Mary Amelia Ingalls (January 10, 1865 – October 20, 1928) was born near Pepin, Wisconsin. She was the first child of Caroline and Charles Ingalls and the older sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the famous author of the “Little House” book series.
Biography
Mary Ingalls was born on January 10, 1865, on her father’s 29th birthday. At the age of 14, she fell ill with an ailment initially believed to be scarlet fever, which was thought to have caused her blindness. However, a 2013 medical study suggested that viral encephalitis was more likely responsible for her loss of sight, based on first-hand accounts, newspaper reports, school records, and epidemiological data related to blindness and infectious diseases.
From 1881 to 1889, Mary attended the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School in Vinton, Iowa. While no historical record explains her absence for one year, she completed the school’s seven-year curriculum in 1889 and graduated. After finishing her studies, she returned to her family in De Smet, South Dakota, where she helped contribute to the household income by making fly nets for horses.
Following her father’s death in 1902, Mary and her mother rented out a room in their home to supplement their income. After her mother’s death in April 1924, Mary lived briefly with her sister, Grace Ingalls Dow, in Manchester, South Dakota. She moved to Keystone, South Dakota, to stay with her other sister, Carrie Ingalls Swanzey. While living with Carrie, Mary suffered a stroke and subsequently died of pneumonia on October 20, 1928, at the age of 63. She was buried beside her parents in the Ingalls family plot at De Smet Cemetery, South Dakota.
In Popular Culture
Melissa Sue Anderson portrayed Mary Ingalls in the television series Little House on the Prairie. In the show, her character becomes a teacher at a school for blind students and marries a fellow blind teacher. Mary never became a teacher or married; instead, she returned to De Smet to live with her parents after graduating from Vinton.
