Samuel O. Masters / William J. Masters Families
Genevieve sneered at the other girls in school because they were westerners. She thought herself much above us because she came from New York. She was much nicer dressed than we were and lisped a little when she talked. -Pioneer Girl
Samuel Oldfield Masters was the second
of seven children of Nehemiah and Harriet Masters;
he was born in New Jersey circa 1822, but spent
most of his early years in Hornby (Steuben County)
New York. Samuel Masters studied civil engineering
in Ithaca, New York, and became a surveyor and
teacher, serving for a time as Superintendent of
Schools in Steuben County. In 1852,
he married Margaret Farrington, daughter of
Isaac and Phebe Farrington; the couple had four
children: George E. (born 1853), Augusta
Elgetha (born 1859), Jesse (born 1864), and
Genevieve E. (born 1867). A few years after
Genevieve's birth, the family moved to Corning,
New York, where they lived for eight years.
In 1878, the Masters family moved to Walnut Grove, Minnesota, where Mr. Masters both taught school, farmed, and worked as county surveyor. Daughter Gussie Elgetha taught school in North Hero Township; her father taught both in and south of Walnut Grove, and Gennie and Jesse attended the village school. In the fall of 1881, Samuel Masters followed his son George to Kingsbury County, Dakota Territory, and he filed on a homestead claim in October 1883, the NW 5-110-56. Although never a teacher in Dakota Territory, Mr. Masters ran for the office of School Superintendent in Kingsbury County against George Williams, and was defeated by him in the election.
Samuel O. Masters died in De Smet in 1893. Margaret Masters made her home in De Smet or with various of her children after her husband's death. She died in De Smet in 1915 at age eighty-seven. Both are buried in the De Smet Cemetery.
George Emmett Masters was the oldest child of Samuel and Margaret Masters. He was born in Hornby (Steuben County) New York in February 1853 and educated at the local schools and at Corning Academy in Corning, New York. At age 21, he began work as clerk in a drug store, soon moving to Chicago. In 1878, George moved to Walnut Grove to farm. He married Margaret Gilmore there in July 1879. He went to work in the company store for railroad contractors Walls, Harrison & Shute, working on the line between Tracy, Minnesota and Pierre, Dakota Territory.
In 1880, he boarded his wife with Charles and
Caroline Ingalls while working near De Smet; the
Masterses' son Arthur (the first of nine
children) was born at the Ingalls home in May
1880. The Masterses continued to live with the
Ingalls family after George went to work as a
railroad brakeman, and the family spent the Hard
Winter of 1880-1881 with the Ingallses. Laura
Ingalls Wilder didn't include the Masters family
in The Long Winter, feeling that their
presence would complicate the fictional story.
George Masters filed on a homestead near De Smet, and he and his family lived there until 1886. He worked for Empire Lumber Company in De Smet for almost a dozen years, then moved to Spencer (McCook County) to manage the lumber yard for the John W. Tuttle Lumber Company. Maggie Masters died in Spencer in 1904. Following a brief illness, George Masters died there in 1913. Both are buried in Lakeside Protestant Cemetery.
Augusta Elgetha Masters was born in Steuben County, New York in 1859. Trained as a teacher, Elgetha (Laura Ingalls Wilder called her "Gussie") taught near Walnut Grove and in De Smet. In April 1883, she moved to De Smet and was hired to teach the intermediate classes in District 2. In 1888, she married Carter P. Sherwood, editor of the De Smet Leader. The couple had three children: Vincent, Reginald, and Aubrey. Like his father, Aubrey Sherwood was a long-time editor of the De Smet newspaper; he was also founder of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society in De Smet. The Sherwoods lived a block west of Charles and Caroline Ingalls on Third Street. Elgetha Sherwood died in 1927, Carter Sherwood in 1929.
Jesse F.B. Masters was born in Steuben County, New York in 1864. He was educated in Corning, New York and in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. When his parents moved west to De Smet, Jesse remained in Walnut Grove for a while, joining them in 1885. In December 1885, Jesse filed a preemption on land formerly held by his brother George as a tree claim. Jesse and his wife, Anna, had no children.
Genevieve E. Masters was born in Hornby
(Steuben County) New York on February 12, 1867,
the youngest child of Samuel and Margaret Masters.
When she was a few years old, Gennie moved with
her family to Corning, New York; in 1878, they
moved to Walnut Grove, Minnesota. In her
Pioneer Girl manuscript, Laura Ingalls
Wilder wrote that Gennie Masters and Nellie Owens
were rivals in school, yet somehow the
children ended up looking to Laura for
leadership. In On the Banks of Plum Creek,
Wilder combined the traits of Gennie and
Nellie into one fictional character: Nellie
Oleson.
In 1881, Gennie and her family moved to De Smet, Dakota Territory. Gennie attended the De Smet town school; in Pioneer Girl, Wilder wrote that Gennie "was not changed in disposition since the Walnut Grove days but had grown tall and slim with a beautiful complexion and was always dressed in pretty clothes." Nellie Owens didn't ever live in De Smet; the "Nellie Oleson" character in school stories in the De Smet "Little House"® books was based on Gennie Masters. Although Wilder wrote that Nellie Oleson lived near Almanzo and went on a buggy ride with them in These Happy Golden Years (see Chapter 20, "Nellie Oleson") that character was based on a third girl, Stella Gilbert. Samuel Masters' homestead was two miles west of Charles Ingalls' homestead.
Gennie studied to be a teacher and earned a third grade teaching certificate in January 1885. She earned a second grade certificate in August 1885 and taught two terms in the Wilkin School at a salary of $25 per month, following Laura Ingalls' term as teacher. Gennie attended college in Pierre and taught grammar and United States history there while herself a student. Upon returning to De Smet, she taught a school in Spirit Lake Township.
In September 1888, Genevieve Masters married William G. Renwick in De Smet, and the couple moved to Chicago where William was auditor for a zinc syndicate. They had one daughter, Margaret Genevieve, born in April 1900. Following a 1909 trip to Seattle and Bellingham, Washington, Genevieve Renwick visited her family in De Smet; she became ill during the train journey home to Chicago. Suffering from pneumonia, she died on November 7, 1909, several days after arriving in Chicago. Her body was brought to De Smet for burial in the De Smet Cemetery. To read Genevieve's obituary, click HERE.
Following her mother's death, Margaret Renwick made her home with her aunt and uncle, Elgetha and Carter Sherwood, but she visited her father often in Chicago. William Renwick is buried in the De Smet Cemetery beside his wife.
William James
Masters was the
sixth of seven children of Nehemiah and Harriet
Masters; he was born in Orange County, New
York in June 1929. Samuel O. Masters and William
Masters were brothers. In 1850, William Masters
married Emeline Hurley; she was born 1831 in New
York. The couple had three children born in
Steuben County: Eugene (born c.1853; he died
young), William Arthur (born August 1855), and
Mary E. (born c.1857). Shortly after Mary's birth,
the Masters family moved to Burr Oak (Winneshiek
County) Iowa. He and his brother,
Silas, had large farms near Burr Oak. For a
while, William Masters ran the Masters Hotel (also
known as the Burr Oak House) in Burr Oak. In 1876,
Masters sold the hotel to Walnut Grove resident
William Steadman. The Charles Ingalls family moved
to Burr Oak in 1876 to help run the hotel,
but they returned to Walnut Grove the following
year.
William Masters moved his family to Walnut Grove, Minnesota in 1875. From 1877 until 1882, he and his son William A. (Willie) were engaged in the general merchandise business under the name of W. J. Masters and Son. They also bought and sold farmland, and they worked many of the farms. At one time, they owned over 1,600 acres in Redwood and Murray counties. Although Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote that her father purchased land from William J. Masters after their return from Burr Oak, there is no record of Charles Ingalls owning any property in or adjoining the village of Walnut Grove at any time.
In 1883, Emeline Masters died. William married Jane Sharp in July 1887. William J. Masters died September 24, 1914 in Walnut Grove.
William Arthur Masters (Willie) was born August 23, 1855 in Hornby, New York, the second child of William and Emeline Masters. He was married in February 1876 to Nancy Holt of Iowa; she was born in England in 1855, but moved to Iowa with her parents at a young age. Willie and Nancy (Nannie) Masters had two children: May Eugenia (born 1877) and Orabelle (born 1881). Both children married Walnut Grove residents and settled there when grown.
In Walnut Grove, W.J. Masters built a hotel on the west side of town, and Willie and Nannie Masters helped run it. In Pioneer Girl, Wilder wrote that she worked in the hotel for a while, looking after Nannie Masters' baby (Laura called the baby "Little Nan").
Willie Masters ran a coal and wood business in Walnut Grove; he later opened a bowling alley and a skating rink. He served as recorder for the village of Walnut Grove and also served at various times on the city council, as assessor, and as justice of the peace. He died March 1937 in Walnut Grove.
Mary E. Masters was born c.1857 in Hornby, New York. In Pioneer Girl, Wilder called her "Matie" (Mattie), and wrote that she acted like a fine lady, sleeping late and doing none of the work while her mother and sister-in-law waited on her and prepared dainty dishes for her meals. Dr. Robert Hoyt was a regular boarder at the hotel in Walnut Grove, and Mary Masters stole his affections away from Fanny Starr, the daughter of the doctor in Burr Oak with whom Dr. Hoyt had trained. Mary married Dr. Hoyt in October 1878, but she died the following year. Dr. Hoyt lived with his in-laws for a while, then moved to Wisconsin.
Masters family - Although not mentioned in the published "Little House"® books, the family was important in Walnut Grove and Burr Oak histories.
