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Charles Ingalls: The Civil War Years

Charles Ingalls: the Civil War Years

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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Pioneer Press

St. Paul newspaper read by Charles Ingalls in De Smet

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Charles Trousdale

De Smet drayman and his performing sons.

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Laura Speaks

Al-MAN-zo, Al-MAN-zo, Al-MAN-zo

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“Bean Porridge Hot”

Bean porridge cold…

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David Thorp

Walnut Grove teacher 1877-78.

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Peter Riley Ingalls family

Uncle Peter & Aunt Eliza.

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Commentators on the Ac’s

Pa’s charade pun.

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what-not / whatnot

An étagère for books & ornaments.

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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cannon

Military engine used for throwing balls and other instruments of death by the force of gunpowder.

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“Darling Nellie Gray”

1856 Benjamin Hamby song.

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Come Into the Garden, Maud

1855 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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Mary Amelia Ingalls

First child of Caroline and Charles Ingalls, 1865-1928; she lost her sight at age 15.

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brakeman

Person who stops the train.

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“Daisy Deane”

1863 song by Union soldiers.

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ambition

Act of obtaining an object of desire.

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Amos Whiting family

Superintendent of Schools, De Smet.

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clinched nail

Bent at a right angle.

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“The Floating Scow of Old Virginia”

1847 Charles White song.

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parsnip

Pastinaca edulis, a white, spindle-shaped root vegetable.

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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“Tubal Cain”

Charles McKay poem.

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George C. Bradley

Early De Smet druggist.

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Mr. Clancy / Chauncey Clayson

Drygoods store owner, Chauncey Clayson

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galluses / suspenders

Straps worn for holding up pants.

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Walter Ogden

Surveyors’ House housemate 1879-80

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Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls

Heather Williams book.

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Pure Gold for the Sunday School

Hymnal owned by the Ingalls family.

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stanchion

Support frame.

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cabin / log house

A small cottage; a hut or small house.

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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“nervous as a witch”

restless

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A

aboveboard – axle

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Missouri Ruralist

The Missouri Ruralist. A twice-monthly Missouri farm periodical...

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“The Battle-Cry of Freedom”

We’ll Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

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Home Missionary Society

Group organized to raise money to start churches and Sunday schools in the west where there were none.

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sheep sorrel

Tastes like lemon… or springtime?

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Dr. Alfred Starr

His wife wanted Laura.

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galumphing

To move in a clumsy, ponderous, or noisy manner.

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breast-pin / brooch / bar pin

Ornament worn on clothing.

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Jerome Bisby

Burr Oak singing teacher

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James McKee family

Homesteader north of Manchester D.T.

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scones

“Mamabess is growing fat.”

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peddler’s cart / wagon

A little store on wheels.

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Y

“Yankee Doodle” – Youth’s Companion

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“The Old Time”

Mr. Boast’s favorite song.

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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K

Kansas – knothole

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Silliman Gilbert family

Kingsbury County farmer.

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reindeer

Why didn’t they fly over the creek?

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Rev. Royal Gould Wilder

Almanzo’s uncle.

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welcome!

who we are

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dug out / dugout

Dwelling built into the earth.

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New Ulm, Minnesota

Town in Brown Co., MN.

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needle grass

Ouch! Something bit me!

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These Happy Golden Years – the fictional story

Laura teaches and falls in love.

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“Pop! Goes the Weasel”

Traditional American song.

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nine-patch / Laura’s double nine-patch Irish chain quilt

Quilt block pattern.

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Quaker meeting

Parlor game in which players try to remain silent.

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“What Shall the Harvest Be?”

1850 Emily Oakley poem.

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“Haste to the Wedding”

Traditional Irish fiddle tune.

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Governor of Orleans / The American Remount Association

Registered stallion leased to Almanzo Wilder 1923-1925.

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school section

Public land supporting schools.

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Little Georgie Dwight

He could not learn his letters!

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handkerchief

Face and hand wiping cloth.

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“The Gum-Tree Canoe”

1847 Steele & Winnemore song.

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B

bachelor – “by the pale, silver light…”

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Charles & Martha Harrison / Patterson

Charles and Elizabeth May Rundle.

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The Story of Art Smith

1915 Rose Wilder Lane serial about an aviator.

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“all’s well that ends well”

A proverb.

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H

hack – hypocrite

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butter tester

Instrument used to remove core sample from a vat of butter, for the sake of testing.

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“My Jenny Jerusha Jane”

1868 A.G. Chase song.

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Johnny Johnson

“Wake up and watch the cattle!”

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tableland

Elevated flat land; a plateau.

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tattoo

Sounds like beating drums!

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yoke

Frame worn on the neck for lifting or drawing.

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spelling / speller

The order of letters in a word. / A book of exercises on the order of letters.

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Chicago Inter-Ocean / Inter-Ocean

Republican political newspaper.

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equinoctial storm

Severe wind and heavy rain that occurs at or near the time of an equinox.

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The New York Ledger

Weekly story paper, published 1855-1898.

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Ingalls office / store in De Smet

NW and SE corners of Calumet and Second.

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Hotel keeper’s family struck by lightning

E.P. LeSuer of Canby, Minnesota.

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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hatchet

A small ax with a short handle, to be used with one hand.

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Tennyson’s Poems

Christmas present for Laura

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whalebone

Baleen used in corsets.

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The Square in Malone

Where the band played.

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hogshead

100-140 gallon cask.

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herd

A number of large beasts assembled together.

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Henry J. Stebbins

Railroad contractor who inspired a song.

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chilblain

Cold sores on hands and feet.

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“Pull for the Shore”

Sunshine for Sunday Schools hymn.

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tax

A certainty, as is death.

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smoke stack / smokestack

locomotive firebox chimney

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wheelwright

One who makes wheels and carriages.

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quarter section / quarter-section

One-fourth of a square mile, consisting of 160 acres.

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the Cameron gang

fiat justitia, ruat caelum…

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icicle

Conical mass of ice, formed by water freezing as it flows downward.

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Thomas H. Ruth

President of Kingsbury County Bank in De Smet.

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Florence Bell

Milliner and dressmaker in De Smet.

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Braille / New York Point

Used by Mary Ingalls.

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swan

Cygnus Americanus

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“The Star of Bethlehem”

When Marshalled on the Nightly Plane

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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James Kennedy family

Walnut Grove farming family, originally from Canada.

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“My Sabbath Home”

Hymn #7, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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locust

Buy this book.

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A Tribute to the Early Day Teachers

Neva Whaley Harding tribute.

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George Wilmarth family

Owner of early grocery store in De Smet.

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“Don’t Leave the Farm, Boys”

Song from The Conqueror.

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forfeits

Game in which items are deposited and redeemable by a sportive fine.

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sundogs

Bright spots on either side of the sun.

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Godey’s Lady’s Book

Women’s magazine, 1830-1898.

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Syndicate Hotel

Laura & Almanzo stayed there!

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Daniel Loftus

Early drygoods store owner in De Smet.

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John H. Carroll

Early De Smet banker.

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Little Town on the Prairie – the fictional story

Homesteading and town life.

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bake oven / bake-oven

Coals on top and below.

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Young Pioneers

David and Molly Beaton.

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Delos Perry family

The Perry School was on his homestead.

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George Whiting Ingalls

Bugle-blowing, jigging uncle.

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badger

Don’t poke it with a stick!

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fanning-mill

Machine for winnowing.

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Great American Desert

Varying area of North America, believed at times to be uninhabitable by civilized man.

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“yell like a Comanche”

Imitated Indian battle cry.

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Fred Fields / Big Jerry

Railroad boss and his brother-in-law.

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“A Motto for Every Man”

1868 Harry Clifton song.

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Belgian horse

They’d pull a barn, if hitched to it.

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Eliza Jane Wilder

Almanzo’s sister.

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“Paddle Your Own Canoe”

1850s Harry Clifton song.

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Charles Philip Ingalls

Father of Laura Ingalls. He lived 1836-1902.

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trough

Stock-watering vessel.

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Pa’s “big green book”

George Hartwig’s The Polar and Tropical Worlds: A Description of Man and Nature.

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pasteboard / lambrequin

Paperboard used as base for decorative edging.

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nickel

The metal. Or five-cent piece.

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Verdigris River

River that runs through Montgomery County, Kansas.

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Wilkin School

April 20 – July 10, 1885.

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Spat them Out

Clapping (and kissing) game.

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thunder-pumps

American bittern, a member of the heron family.

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Hide the Thimble

You’re getting warmer…

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rags for paper

scrap cloth purchased for paper making

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Burke / Malone during the Little House years

Almanzo Wilder birthplace.

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freeze drying

sublimation!

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G

gable – “Gypsy’s Warning”

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jumping jack / jumping-jack

Jointed acrobat toy.

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gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

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writ of attachment

Legal document requiring action.

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Horace / Homer Heath

Railroad-working brothers.

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butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

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P A T

one seven seven ought

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claim

The land to which one has a right.

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poke bonnet / poke-bonnet

the lining matched Laura’s eyes

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The House that Jack Built

…for two pieces of money.

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New England Supper

Fund-raising communal pot-luck meal.

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Hattie Dorchester

Jake Zickrick’s skating partner.

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Big Tracy Cut

“100 feet deep & tapering off for 1/4 mile”

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whip

A lash tied to a handle.

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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Dr. William H. York

Bender victim

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storm apron

Rain protection for buggy.

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Morocco leather

Fine goat leather.

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“Money Musk”

Traditional American dance tune.

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ostrich tips / feathers

Short bobbing feather used for hat decoration.

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orthography

The art of spelling words correctly.

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“Bo-peep has lost her sheep”

Game of hiding and surprise to amuse a small child.

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Kitty

the Ingallses’ cat in Dakota Territory

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amen / amen corner

Expression used at the end of prayers.

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Ven Owen

Teacher and principal of the first graded school in De Smet

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Perry School

April 28 – June 27, 1884

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Protected: private post

Go away AI; you are not welcome here.

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“The Ninety and Nine”

Elizabeth Clephane poem.

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hoity-toity snip

Thoughtless, giddy, haughty, flighty, gay, and noisy.

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wild prairie rose

RWL was their namesake, my dear.

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birds in their little nests agree

Miss Wilder knew nothing about birds.

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mustache

Hair above the lip.

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“The Good Old Way”

Hymn 18, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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“Keep the Horse Shoe Over the Door”

1880 Joseph Skelley song.

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apple pie / dried apple pie

Just like Ma used to make.

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water alcove

Railroad car water for drinking.

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rubber

Used for waterproofing.

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

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land office

Where sales of public lands are registered.

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patent / title

official property ownership document

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name card / name-card

Pasteboard identification.

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calendar

What’s today’s date?

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Edward H. Couse

Early hardware store owner in De Smet.

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post office / post-office

Where you send and receive mail.

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Will Bennett

One of the younger De Smet schoolboys.

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Good Templars Lodge

International temperance fraternal organization.

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Willard Seelye

De Smet teacher, 1881-1882.

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osage orange

no good to eat or for anything else

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Pittsburgh Courier

Widely-circulated black newspaper, which Rose Wilder Lane wrote a column for in the 1940s.

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“Old Dan Tucker”

Mr. Edwards sings it!

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