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Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House on the Prairie Definitive Guide

Laura Ingalls Wilder & the Little House Books

Home » Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Family & Friends » Mary Amelia Ingalls- Biography

Mary Amelia Ingalls- Biography

Mary Amelia Ingalls- Biography

Mary Amelia Ingalls was the first child of Charles and Caroline Ingalls and was born on January 10, 1865, in Pepin, Wisconsin. Mary was a character in all of the Little House books and Mary and Laura were inseparable.

When Mary was fourteen years old, she became severely ill. Her illness, which is variously described as scarlet fever (in the books) and meningitis, resulted in a stroke which caused Mary to go blind. Laura then became Mary’s “eyes”, describing everything around them to her sister.

Read newspaper accounts of Mary’s health decline and blindness here.

In 1881, the Dakota Territory paid for Mary to attend the Iowa School for the Blind in Vinton, Iowa (know known as the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School). She graduated in 1889, and returned to De Smet, South Dakota to live with her parents.

Like many blind women of the time, Mary never married, and lived with her parents until their deaths. Mary then lived with Grace and her husband. In Keystone South Dakota, Mary died on October 17, 1928 at the home of her younger sister Carrie.

Some of Mary’s bead work, as well as her special Braille slate and bible are housed at the Mansfield Museum while many of her other possessions are housed at De Smet.

Related documents

Mary Amelia Ingalls Obituary

Newspaper accounts of Mary’s health and blindness

Vinton School for the Blind Mary Ingalls Era 1877-1889

Related reading

For more on Mary, read Mary Ingalls – The College Years by Marie Tschopp

Mary Ingalls - The College Years
Mary Ingalls - The College Years
  • Tschopp, Marie (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 70 Pages - 06/21/2017 (Publication Date) - CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (Publisher)
$11.99
Buy on Amazon

There is also a Little House fiction book written in the style of the original Little House books about Mary’s life at college.

Mary Ingalls on Her Own (Little House Sequel)
Mary Ingalls on Her Own (Little House Sequel)
  • Hardcover Book
  • Kimmel, Elizabeth Cody (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 192 Pages - 12/26/2007 (Publication Date) - HarperCollins (Publisher)
$17.99
Buy on Amazon
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Related Posts:

  • Mary Amelia Ingalls Obituary
    Mary Amelia Ingalls Obituary
  • Mary Power - Biography
    Mary Power - Biography
  • Vinton School for the Blind Mary Ingalls Era 1877-1889
    Vinton School for the Blind Mary Ingalls Era 1877-1889
  • Mary Ingalls on her Own: A Little House Sequel Book
    Mary Ingalls on her Own: A Little House Sequel Book
  • Did Mary Ingalls Marry in Real Life?
    Did Mary Ingalls Marry in Real Life?
  • Newspaper Accounts of Mary Ingalls & Her Blindness
    Newspaper Accounts of Mary Ingalls & Her Blindness

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