Royal Gould Wilder
"Well, well, keep your shirt on, Manzo," said Royal. "I am considerable older than you be and
maybe I do know best." - The Long
Winter, Chapter 17, "Seed Wheat"
Royal Gould Wilder was born February 20, 1847 near Burke (Franklin County) New York, the second of six children of James Mason Wilder and Angeline Albina Day. Royal had sisters Laura (born 1844), Eliza Jane (born 1850) and Alice (born 1853), and younger brothers Almanzo (born 1857) and Perley (born 1869). Royal was named for his uncle, Royal Gould Wilder, an evangelist and missionary who spent many years in India.
Royal was educated at the local township school and at Franklin Academy in Malone, New York. In Farmer Boy, Royal Wilder is said to want to leave the farm and become a storekeeper (see Chapter 23, "Cobbler"). In 1874, however, he went to Spring Valley (Fillmore County) Minnesota following his family's move to a farm there. Here Royal lived and worked until the summer of 1879, when he and Almanzo and Eliza Jane traveled to Yankton, Dakota Territory, to file on land claims.
Dakota Territory Homesteader and Merchant
August 21, 1879, Royal filed on a homestead and tree claim near the future townsite of De Smet in Kingsbury County, Dakota Territory. Royal's homestead was only a half mile from both the townsite and the railroad, a most desirable location. When the town was platted, Royal purchased a lot on the west side of Calumet Avenue; here, he ran a feed store. Like many homesteaders, Royal sometimes lived and worked in his town building during the months he was not required to reside on his homestead (see The Long Winter, Chapter 10, "Three Days' Blizzard"). Royal made final proof on his homestead in 1884 and on his tree claim in 1889.
In 1890, Royal Wilder traveled to his boyhood home in New York for a visit. He later returned to Spring Valley, where he married Electa Hutchinson, a widower with four children.
Electa Maria Averill was born in 1857 Eden, Wisconsin to George and Eliza Averill. In 1880, Electa married Sherburn Hutchinson in Eden. The couple had four children: Ethel (1882), Clyde (1883), and twins Ray and May (1889). In the 1880s, the Hutchinsons settled in Spring Valley, and Sherburn died there in July 1891.
Royal Wilder and Electa Hutchinson were married March 6, 1893 in Spring Valley. A daughter, Angeline Bernice Wilder, was born September 4, 1894. Another daughter was stillborn (1897); a third daughter, Susan, was born in August 1898 and lived for about five months. The Wilders made their home in De Smet for a while, but Royal sold his business interests there during the summer of 1900 and the family moved permanently to Spring Valley. In addition to operating Wilder's Variety Store, Royal often peddled his wares through the countryside.
Royal Wilder died August 21, 1925, at the age of 78; he is buried in Spring Valley. The following year, Electa Wilder died in Los Angeles County, California, where she is buried. Bernice Wilder was married twice, to Arlow Lagine in 1917 (they were divorced in 1923) and to George Granger in 1929. She died in 1957.
Royal Wilder (FB 1-8; 10-11, 13-23, 26, 29; SSL 28; TLW 7, 9-11, 17, 20, 23, 25, 29; LTP 6, 8; THGY 24-26)
