the Ingalls' travels were different than what Laura depicted in her books. It's hard to remember that she based the stories on her life, but changed ages etc. for story line purposes. I think that's why there's so much confusion as to what is fact and what is fiction. When you throw in the fact that most of us grew up watching the Little House series on TV, talk about turning Laura's life into myth and folklore! The same thing has happened in my family. My great-grandfather was an inventor. Two years ago I was talking with my great-uncle, his last surviving son about his inventions. My great-uncle laughed and laughed telling us all the things he's heard over the years that my great-grandfather invented that he never did! He told me the fortune was not actually made with an invention, but the money he made selling the patent to buy a company. The company is where the money was made. Yet, my whole life I was told about this brilliant man who was an inventor that made the family fortune with his inventions. As a complete side note, my family is in the process of helping my grandfather clean out his attic and they are finding boxes full of photographs that no one knows who they are. My dad and I have decided we should make up stories about them and pass down the stories to confuse future generations. :lol: That's funny. We found a framed photo of a soldier in a ww2 uniform. The background looks like Hawaii and there is an inscription that says 1942 in the corner. No one knows who it is. So, I hung it up with other family photos and when asked we all give a different to story as to who it is. We crack ourselves up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I haven't seen anything along those lines. Everything I have read said that Laura enjoyed writing and reading even as a young girl. I know that dyslexia is more complicated than this, but I would think her enjoyment of reading would have come later if she was dyslexic. I have no idea if she was dyslexic or not I am Dyslexic. I learned to read basic words at 3. My reading did stagnate from grade 2-5 until I developed skills in skimming, but I have always been a bookworm. writing and spelling are a whole different kettle of fish for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 It's been about 40 years, but I clearly remember when the girls were getting ready to go to school for the first time, and it says Mary was so patient and smart that she learned reading at home from Ma, but Laura wouldn't / couldn't attend well enough. Then after school started, the teacher would go down lists of words like m an man, c an can, f an fan... and she never could get it, until the day they got to p at pat, and she remembered her dad showing her "pat" for "patent" on their stove, and then it clicked. (How much of that did I get right after all these years? LOL.) I read a biography years ago and it said that she started school at about 3- possibly that was why she had trouble concentrating. unfortunately I cannot remember what the biography was called. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Nobody is saying that dyslexic people can't accomplish a great deal, but there is no evidence that either Einstein or Wilder were, and plenty of evidence that they weren't. No Idea about Laura being Dyslexic or not, but there is quite a bit of evidence that Einstein was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma2three Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 No Idea about Laura being Dyslexic or not, but there is quite a bit of evidence that Einstein was. My understanding of this is that, while many people claim that he was dyslexic, his actual biographers who have looked into it and done a great deal of research have come up with nothing except a few anecdotes of dubious quality. But I could be misremembering it with the "Einstein was on the spectrum" claim, which is pretty widely discredited. Edited to add: http://ldx.sagepub.com/content/33/2/149.short Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Weren't the farm chores also holding Laura from visiting? Stock and crops can't exactly be left on a whim for a week or two. (I thought that was the reason given that Almanzo didn't go with Laura to visit Rose in CA? He stayed for the farm, and she wrote the descriptive letters home.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrygal Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I think I'll just read the books and enjoy them. Knowing their real lives is depressing! With that being said, I think it's evident in the books that Laura felt she was never good enough for Ma. She always talked of how Mary was the good daughter and never cried and was happy to sit and sew her sampler, etc... So I can see how that's very likely how their relationship was in real life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeefreak Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 That's funny. We found a framed photo of a soldier in a ww2 uniform. The background looks like Hawaii and there is an inscription that says 1942 in the corner. No one knows who it is. So, I hung it up with other family photos and when asked we all give a different to story as to who it is. We crack ourselves up. That is so totally AWESOME!!!! I want a picture like that. I have to call my dad this weekend...... :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Nope I was originally wrong. Not New York but Concord WI! Crazy huh?! The book that was mentioned is wonderful by the way. We own it and love it. (I picked it up just now to check my facts) :blush: . http://www.amazon.com/Lauras-Album-Remembrance-Scrapbook-Ingalls/dp/0060278420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391144286&sr=8-1&keywords=album+of+laura I have this book, too! and I agree - it's a great read. So many interesting photos and much more biographical info on the family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I had one friend who looked at the Little House books as sort of a template for home and family. She was so relieved when I told her that their real life was a lot messier and dysfunctional! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 You know, something I've always wondered about and have never seen addressed is this: Didn't Almanzo's sister, Eliza Jane, get mad at the depiction of herself in Little Town on the Prairie? Eliza Jane was Laura's schoolteacher in that book and really comes off badly. I've always wondered what the rest of the family thought about it. I mean, didn't it bug Eliza Jane's immediate family and ancestors that their grandma/mother was being depicted that way? Or was she a harpy in real life so no one thought much of it? I know that Rose actually lived with Eliza Jane while she (Rose) attended high school. And if you believe that Rose had a large part in writing the series...well, that really makes you wonder, doesn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Χά�ων Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 You know, something I've always wondered about and have never seen addressed is this: Didn't Almanzo's sister, Eliza Jane, get mad at the depiction of herself in Little Town on the Prairie? Eliza Jane was Laura's schoolteacher in that book and really comes off badly. I've always wondered what the rest of the family thought about it. I mean, didn't it bug Eliza Jane's immediate family and ancestors that their grandma/mother was being depicted that way? Or was she a harpy in real life so no one thought much of it? I know that Rose actually lived with Eliza Jane while she (Rose) attended high school. And if you believe that Rose had a large part in writing the series...well, that really makes you wonder, doesn't it? I was under the impression that she was a harpy IRL as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma2three Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I was Googling around once and found this. I thought it was cool. Some descendants of the real Nellie Olson show up. http://genforum.genealogy.com/oleson/messages/63.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I was Googling around once and found this. I thought it was cool. Some descendants of the real Nellie Olson show up. http://genforum.genealogy.com/oleson/messages/63.html Which one? Nellie Oleson was a composite character of two different people, one from Plum Creek, the other from DeSmet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma2three Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Which one? Nellie Oleson was a composite character of two different people, one from Plum Creek, the other from DeSmet. I think she was a composite of 3 people, actually. But the Plum Creek one, who was actually Nellie Owens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCB Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I sat next to a girl in a church service, in the Amazon rain forest of Brazil who looked the spitting image of Nellie Olson (from the tv series of course). It was very disconcerting. It is really interesting to read all of the information about Laura and Rose. I loved the books as a kid and we have read them to the girls several times. I've also seen Pa's fiddle which is in the museum in Mansfield, or is that all made up also. If it is, don't tell me, I prefer to be left in blissful ignorance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Cornelia Snook Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Wasn't Eliza Jane dead by the time LTOP was published? She only had one son, I want to say his name was Walcott Wilder Thayer. He's probably got descendents around somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkacademy Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Let me just say, I could not pass that test. I get that I wouldn't know certain things that were state related or issues of the last election, but I don't even know much of the other stuff. I feel stupid. You are not stupid!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Wasn't Eliza Jane dead by the time LTOP was published? She only had one son, I want to say his name was Walcott Wilder Thayer. He's probably got descendents around somewhere. Was she? I wonder what her son thought about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeefreak Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I had one friend who looked at the Little House books as sort of a template for home and family. She was so relieved when I told her that their real life was a lot messier and dysfunctional! UGH! Your poor friend. I can't tell you how many people I know that try to emulate Ma Ingalls, and are convinced the Ingalls had it all right. That that generation was the golden generation. the country has gone to hell in a handbasket, and we should live like the the Ingalls family did. That life was great, with great Christian and Family values, kids ran free all day, families took care of each other, and isn't it a shame we weren't born back then? Really? Because, you know, malaria, diphtheria, scarlet fever, locusts, and starving when your crops failed or a long winter happened all brought the family together, and made for a better life. :rolleyes: I wonder if these people have actually read the books or studied history. I'm so glad you brought your friend peace. ^_^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma2three Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 UGH! Your poor friend. I can't tell you how many people I know that try to emulate Ma Ingalls, and are convinced the Ingalls had it all right. That that generation was the golden generation. the country has gone to hell in a handbasket, and we should live like the the Ingalls family did. That life was great, with great Christian and Family values, kids ran free all day, families took care of each other, and isn't it a shame we weren't born back then? Really? Because, you know, malaria, diphtheria, scarlet fever, locusts, and starving when your crops failed or a long winter happened all brought the family together, and made for a better life. :rolleyes: I wonder if these people have actually read the books or studied history. I'm so glad you brought your friend peace. ^_^ I think people bring their own interpretation to the books, honestly. And I've come across plenty of people who share the beliefs you mention but admit that they never even read the books. :confused1: I really don't understand people who hold them up as some sort of proto-homeschoolers. Except for The Long Winter, when they sit around reciting lessons (that they learned in school) to distract themselves from the literal pains of starvation and slowly freezing to death, I don't remember any home book learning. In Little House in the Big Woods they own 2 or 3 books that the girls are allowed to look at on Sundays, and that's pretty much all the books that are mentioned. And in real life, Laura was sent off to school at age 3 (which was fairly normal back then... basically childcare for kids too young to be helpful on the farm). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Yes, but she had some leanings that put her on the watch list which is what I meant to highlight...not specifically that she was this or that, just that she was perceived on occasion with serious suspicion. That would have been a real no-no with Ma. I agree that in actuality she was Libertarian. She is, with Ayn Rand, one of the founding women of the capital L Libertarian party. She was on government watch lists because of her fairly severe statements about FDR and her vocal protest over social security. Before she veered to libertarianism though, she was a supporter of Eugene Debs. Quite a leap from Eugene Debs to being one of the most vocal defenders of Herbert Hoover, right?! Rose also penned an article in the 1930s about how a woman's place was in the home. She definitely was of two minds on her gender role as a divorced, working woman without children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I think people bring their own interpretation to the books, honestly. And I've come across plenty of people who share the beliefs you mention but admit that they never even read the books. :confused1: I really don't understand people who hold them up as some sort of proto-homeschoolers. Except for The Long Winter, when they sit around reciting lessons (that they learned in school) to distract themselves from the literal pains of starvation and slowly freezing to death, I don't remember any home book learning. In Little House in the Big Woods they own 2 or 3 books that the girls are allowed to look at on Sundays, and that's pretty much all the books that are mentioned. And in real life, Laura was sent off to school at age 3 (which was fairly normal back then... basically childcare for kids too young to be helpful on the farm). I'm still trying to figure out this rose-colored glasses crowd's seeming obsession with tacking "proto" onto everything. What's odder still is that these books are often put on a pedestal in patriachial families but even Ma wasn't an especially "obedient wife". For example, she drew the line at DeSmet and wouldn't hear of following Charles around anymore and Laura insisted on not vowing to obey Almanzo by having the minister take that line right out of the service. And Rose was a working woman and divorcee. Hardly a set of obedient submissive wives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 She is, with Ayn Rand, one of the founding women of the capital L Libertarian party. She was on government watch lists because of her fairly severe statements about FDR and her vocal protest over social security. Before she veered to libertarianism though, she was a supporter of Eugene Debs. Quite a leap from Eugene Debs to being one of the most vocal defenders of Herbert Hoover, right?! Rose also penned an article in the 1930s about how a woman's place was in the home. She definitely was of two minds on her gender role as a divorced, working woman without children Her LIbertarian beliefs and contributions are not in question. I find her journey to libertarianism to be more fascinating. She spent the first few years after her divorce from Gillette flirting with communism, and nearly joined the party after hearing a speech by John Reed. I will link the PDF. She was very vocal about her dislike of the League of Nations and wrote articles about this which combined with the above, and then her sojourn living in Albania and speaking out after WWI about what was going to happen in the power vacuum that existed in Albania at that time, again aiming her vitriol at the US government in particular, but other representative forms of government in Western Europe, she ended up FIRST on the watch list for being "communist sympathizer" which she actually was not, but that's how it was taken, and then on the watch for her articles against FDR's administration and the New Deal, followed eventually by the involvement in the LIbertarian movement, followed by a few choice things she had to say about the US Government after her time as a war correspondent in Vietnam. It's a compilation of things that kept her on the watch list. She was, however, on it first due to suspected communism for the period of time immediately following the Bolshevik Revolution. http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_12_04_4_beito.pdf This is just one source. There are several others. And yes, it did seem like a pretty big leap from Debs to Hoover. It seems to have happened quickly. I sometimes wonder what caused her to "jump ship". She was really leaning socialist, if not communist there for a few years. However, I do know that the loss of her child and the hysterectomy after huge blood loss would have been very traumatic, and there appears to be some evidence of depression following this, followed by a separation period from Gillette in which they both dated other people which probably brought some serious family and friend disapproval down on her head, followed by the divorce, followed.....it was a confusing, depressing time for her, and I'm sure she was searching...searching for purpose, searching for a future in a world in which women were beginning to embrace the idea of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness belonging to their gender too, a woman of a generation caught between two worlds with a horrific world war right in the middle of it. I think the poor woman had a LOT to think about and much of it pretty heady topics to wrestle with under good circumstances. Her life during that period was just plain hard! I would imagine that alone accounts pretty well for the flip flop of fundamental beliefs in the space of a decade. It's sad that she never felt comfortable talking about the loss of her son. A medical history of the event could provide a lot of insight. Medical mistake, congenital defect, still born or live birth, if born alive...how long did he live, what did doctor's believe was the cause of death? Lots of questions. Given the family history, it does bring to mind something like a genetic problem. However, there isn't enough of a story there to even make a hypothesis. Has anyone read any of her war correspondence pieces? She wrote for Good Housekeeping, if memory serves, and I've never taken the time to really delve into those articles. Just exactly HOW critical of the US was she really? I mean, it was the J.Edgar Hoover - McCarthy era so not exactly difficult to get oneself on a naughty list if you dared to voice your opinion in print for any decent sized publication. I know that the Libertarianism would probably have been enough, but I heard a lecturer several years back say her war correspondence was specifically mentioned in her FBI file. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I know this one! It's because they'd like to have their women in identical circumstances, in 2014! Cut off from the rest of the world, slaving away at home, being grateful for whatever crumbs fall their way. They aren't trying to interpret LHTP, they want to recreate it, in a time when the social mores make it more abusive than "pioneering spirit-y." I dunno. Those dudes don't want me stuck on a prairie with shotguns and pitchforks and no witnesses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceyobu Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 One of my favorite moments in the series is when Laura comes home from teaching school and appreciates what a happy home she lives in and notices how saying "good morning" actually makes the morning good. I wonder if, despite all the hardships and relationship difficulties, if she really felt this way about her family? I love the books. I also love the real history of the family. I have visited the Kansas site. I really, really, really want to visit De Smet. It's where my favorite books take place. (I tried to talk DH into naming our kids Laura, Carrie, and Charles. No luck do far.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Ok, I've entered a black hole of LIW research on the Internet spurred by the Silver Lakes post, that led me weirdly back to this post from a google search. I need to stop. Sidenote, tomorrow is her birthday! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 In my mind, Laura Ingalls Wilder looks exactly like Melissa Gilbert, and I wholeheartedly reject any so-called "factual" evidence to the contrary. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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