Laura Ann Wilder
"You did not tell me what rent was nor whether there were many milliners..." - Letter from Laura Wilder to her mother, Angeline Wilder, February 1872
Laura Ann Wilder was born June 15, 1844 in Burke (Franklin County) New York, the first child of James Mason Wilder and Angeline Albina Day. She had siblings Royal (born 1847), Eliza Jane (born 1850), Alice (born 1853), Almanzo (born 1857), and Perley (born 1869).
In Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder made no mention of Laura Ann Wilder as one of Almanzo's sisters, most likely to avoid the confusion of having another character with the same first and last name as herself. The story begins during Almanzo's eighth year, suggesting the winter of 1865-1866. At that time, Laura Wilder was already an adult in her twenties and was no longer in school; she may not have been living at home.
In the early 1870s, James Wilder decided to sell his farm in New York and move to Spring Valley (Fillmore County) Minnesota, where his brother-in-law, George Day, had settled. Laura Wilder spent some time with relatives in St. Croix, Wisconsin and seems to have wanted to open a millinery shop in Spring Valley, where she was living by April 1872. On December 31, 1874, Laura Wilder married Harrison Howard in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Spring Valley.
Harrison Lamonzo Howard was born in May 1835 in Springfield, Pennsylvania, the son of Esther and Harrison Howard. The family lived in Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Ohio, and Harrison trained as a clerk. By 1870, Esther Harrison had been widowed and moved to Spring Valley. Harrison married in Pennsylvania and had a son, Kearney, around 1868. Following the death of his first wife, Harrison Howard moved to Spring Valley to be near family members.
Laura and Harrison Howard had four children: Angelina Esther (born 1876), Harrison J. (born 1878), Josephine (born 1880), and Ralph Waldo (born 1881). In the early 1880s, Laura Howard took Angeline and Harrison to visit Eliza Jane Wilder in De Smet, leaving the children with their aunt while she returned to Spring Valley.
Harrison Lamonzo Howard died December 3, 1897 and is buried in Spring Valley. The following year, Laura Howard moved to Crowley (Acadia Parish) Louisiana, along with her parents. Her sister Eliza Jane and brother Perley were both living in the area, and daughter Angie had been married there in 1897.
Laura Howard died in Louisiana on September 16, 1899.
Wilder, Laura Ann (Almanzo's sister Laura is not mentioned in the "Little House"® books)
