In The First Four Years, Laura and Almanzo had a baby son. In the book, they did not name the child before he died, even though he was nearly a month old when he passed away.
The newspapers in De Smet, South Dakota had notices for both the birth and death, but neither notice included a name. The grave marker for their son was simply noted as “Baby Son of A. J. Wilder” in the De Smet Cemetery.
Laura and Almanzo seldom talked about the baby son they lost, as it was a particularly difficult time in their young married lives, and their daughter Rose did not know she had a sibling who died until she was an adult.
