Mary Ingalls
{{short description|Elder sister of author Laura Ingalls Wilder}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mary Amelia Ingalls
| image = MaryIngalls 1.jpg
| caption = Mary Amelia Ingalls
| birth_name = Mary Amelia Ingalls
| birth_date = {{birth date|1865|01|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = near Pepin, Wisconsin, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1928|10|20|1865|01|10}}
| death_place = Keystone, South Dakota, U.S.
| parents = {{Plainlist|
- Charles Phillip Ingalls (father)
- Caroline Lake Quiner (mother)
}}
| relatives = {{Plainlist|
- Laura Ingalls Wilder (sister)
- Carrie Ingalls (sister)
- Grace Ingalls (sister)
- Rose Wilder Lane (niece)
- Almanzo Wilder (brother-in-law)}}
}}
Mary Amelia Ingalls (January 10, 1865 – October 20, 1928) was born near the town of Pepin, Wisconsin. She was the first child of Caroline and Charles Ingalls and older sister of writer Laura Ingalls Wilder, known for her Little House book series.
Biography
Mary Ingalls was born January 10, 1865, on her father's 29th birthday.
At age 14, Ingalls suffered an illness – allegedly scarlet fever – thought at the time to cause her blindness.{{cite book |last=Benge |first=Janet and Geoff |title=Laura Ingalls Wilder: A storybook life |page=180 |publisher=YWAM Publishing |year=2005 |ISBN=1-932096-32-9}}{{cite web | last=Dahl | first=Melissa | title=What really made Mary Ingalls go blind? | website=NBC News | date=2013-02-04 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/what-really-made-mary-ingalls-go-blind-1b8230525 | access-date=2024-12-24}} A 2013 medical study concluded that viral encephalitis actually disrupted her eyesight, based on evidence from first-hand accounts and newspaper reports of her illness, as well as relevant school registries, and epidemiologic data on blindness and infectious diseases.{{cite journal |author1=Allexan, Sarah S. |author2=Byington, Carrie L. |author3=Finkelstein, Jerome I. |author4=Tarini, Beth A. |year=2013 |title=Blindness in Walnut Grove: How did Mary Ingalls lose her sight? |journal=Pediatrics |volume=peds.2012-1438 |url=http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/What-Really-Caused-Mary-Ingalls-to-Go-Blind.aspx}}{{cite news |first=K.J. |last=dell'Antonia |date=February 4, 2013 |title=Scarlet fever probably didn't blind Mary Ingalls |newspaper=The New York Times |url=http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/scarlet-fever-probably-didnt-blind-mary-ingalls/ |access-date=February 4, 2013}}{{cite news |first=Gordon |last=Serena |date=4 February 2013 |title=Mistaken infection 'On the Prairie'? |magazine=U.S. News & World Report |url=http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/02/04/mistaken-infection-on-the-prairie |access-date=February 4, 2013 }}{{cite news |title=Dispelling a myth: Scarlet fever did not make Mary Ingalls blind |date=2013-02-11 |website=Fox News (fox2now.com) |url=https://fox2now.com/2013/02/11/dispelling-a-myth-scarlet-fever-did-not-make-mary-ingalls-blind/ }} Between 1881 and 1889, Ingalls attended the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School in Vinton, Iowa.
The historical record doesn't show why Ingalls did not attend school during one year of that time, but she did finish the seven-year course of study in 1889 and graduated. She then returned home to her parents in De Smet, South Dakota, and contributed to the family income by making fly nets for horses.
After her father died in 1902, she and her mother rented out a room in their home for extra income. Following her mother's death in April 1924, she lived for a time with her sister, Grace Ingalls Dow in Manchester, South Dakota.
She then traveled to Keystone, South Dakota, to live with her second youngest sister Carrie Ingalls Swanzey. There she suffered a stroke, and on October 20, 1928, she died of pneumonia at age 63. Her body was returned to De Smet, where she was buried in the Ingalls family plot next to her parents at De Smet Cemetery.{{cite news |title=Rites held at De Smet for pioneer of county |date=21 October 1928 |newspaper=The Daily Argus-Leader}}
File:Ingalls gravesites de smet cemetery.jpg, South Dakota]]
In popular culture
Ingalls was portrayed in the television series Little House on the Prairie by actress Melissa Sue Anderson. The television version of Mary Ingalls became a teacher in a school for the blind and married a blind fellow teacher. The real Mary Ingalls never became a teacher nor married, but returned to De Smet to live with her parents after graduating from Vinton.{{Cite news|title=Sight for sore eyes|last=Holloway|first=Diane|date=30 November 1980|work=Austin American-Statesman}}{{Cite news|title=Blind school's budget slashed|last=McGlynn|first=Ann|date=3 September 2001|work=Quad-City Times}}
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite book |last=Zochert |first=Donald |title= Laura - The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder |publisher= Avon Books |year= 1976 |isbn= 0-380-01636-2}}
External links
{{Portal|United States|Biography}}
- [http://www.laurasprairiehouse.com/sites/vintonpast.html "Mary Ingalls Era 1877-1889."] Vinton School for the Blind.
- {{cite news |last= Bixler |first= Jennifer |url= http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/04/the-real-reason-mary-ingalls-went-blind/?hpt=he_c2&hpt=hp_t3 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130215174734/http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/04/the-real-reason-mary-ingalls-went-blind/?hpt=he_c2&hpt=hp_t3 |url-status= dead |archive-date= February 15, 2013 |title= The Real Reason Mary Ingalls Went Blind |publisher= CNN |date= February 4, 2013}}
- [http://littlehouseontheprairie.com/about-the-ingalls-family/ About the Ingalls Family (Sarah S. Uthoff)]
{{Little House}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingalls, Mary}}
Category:American people of English descent
Category:American blind people
Category:Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees
Category:Deaths from pneumonia in South Dakota
Category:People from De Smet, South Dakota