In the Little House on the Prairie television show, Nellie Oleson had a brother named Willie. And when Laura wrote the original Little House on the Prairie series of books, she changed the names of a few different characters she portrayed in a somewhat negative light and that included Nellie Oleson at her brother Willie. For the book, Laura renamed the characters from their true names, keeping both of their first names, but changing their last name from Owens to Oleson.
It was Nellie Owens and her family (the parents were William and Margaret, not Nels and Harriet as popularized in the television show) who owned the Mercantile in Walnut Grove, where Laura and Mary bought their slate.
After leaving Walnut Grove, Willie Owens was later blinded after a firecracker exploded in his face. He too attended a School for the Blind, although it was a different one from the one that Mary Ingalls attended in real life. He attended a trade school for the blind in Oregon.
Willie Owens also was married and had three children. He died in 1934 and is buried in Oregon.
