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Concord, Sunday Oct 6th [1861]
Dear brother and sister,
I was at home today and mother told me how long it had been since any of us had written to you and thinking that you must be very anxious to hear from home, I thought I would write immediately. I have not had time to write since we received your letter until now. Mother is quite well at present. Two of her fingers on her left hand she cannot use much. You asked me to describe the disease Ma had, but I don't know as I can. They called it the Scarlet Dyptheria [scarlet fever]. She was of a scarlet red from head to foot and of a burning heat, and when she began to get better the skin came off all over her. She could peel it off in large pieces; all her finger
Object Description
Page Title | Letter to Martha Quiner Carpenter, Oct. 6, 1861 |
Author | Ingalls, Caroline Quiner |
Source Creation Date | 1861 |
Language | English |
Digital Format | XML |
Electronic Publisher | Wisconsin Historical Society |
Rights | We believe that online reproduction of this material is permitted because its copyright protection has lapsed or because sharing it here for non-profit educational purposes complies with the Fair Use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law. Teachers and students are generally free to reproduce pages for nonprofit classroom use. For advice about other uses, or if you believe that you possess copyright to some of this material, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. |
Electronic Publication Date | 2009 |
Digital Identifier | TP508000 |
Description |
Caroline Quiner Ingalls (mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder) wrote this letter to her sister, Martha Quiner Carpenter, on Oct. 6, 1861. Both sisters were in their early twenties and recently married. Caroline was still living near their parents at Concord, in Jefferson Co., Wis., but Martha had moved with her new husband to Stockholm, in Pepin Co. A few years later, Caroline would join her sister up north when the Ingalls family moved to the "little house in the big woods" in nearby Pepin.
Caroline's letter was written before she had any children. It describes life on the farm of Laura's grandparents, including an epidemic of scarlet fever which sickened Laura's cousins and nearly killed her grandmother. It also describes Laura's parents' early married life, their health, and their farm work and crops. 1860 census records suggest that the people mentioned in the letter are: "mother": Charlotte Mary (Tucker) (Quiner) Holbrook, Laura's maternal grandmother. "Charlotte": Charlotte Holbrook, Caroline's half-sister and Laura's aunt, born 1854 "Eliza": Eliza Quiner, Charlotte 's sister, born 1842 "Louisa": daughter of Caroline's brother Henry Quiner, born 1860 "Lafayette": three-year-old whose connection is unclear "Thomas": Thomas Quiner, Charlotte's brother, born 1844 "Nancy": Nina Quiner, wife of Caroline's brother Joseph. "Father Ingalls": Lansford Ingalls, Charles' father and Laura's grandfather "Peter": Peter Ingalls, Charles' brother and Laura's uncle To see the original handwritten letter, click "View the Document" below. Use the left-hand frame of the document viewer to navigate. To see a typed transcript, open the drop-down box above the navigation pane. This letter is part of a small collection of letters to Charles and Martha Carpenter preserved by the family. Civil War letters by Laura's uncles and one aunt are included elsewhere in Turning Points in Wisconsin History |
Owner | Wisconsin Historical Society Archives |
Format | Text |
Recommended Citation | Ingalls, Caroline Quiner. Letter to Martha Quiner Carpenter, Oct. 6, 1861, in: Letters to Charles and Martha Carpenter, 1861-1919 and 1975-1977, Wisconsin Historical Society manuscript collection Stout SC 142. Online facsimile at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1711 |
Document Number | TP508 |
Size | 4 p. |
URL | http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1711 |
Owner Collection | Stout Area Research Center |
Owner Object ID | Stout SC 142; WIHV85-A1077 |
Genre | letter |
County | Jefferson County; |
State/Province | Wisconsin |
Gender | female; |
Sub-Topic | Mid-19th century Immigration; The Civil War Home Front; Farming and Rural Life; |
Event Date | 1861-10-06 |
Event Years | 1861 |
Event Month | October |
Event Day | 6 |
Agriculture | Croplands; Farms; Hops; |
Domestic Life | Family; |
Life Stages | Aging; |
Type | Text |
Description
Page Title | Page 1 |
Author | Ingalls, Caroline Quiner |
Source Creation Date | 1861 |
Language | English |
Digital Format | JPG |
Electronic Publisher | Wisconsin Historical Society |
Rights | We believe that online reproduction of this material is permitted because its copyright protection has lapsed or because sharing it here for non-profit educational purposes complies with the Fair Use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law. Teachers and students are generally free to reproduce pages for nonprofit classroom use. For advice about other uses, or if you believe that you possess copyright to some of this material, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. |
Electronic Publication Date | 2009 |
Digital Identifier | TP508001 |
Owner | Wisconsin Historical Society Archives |
Format | Text |
Owner Collection | Stout Area Research Center |
Owner Object ID | Stout SC 142 |
Full Text |
Concord, Sunday Oct 6th [1861]
Dear brother and sister, I was at home today and mother told me how long it had been since any of us had written to you and thinking that you must be very anxious to hear from home, I thought I would write immediately. I have not had time to write since we received your letter until now. Mother is quite well at present. Two of her fingers on her left hand she cannot use much. You asked me to describe the disease Ma had, but I don't know as I can. They called it the Scarlet Dyptheria [scarlet fever]. She was of a scarlet red from head to foot and of a burning heat, and when she began to get better the skin came off all over her. She could peel it off in large pieces; all her finger |
Event Date | 1861-10-06 |
Event Years | 1861 |
Event Month | October |
Event Day | 6 |
Type | Text |