Charles Ingalls

June 12, 1902

The people of De Smet were pained Sunday afternoon to learn of the death of Mr. C.P. Ingalls, who died at 3 p.m. of that day after a lingering illness of several weeks.  Heart trouble was the cause of his death.

Funeral services were held at the Congregational church Tuesday forenoon, largely attended by the many friends of the deceased and of the family.  After the church services were concluded the Masonic fraternity, who were in attendance in a body, took charge of the funeral and the remains were placed in their last resting place with the solemn funeral rites of that organization.

Charles P. Ingalls was born in the state of New York sixty years ago.  His life was that of the pioneer from his boyhood.  At the age of 12 years he moved with his parents to Illinois, thence, a few years later, to Wisconsin, and thence to Minnesota.  It was while living in Wisconsin that he married the estimable lady who is now his widow.  In 1879 he brought his family to what is now De Smet.  He was the first to build a dwelling in this locality, the house that now stands on the rear end of the Bank of De Smet lot is the building.  In his home were held the first religious services.  He was prominent in the work of organizing the Congregational church in this city, of which he was a faithful and consistent member at the time of his death.  He was also a member in good standing of the Masonic order and of O.E.S.

As a citizen he was held in high esteem, being honest and upright in his dealings and associations with his fellows.  As a friend and neighbor he was always kind and courteous and as a husband and father he was faithful and loving.  And what better can be said of any man?  Some few accomplish great things in life’s short span; they control the destinies of nations, or hold in their hand, as it were, the wealth of the world, but the great many tread the common walks of life and to them falls the work of making the world better.  He who does this work well is the truly great man.  Such was he who has lately been called to the Great Beyond.  Charles P. Ingalls did his life’s work well and the world is better for his having lived in it.

There remain to mourn his death a wife and four daughters, Mrs. Laura Wilder, Mrs. Grace Dow, and Misses Carrie and Mary Ingalls.  To the bereaved is extended the heartfelt sympathy of all in this community.

Caroline Quiner Ingalls

April 25, 1924: Mrs. C.P. Ingalls, Pioneer of County, Dies at 84

Kingsbury county lost one of its pioneer women in the death of Mrs. C.P. Ingalls at her home here Sunday.  She and her husband came to this locality in 1879 and lived in a claim shanty on the north shore of Silver Lake before there was a De Smet.

The death was unexpected and followed an illness of but a short time, although Mrs. Ingalls has been feeble all winter.

Caroline Quiner was born De. 12, 1839, at Milwaukee, Wis., and died at 5 o’clock p.m. Easter Sunday, April 20, 1924, at the age of 84.

She was married to Charles Ingalls of Milwaukee Feb.1, 1860, whose death occurred June 8, 1902.

Five children were born to this union, Mary Ingalls of De Smet, Laura Wilder of Mansfield, Mo.; Caroline Swanzey of Keystone, S.D.; Frederick Ingalls, who died in infancy, and Grace Dow of De Smet.

The family moved to De Smet in 1879 where they have since resided.  In 1880 Mr. and Mrs. Ingalls helped organize the Congregational Church at De Smet and were faithful members of the organization to the end of their lives.  Mrs. Ingalls was also an early member of the Eastern Star chapter of De Smet. 

Besides the four daughters the deceased is survived by three sisters, and one granddaughter, Rose Wilder Lane.

Mrs. Ingalls was a good mother, a good neighbor, and a good friend.  The last few years she had been unable to get around to see people very much or to attend church, but her interest has been with her neighbors, friends and church.  It was a pleasure to go and visit her as she was always interested, bright and happy.

Mary Amelia Ingalls

October 26, 1928: Mary Ingalls Was A Real Pioneer

Mary Amelia Ingalls, laid to rest in the De Smet cemetery Friday afternoon, was one of the earliest settlers of this vicinity, having come here in the spring of 1879 with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. C.P. Ingalls, who built a small home on the shore of Silver Lake, now dry, before De Smet was located.

As a girl of fourteen, Mary Ingalls lost her eyesight, a few years before the family moved here.  She attended the Iowa State School for the Blind and after her graduation and return home her life was confined to the home and the church and friends of the community.  She was a devoted Christian and a charter member of the Congregational church here.

Death came to Mary Ingalls at Keystone, where she was with her sister, Mrs. D.N. Swanzey.  Her home had always been here until a year ago.  The death of her mother in 1924 was a great blow to her.  She continued to live in the family home here, a sister, Mrs. Nate Dow, and Mr. Dow living with her there.  Last fall she went to Keystone and just as she was leaving to return home she suffered a paralytic stroke which made her an invalid.  Another stroke came a short time before her death.

Mary Ingalls was born at Pepin, Wis., Jan. 10, 1865.  The family moved to Walnut Grove, Minn., and from there to Kingsbury County.  From their first home near Silver Lake they moved to De Smet for a year and then out to their farm a mile south and from there back to town.  Mary had one other sister, Mrs. A.J. Wilder of Mansfield, Mo., whose daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, is a noted journalist and novelist.

Caroline Ingalls Swanzey

August 1, 1946: Mrs. D.N. Swanzey Was “Sister Carrie” In Books On Pioneer Life By Laura Wilder

The late Mrs. David N. Swanzey, who died at Keystone and was brought here for burial, was a daughter of the first family to locate on the townsite of De Smet and has the unique distinction of being mentioned many times in a series of books on the settlement experiences of the Charles P. Ingalls family, the author being her older sister, Mrs. Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Caroline Celestia Ingalls was born August 3, 1870, in Montgomery county, Kansas.  She moved with her parents to Walnut Grove, Minn., and in 1879 on west to Dakota Territory, to the shore of Silver Lake, Mr. Ingalls being timekeeper on the crew that built the grade for the railroad west from Volga.  With the coming of winter, the Ingalls family decided to remain at the camp.  The following spring, after the township of De Smet had been surveyed, they moved to it, Mr. Ingalls building a small structure on the Peoples State Bank corner.

Mrs. Wilder first mentions her baby sister Carrie in Little House in the Big Woods, which was in Wisconsin, does so again in Little House on the Prairie, its setting in Kansas, then in On the Banks of Plum Creek, which was at Walnut Grove, Minn.

Their residence here is taken up in By the Shores of Silver Lake, and continued in The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie and the concluding volume, These Happy Golden Years.

The family moved from town to their homestead just southeast of it, and later returned to De Smet, Mr. Ingalls building the home on Third Street that continued in the family until Mrs. Peter Ferguson bought it a year ago.

Caroline, known as Carrie, attended the local school and learned the printer’s trade in The De Smet Leader office, later working in both local plants.  She went to the Black Hills in the early 1900’s and was employed by E.L. Senn on various newspapers he had there, lastly at Keystone.  There she met and married Mr. Swanzey, a miner who had been a pioneer in that town.  He preceded her in death and for some years she was in charge of the railway station there, a position he had held in his later years.

Death came to Mrs. Swanzey June 3 and according to her wishes she was brought back to De Smet for burial services by the Order of the Eastern Star, of which she had long been a member, and by the pastor of the Congregational church, in which her family had been early members.

CLICK HERE to return to the De Smet cemetery page.