Albert Quinn was introduced to the Ingalls family when Laura caught him stealing newspapers and money from the hotel where her family worked in Winoka. Laura caught him, but Charles let him go after returning the money and papers. But later, Charles caught him stealing a lantern from a store, and chased him to where he was living underneath some stairs. He didn’t want to be caught as he didn’t want to live in an orphanage, but he needed to steal to survive.
Albert was invited to Mary’s birthday party where he is introduced to the rest of the Ingalls and the other guests as a friend of Charles. When the time came for the Ingalls to leave Winoka, Albert came with them. But times were rough for Albert. He ran away several times, once because Laura was jealous over him. After searching for his birth father for a family tree project at school, Charles adopts him as his son.
But when Albert moves to the Chicago, Charles is told by the police that Albert has started stealing again. Albert is brought back home, and the family finds out he is addicted to morphine. After he is off of morphine, he decides to go to medical school to become a doctor. He falls in love with Michele, a girl whom he used to know, and goes to the same university Albert plans to. But Albert becomes severely ill, and is sent to hospital. Once diagnosed, Albert decides to leave the hospital and return to Walnut Grove, where Charles is giving a speech on crop sharing. Laura and a severely ill Albert follow a group of students up a mountain where they have shared fond memories.
Show Trivia
Albert runs away three times (“Fagin”, “The Odyssey”, and “May We Make Them Proud”)
In real life, Laura Ingalls Wilder did not have an adopted brother.
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