There is no documented evidence that Laura Ingalls Wilder experienced a miscarriage, and she never mentioned one in her writings or personal correspondence. However, given the era in which she lived—and the fact that miscarriage was rarely discussed publicly or recorded—it is possible she may have had one or more early pregnancy losses that were never formally acknowledged.
During the late 19th century, it was common for women to have multiple pregnancies, and it was also tragically common for some of those pregnancies to end in miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death. Due to the stigma, lack of medical understanding, and privacy around pregnancy loss at the time, many such events went unrecorded.
Known Child Loss: The Death of Laura’s Infant Son
What is known and well-documented is that Laura and Almanzo Wilder suffered the heartbreaking loss of a baby boy in 1889. He was born sometime in July of that year, while the couple was living near De Smet, South Dakota, and he died less than a month later, on August 7, 1889. The child was never given a public name, and the gravestone in De Smet’s cemetery simply refers to him as:
“Baby Son of A. J. Wilder”
This loss was deeply traumatic for Laura and Almanzo, especially during a time when they were already coping with Almanzo’s declining health due to diphtheria, the loss of their home, financial hardship, and a series of failed harvests.
Miscarriage and Early Pregnancy Loss in the 1800s
In Laura’s time, early pregnancy loss was not typically discussed, even within families. Miscarriages, especially those that occurred in the first trimester, were often chalked up to “female trouble” or “a late period,” and medical confirmation of pregnancy was rare until there were obvious physical signs.
This cultural silence makes it nearly impossible to know whether Laura suffered a miscarriage at any point during her life. It’s important to note:
Many women of the time likely experienced miscarriages without ever receiving a formal diagnosis.
Losses were often kept private, even when acknowledged.
Laura’s personal letters and manuscripts, which have been preserved in archives, contain no references to miscarriage, though they do reflect the grief of losing her infant son.
A Time of Hardship and Transition
The period surrounding the birth and death of Laura’s son marked one of the most difficult times in the Wilders’ lives. Following the loss of their baby and continued struggles on the farm, Laura and Almanzo made the decision to leave De Smet in 1890. They first moved to Minnesota, then briefly to Florida, and finally settled in Mansfield, Missouri in 1894, where they would build their permanent home, Rocky Ridge Farm.
While Laura may not have spoken publicly about any additional losses, it’s clear that the death of her infant son left an emotional scar that remained with her. Even in The First Four Years—the only book where the event is fictionalized—Laura writes with sorrow and restraint, reflecting the profound grief without elaborating on the details.
