Perley Day Wilder
blockquote>Almanzo Wilder’s youngest brother; Perley lived 1869-1934.
Mrs. J.M. Wilder and her son, P.D. Wilder, came home Saturday last from their winter’s visit in Florida. – Spring Valley (Minnesota) Mercury, March 24, 1892.
Perley Day Wilder was born June 13, 1869, near Burke (Franklin County) New York, the youngest child of James Mason Wilder and Angeline Albina (Day) Wilder. He had older siblings Laura Ann (born 1844), Royal (born 1847), Eliza Jane (born 1850) Alice (born 1853), and Almanzo (born 1857).
Perley Wilder wasn’t mentioned in Farmer Boy, as he had not been born at the time the fictional story takes place. Almanzo’s older sister Laura was also not included in Farmer Boy so as not to confuse her with Laura Ingalls Wilder. Fans of the Little House on the Prairie television series will remember Perley Day Wilder introduced as a character in season 6 of the show, episode 20, “Wilder and Wilder” (with Perley portrayed by actor Charles Bloom), but none of the Wilder siblings historically ever lived in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, as depicted on the television show.
A year after Perley was born, James and Angeline Wilder decided to move to Spring Valley (Fillmore County) Minnesota, on the recommendation of Mrs. Wilder’s brother, George Day. Royal and Eliza Jane Wilder remained on the Wilder farm in New York for a while, but by the spring of 1872, at least James and Angeline, Perley and Almanzo were already settled in Spring Valley.
“Peter Day and Peter Franklin went hunting coon tonight with some fellows, and came back with one so we won’t starve yet. Hurrah for the coon!” – Thanksgiving 1890 entry in The Log Book of the Sailing Craft Edith.
Pilot of the Sailing Craft Edith. In 1889 at the age of twenty, Perley visited his brothers Almanzo and Royal in De Smet. Perley must have met Peter Ingalls during this visit, the cousin of his sister-in-law, Laura Ingalls Wilder. The following year, Peter accompanied Laura and Almanzo when they went to Spring Valley, where they lived with Almanzo’s parents for two years. It is possible that Royal and Perley formed the idea of a business partnership at this time, to be called Wilder Brothers, Variety and Notions, as their sister Alice was living in Georgiana, Florida, and Royal was moving his business interests from De Smet to Spring Valley permanently. On printed letterhead for the business, beneath Perley’s name, it had that he was located in Georgiana.
In October 1890, Perley Wilder and Peter Ingalls, along with Peter’s cousin Joseph Quiner Carpenter (son of Martha and Charles Carpenter) launched a small sailboat at Stockholm (Pepin County) Wisconsin, and the trio set sail down the Mississippi River, bound for Florida and to seek their fortunes. Their cargo was a load of trinkets to sell or exchange for provisions along the way.
The almost four month river and land adventure ended at the Florida panhandle in Holmes County, where Peter Ingalls and Joe Carpenter both decides to remain. It’s unknown if Perley went on to visit his sister Alice at this time. Perley returned to Spring Valley, but traveled to Florida with his mother for the winter of 1891-92, likely to be with Perley’s sister Alice who was living on Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida. Alice died of consumption in February 1892, and Perley and his mother went home to Spring Valley in March. Wilder family members believe that Perley made a second trip down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. He then took up rice farming in Louisiana.
In December 1897, Perley Wilder married Elsie Merritt, daughter of John and Elizabeth Merritt of Crowley (Acadia Parish) Louisiana. Earlier that year, Elsie’s brother, Fred, had married Laura Ann (Wilder) Howard’s daughter, Angeline Howard, who was Perley’s cousin. Perley and Elsie had six children: James (born 1903), Gladys (born 1905), Harold (born 1909), Perley Jr. (born 1912), Dorothy (born 1914), and John (born and died in 1916). Perley ran a general store, served as postmaster, and was a rice farmer. He died May 10, 1934, and was buried in Kinder McGill Memorial Cemetery in Kinder (Allen Parish) Louisiana. Elsie Wilder died in June 1948 and was buried beside her husband.
Perley Day Wilder