Laura and Almanzo
Almanzo Wilder was the reason Laura Ingalls was able to go home from her job as a teacher every weekend. While Laura, at first, thought Almanzo was just doing Charles a favor by driving her back and forth, within three years the two married. Laura was 18 years old when she became Laura Ingalls Wilder on August 25, 1885. A little over a year later, on December 5, 1886, their daughter Rose was born. Unfortunately, for the Wilder’s their first decade of marriage was filled with struggles and heartache.
Because Almanzo was the son of a successful farmer, he felt more pressure to succeed on his own as a farmer. However, with every turn the Wilder’s made with farming in De Smet, defeat followed. Laura had quit her teaching job so she could focus on raising a family and helping Almanzo farm. The couple had little money coming in as their crops kept failing. In the summer of 1889, Laura gave birth to a son, who passed away just one month later.
Not too long after the couple lost their son, tragedy struck the home of the Wilder’s again as Almanzo became partially paralyzed. Sources do not 100 percent agree on how he became paralyzed. Some say he suffered a stroke while others say he contracted diphtheria. Whatever the case is, we do know that Almanzo limped and was not as strong as he once had been, which affected the farming. Unfortunately, this was not the end of the troubles for the young pioneer family.
The family also suffered through a drought, financial hardship, and ended up losing their home to a fire in 1890. After four years of moving from state to state, including Minnesota, Florida, and back to South Dakota, they settled on Missouri for a fresh start. In 1894, Laura and Almanzo Wilder, with their daughter Rose, settled in Mansfield, Missouri, after giving a down payment of $100 for a 200-acre farm. It was here that Almanzo became the farmer he wanted to be as they built their own farmhouse, did all their own farm work, and raised livestock.