Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was born in a log cabin near Pepin, Wisconsin, on February 7, 1867 . Her parents were Charles Phillip Ingalls and Caroline Quiner Ingalls. They possessed a pionnering spirit that urged them ever westward, to lands of promise and hope.
In 1885, Laura Elizabeth Ingalls and Almanzo James Wilder were married August 25 in Dakota Territory by the Reverend E. Brown of the Congregational Church.
In 1894, Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder, with their daughter Rose, settled on Rocky Ridge Farm near Mansfield, Missouri. They established a successful farm, built their own home and settled down permanently in the Ozark hills. Rose grew up and moved away, and became the well-known author, journalist and world traveler Rose Wilder Lane.
In 1932, Laura Ingalls Wilder published the first of her beloved "Little House" books, which described the pioneering of the Ingalls and Wilder families during the 1870's - 1890's. All of the nine manuscripts for these famous books were penned on the Rocky Ridge Farm. Their publication made the Wilders well-known international literary characters.
"When LAURA INGALLS WILDER started writing her classic "Little House" book series in 1932, she had no idea of creating fame for herself or the places where she had lived. She wrote simply to preserve tales of a lost era in American history, the pioneer period she vividly recalled from her growing-up years on the midwestern frontier in the 1870's and 1880's. When Laura completed her eight-volume series in 1943, she had achieved a lasting and substantial literary picture of pioneer life as she had experienced it in Wisconsin, Kansas, Minnesota, and South Dakota.
"I had no idea I was writing history," Laura remarked when her books were well known both in America and in foreign countries where they were translated. (The books are now printed in over 40 languages.) But readers of all ages accepted the Ingalls and Wilder families as chosen friends. Thousands wrote to Laura at her home on Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield, Missouri. Fans sought out the sites of her books and stopped to visit her in her Ozark Mountain home, right up to her death on Feb. 10, 1957 at the age of 90.
The visiting still goes on. Immediately after Laura's death, the home she and her husband Almanzo built was preserved and opened for readers. In De Smet, South Dakota, a Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society was founded to offer history and hospitality to increasing numbers of summer tourists. Through the years, each of the book sites has joined the ranks of literary-historical spots dedicated to the pioneering spirit and writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder."
Laura Ingalls descended from Thomas Ayer, son of John the Immigrant. For genealogy information, click here! Use your browser's text search feature to locate Laura on the page. Search for "Laura Elizabeth Ingalls"
To view a transcribed letter from Laura Ingalls Wilder, click here!
To view and actual scan of a letter written by Laura Ingalls Wilder to one of her fans, click here!
To view an actual scan of a letter written to author Jennie Lindquist and Laura's gingerbread recipe, click here!
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Former President Gerald R. Ford
President Gerald R. Ford was born on July 14, 1913 at Omaha, Nebraska and was originally given the name Leslie Lynch King, Jr. His parents, Leslie Lynch King and Dorothy Ayer Gardner, had been married on September 7, 1912 at Harvard, Illinois. Just over two weeks after the birth of their son, Dorothy separated from her husband and took her infant son to her sister's home in Oak Park, Illinois and then to her parents home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. On December 19, 1913 an Omaha court granted her a divorce. In 1917 she married Grand Rapids businessman Gerald R. Ford and they soon began calling her son Gerald R. Ford, Jr., although his name was not legally changed until December 3, 1935. Gerald R. Ford passed away on Dec. 26, 2006.
Dorothy Ayer Gardner, President Ford's mother, was born on February 27, 1892 at Harvard, Illinois. After her divorce from Leslie King, she married Gerald R. Ford (a son of George R. Ford and Zana F. Pixley) on February 1, 1917 at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Three sons were born of this marriage. Gerald R. Ford, Sr., who was born on Dec. 9, 1890 at Grand Rapids, Michigan, died in Grand Rapids on January 26, 1962. Dorothy Gardner Ford died in Grand Rapids on September 17, 1967. Gerald and Dorothy Ford are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Tannisse Ayer Gardner, President Ford's aunt, was born on March 4, 1887 at Harvard, Illinois; married Clarence Haskins James on September 5, 1908 at Harvard, Illinois; and died on April 14, 1942. Clarence and Tannisse James had a son, Gardner James (May 15, 1909-August 10, 1960) and a daughter Adele Elizabeth James (born February 14, 1911). Gardner married Mary Ann Farmer on May 26, 1934 and Adele married Joseph Peter Joyce, Jr. on November 28, 1935.
Levi Addison Gardner, President Ford's grandfather, was a son of Alexander Gardner, a Scottish immigrant, and Sarah (or Sally) Miller. He was born on April 24, 1861 at Solon Mills, McHenry County, Illinois; married Adele Augusta Ayer on October 23, 1884 at Harvard, Illinois; and died on May 9, 1916 at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Adele Ayer, a daughter of George Manney Ayer and Amy Gridley Butler, was born on July 2, 1867 at either Harvard, Illinois or Youngstown, Ohio and died on August 10, 1938 at Los Angeles, California. Levi and Adele Gardner had two daughters, Dorothy and Tannisse.
Most of Adele Augusta Ayer Gardner's ancestors were of English origin and she descended from several families which settled in New England in the seventeenth century. Among the families in her ancestry are: Adams, Ayer, Butler, Chase, Collins, Comstock, Ely, Gove, Gridley, Manney, Rickettson, and Selden. Her daughter Dorothy belonged to the Daughters of the American Revolution and her grandson, President Gerald R. Ford, is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
I will try to add all of this information into the Genealogy page of the site as soon as possible. In the meantime, please see the "quick" version of how President Ford desceneded from the Immigrant John Ayer below:
12. Leslie Lynch KING (as mentioned above, President Gerald FORD's birth name, his step father adopted him and renamed him Gerald Rudolph FORD jr.) s/o
11. Dorothy Ayer GARDNER & 1st husband Leslie Lynch KING d/o
10. Adele Augusta AYER & Levi Addison GARDNER d/o
9. George Manney AYER & Amy Gridley BUTLER s/o
8. John Varnum AYER & Elida MANNEY s/o
7. Samuel AYER & Polly CHASE s/o
6. Daniel AYER & Sarah ADAMS s/o
5. William AYER & Sarah LITTLE s/o
4. James AYER & Mary WHITE s/o
3. Samuel AYER & Mary JOHNSON s/o
2. Robert AYER & Elizabeth PALMER s/o
1. John AYER & Hannah.
The second line..
12. Leslie Lynch KING s/o
11. Dorothy Ayer GARDNER & 1st husband Leslie Lynch KING d/o
10. Adele Augusta AYER & Levi Addison GARDNER d/o
9. George Manney AYER & Amy Gridley BUTLER s/o
8. John Varnum AYER & Elida MANNEY s/o
7. Samuel AYER & Polly CHASE s/o
6. Daniel AYER & Sarah ADAMS s/o
5. Sarah LITTLE & William AYER d/o
4. Abiah CLEMENT & Daniel LITTLE d/o
3. Elizabeth AYER & John CLEMENT d/o
2. Robert AYER & Elizabeth PALMER s/o
1. John AYER & Hannah
Please feel free to send me an email if you found a connection between the Immigrant John Ayer and other Famous Folks!
Thank you to James Wall, Marianna Ruggles, Virginia Fuller Wothe for supplying data for Gerald R. Ford and his connection.
Information about Laura Ingalls Wilder quoted from www.lauraingallswilder.com
All "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder are published and copyrighted by HarperCollins Publishers, New York, New York, USA. "Little House" is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
