minnie's exploding eyeball

"Dear Folks, Mother wanted me to write and tell you of Minnie's sickness and removal of her right eye... About two years ago this summer, she lost the sight in her eye. Never had any sickness or pain and the doctor never knew the cause. In February, the eye began to pain her. She went to the doctor but could get no relief. When the pain became unbearble, she went to the doctor who had treated her here and he pronounced it "acute glaucoma," a swelling of the eyeball which would burst if no relief could be obtained...""

The letter goes on to tell of the many operations on Minnie's eye, finally resulting in the removal of it. Minnie was fitted with a glass eye.

When I first read this letter, written by someone Laura Ingalls Wilder knew well, I had several thoughts almost at once. Minnie's later years are somewhat of a mystery. Maybe this is why. One of the few photos I had seen of Minnie had been taken in profile. Was this the reason? No eye? Was she buried with her glass eye, and (Ooooo!) could it possibly "float" to the surface in the cemetery and be found lying in the grass one day, staring upward? (You know that ants and other insects have been known to bring buried Indian beads from deep below-ground.) And, most importantly, where the heck was I going to find an "eyeball" ornament for my "Little House" Christmas tree? I ought to be ashamed, but that's what I thought. And don't tell me that you can't look at almost ANYthing and right away see the "Little House" connection, if there's one to be found.

This would have been such a great Halloween story if it hadn't turned out to be about Minnie's niece-with-the-same-name, not Minnie herself. That's what happens when you get all excited about the contents of a letter (it went on for seven pages!) before you notice the date it was written. Now I'm ashamed that I ever wanted an eyeball ornament; and to make matters worse, you wouldn't believe the cool eyeball stuff you can find at Halloween!! Gummy candy eyeballs, eyeball suckers, eyeball candles, bouncing eyeballs.

This would also make a great April Fool's story, because, while every word of it is true, it's not really about Minnie, but about another "Little House" book character. And the photograph is not she.

Happy Halloween!
- posted by pioneergirl at 2:36 PM

 
the "palace" depot

Twenty-five years of filling oil lamps at the De Smet Depot had soaked the thick pine floors and sidewalks until oil actually oozed from between the planks when heavy carts of freight were rolled over them. So, in 1906, when a lighted match-head snapped off and blew beneath the depot, the crawl space was an inferno in seconds. Someone rushed upstairs to tell the Depot Agent's family to GET OUT, and they escaped by the back stairway.

The Depot Agent suddenly remembered a half dozen boxes of dynamite inside, and men formed a "bucket brigade" to get them safely out of reach of the fire. The dynamite was all that was saved. After the fire, nothing was left of except embers and railroad tracks warped by the heat of the fire. The Agent and his family considered renting the house formerly owned by Laura and Almanzo Wilder, who sold it before moving to Mansfield. They decided it was too small, and rented elsewhere.

During the six months it took for the current "new" depot in De Smet to be built, a railroad bunk car served as the Depot. It was called "the Palace" - a combination bunk, storage, and office car. One could stand in the middle and reach anything without moving. Unfortunately, passengers had to wait for trains out in the elements. Note that "De Smet" is written on the side of the Chicago & North Western Railway car.

This wasn't the first Boxcar Depot in De Smet. Remember that Jim Woodworth worked out of a boxcar while the first depot was being built.

The "new" depot is shown in an early photograph below. At right is the Station Agent, who was seated in the bay window facing the tracks. The photo above is of the depot today (the bay is on the other side of the building), currently the Depot Museum.

- posted by pioneergirl at 10:17 PM

 
a little creepy
Once upon a time in a town made popular in more than one "Little House" book by Laura Ingalls Wilder, a handsome young woman with a tall figure and dark hair and eyes opened a dressmaking and millinery shop near the south end of Main Street, also known as Calumet. Across the street was the Bank, run by a mustachioed man who didn't keep track of his livestock and had been known to burn lumber at fifty dollars a thousand.

This banker had a younger brother, a capitalist who dabbled in banking but also ran a feed store, not the feed store run by the man with the brother who had a funny name, but a feed store run with the son of the owner of the red front grocery store in town. This younger brother had his eye on the milliner, and the milliner was interested right back at him.

One of the milliner's sisters (another sister later married the banker) was married to an undertaker who came to town to work with the bald-headed furniture man. The bald-headed furniture man not only sold furniture, but stoves, tin-ware, and (of all things) coffins.

The younger brother and the milliner used to keep their eyes turned towards the furniture store as they went about their respective businesses, and when the furniture men were out making deliveries, the younger brother and the milliner would find that it was exactly the right time to take a little walk to the north. They would sneak inside the furniture store, where they would soon become cosily conjoined in a coffin.

One fine day, they were too engaged in their illicit relations to realize that someone had forgotten something and had returned to the store, only to walk in on the lovers busy at their horizontal hanky-panky.

The Banker thought it a fine story to pass along, and so I have done so.
- posted by pioneergirl at 10:22 PM

 
happy birthday, mary ingalls
The Museum Educator at the Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind contacted me a few weeks ago with information about their plans for a January celebration in honor of the birth of Mary Ingalls, sister of "Little House" author Laura Ingalls Wilder. They hope to make this an annual event, beginning with next year's January 9, 2010 event -- Mary's actual birthday was January 10, remember, but you can't expect it to fall on the proper weekend day each year!

The project will include an exhibit, a documentary video, a blind fiddler, and they will be creating a web presence for Mary in conjunction with the event. The Museum is choosing to highlight Mary Ingalls as representative of the well-educated blind in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century United States. Those of us who read and love the "Little House" books know that Ma and Pa wanted Mary to be able to continue her education after she lost her sight, but this was not the norm at the time Mary went to college.

Hopefully, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society (in De Smet, South Dakota) and the Laura Ingalls Wilder / Rose Wilder Lane Home and Museum (in Mansfield, Missouri) will jump on board and provide much needed information about Mary's life in De Smet after she was graduated from the Iowa College for the Blind (in Vinton, Iowa). If readers have any information to share, contact the Museum staff directly.

The American Printing House for the Blind is located in Louisville, Kentucky. Check out their information about Braille writers, slates, and other 19th century devices used by the blind. Mary Ingalls' Braille slate (actually, New York Point, similar to THIS one) is on display in Mansfield. Did you know that both Carrie and Grace learned to read and write in New York Point so that they could communicate with sister Mary? They also used it in their own letters to each other, when they wanted what they were writing to not be easily read by others! De Smet has several postcards and letters that contain phrases in NYP (using ink dots) among the handwritten words.
- posted by pioneergirl at 2:07 PM

 
in which uncle tom follows the leader

Laura Ingalls Wilder never mentioned her family's stop in Missouri on the way to Indian Territory, either in her Pioneer Girl memoir or other manuscripts, Little House on the Prairie, or existing correspondence. Because there is no definitive proof that Charles Ingalls and family lived in Chariton County, Missouri, prior to moving on to Indian Territory, people always ask whether they actually lived there or not or not. For the record, I think they did.

It's fairly common knowledge - after all, it was in Zochert's book a billionteen years ago - that Charles Ingalls and his brother-in-law, Henry Quiner, each purchased 80 acres in Chariton County from Adamantine Johnson. Johnson's house is still standing not far from the historical marker on the former Ingallses' land, and it is currently being restored. Print your own brochure with directions and information about the marker HERE.

Both Pa and Uncle Henry were still in Pepin in mid-October 1868, because they signed legal documents in town on the 15th. Charles Ingalls was in Chariton County in August 1869, because he signed a power-of-attorney there. Charles Ingalls was in Montgomery County, Kansas, in February 1870. That leaves a lot of room for speculation as to when travel took place between Wisconsin, Missouri, and Kansas. Did they just pass through Missouri and check out the land, or did they spend up to a year or more there?

Most researchers believe that Henry and Charles both went to Chariton County, and that Henry returned to Wisconsin when Charles went to Kansas. Henry's Pepin property was deeded back to him in late November 1868.

What most people don't realize is that Tom Quiner (Henry's and Ma's brother) also purchased land in Chariton County from Adamantine Johnson. Bachelor Tom bought 160 acres in October 1868; the location of each parcel is shown on the map above.

Tom Quiner didn't sell his Chariton County land until November 1882!
- posted by pioneergirl at 12:34 AM

 
on this date in "little house" history...
...absolutely nothing happened.

And nothing happened on June 3, October 29, or November 17. Members of the Laura Ingalls Wilder community: please be advised to consider these dates when conducting important Little House on the Prairie business or scheduling events.

And then write and tell me about it. Thanks.
- posted by pioneergirl at 11:34 AM

 
we shall meet on that beautiful shore

One of the immortal songs in the English language which has stirred humanity profoundly by its sweeping, conquering inspiration, is Dr. Sanford Fillmore Bennett's famous hymn, known everywhere and in all languages as "In the Sweet By and By." Music is the universal language of emotion, and to the millions of people who have sung this famous song, and have been carried away by it, without perhaps knowing how it was written, the subsequent narrative of its history, from a personal statement received from its author, is of especial interest. As it has been published in numerous collections of sacred music in America, and also has been translated into various foreign languages, even Chinese, as well as having been sung in every land under the sun, it has given its author an enduring place among the world's poets.

Dr. Bennett was born in the village of Eden, Erie County, New York, June 21, 1836. In 1858 he entered the University of Michigan, leaving to take charge of the schools at Richmond, Illinois. Two years later he resigned his position and went to Elkhorn, Wisconsin, where for a brief time he was associate editor of The Independent. After the Civil War he opened a drug store, and it was there where he became associated with J.P. Webster, and they published numerous songs, under the name of "The Signet Ring," to which Dr. Bennett contributed over 100, among them "The Sweet By and By." It was in the village of Elkhorn where it first saw the light of day. Dr. Bennett, in a letter dictated shortly before his death, spoke of the origin of "The Sweet By and By" as follows:

"I write you the following in regard to the history of 'The Sweet By and By.' As a further matter of history, which I have often repeated, I desire to say again, that it was about time for closing the store in the evening that J.P. Webster, whose melodies have made Wisconsin famous forever, came into the store somewhat depressed. Mr. Webster like many musicians, was of an exceedingly nervous and sensitive nature, and subject to periods of depression, in which he looked upon the dark sides of life. I had learned his peculiarities so well that on meeting him I could tell at a glance if he was melancholy, and had found that I could rouse him by giving him a new song to work on. He came into my place of business, walked down to the stove, and turned his back on me without speaking. I was at my desk writing. I said to Webster, 'What is the matter now?' He replied, 'It is no matter; it will be all right by and by.'

"The idea of the hymn came to me like a flash of sunshine, and I replied: 'The Sweet By and By, why would not that make a good hymn?' "Maybe it would,' he said indifferently. I then turned to my desk, and penned the hymn as fast as I could write. I wrote it with lead pencil on both sides of a common sheet of note paper. The third verse was written on the opposite side of the paper, and as I wrote the third line in the stanza of four lines my pencil gave out, and I wrote the fourth line with pen and ink. In the meantime two friends had come in. I handed the hymn to Mr. Webster. As he read it his eyes kindled, and his whole demeanor changed. Stepping to the desk he began writing the notes instantly. In a few minutes he requested Mr. Bright to hand him his violin, and he played with little hesitation the beautiful melody from the notes. A few minutes more and he had jotted down the same for the different parts and the chorus. I do not think it was more than thirty minutes from the time I took my pencil to write the words before the hymn and the notes had been completed, and we four gentlemen were singing it exactly as it appeared in 'The Signet Ring' a few days later, and as it has been sung in the world over ever since. I remember that when we had finished singing a remark was made by R. R. Crosby of Richmond, Illinois, who happened to be in the store, and I shall never forget it, for with tears in his eyes, he uttered the prediction, 'That hymn is immortal.' It was made public very soon after, and has been sung in every part of the world.'

In 1871, Dr. Bennett went to Richmond, Illinois, where he taught school. In 1874 he took a course at the Rush Medical College, Chicago, from which he was graduated, and he remained in active practice in this city until 1883, when he accepted a place with the Keeley Institute. For three years he was the medical director of various institutions in Denver, Pueblo, and Aspen, Colorado; Detroit and Alma, Michigan; and Plainfield, Illinois. In 1893 he returned to Richmond on account of the loss of his health, and remained there until his death in 1898. During the last months of his illness his sight was affected.

Side by side with "Home, Sweet Home," the "Sweet By and By" will stand as one of the famous songs of the English language, and in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, its melody will ascent, and leap, and pierce into the depths of infinite time. - The New York Times, 29 June 1901

"Sweet By and By" holds a special place in Laura Ingalls Wilder lore. In her Pioneer Girl memoir, Wilder wrote: "Pa played by ear and a tune once heard, he could play and never forget. He loved to play the hymns we had sung in the little church in Walnut Grove, 'Sweet Hour of Prayer,' 'Nearer My God to Thee,' 'Let the Lower Lights be Burning,' but of all, 'The Sweet By and By' was his favorite, so much that it was sung at his funeral." In "First Memories of Father" (see A Little House Reader, edited by William Anderson), Wilder paid tribute to Charles Ingalls, saying: "I am sure that when I come to die, if Father might only be playing for me I should be wafted straight to heaven on the strains of 'The Sweet By and By,' for the pearly gates would surely open." In both published The Long Winter and the surviving manuscript, Pa sings this and other hymns at night while a blizzard is raging.
- posted by pioneergirl at 9:21 PM

 
fire!

-(left) Swanzey home in Keystone SD, late 1920s; (insert) former Swanzey home after July 1976 dedication; (right) former Swanzey home in flames, August 6, 1977.

The above photos are a reminder to document historic sites with lots and Lots and LOTS of photographs, both inside and out, and taken from all sides. And not to use flammable cleaning fluids while smoking. Duh.

Near the Post Office in Keystone, there is a marker about Carrie's life in Keystone. The marker is not where the Swanzey house stood. At Holy Terror Days this year, I met a man who had stood across the street from the house in 1977 and watched it burn. He showed me where to stand so that I was positioned right in front of where the front door was once located:


Mt. Rushmore Discount Souvenirs was built over multiple existing cellars, which are still separate from each other. Apparently some of the employees think that the cellars are haunted. The week I was there, one of them had heard waltz music playing in the basement, when there was no waltz music being played anywhere in the area.

I walked away humming "Waltz Me Around Again, Willie," one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's favorites.
- posted by pioneergirl at 9:29 PM

 
spotted last week at the fair

-photo by Jon Triesch
- posted by pioneergirl at 5:00 PM