List of Little House on the Prairie characters explained

There are many Little House on the Prairie characters, appearing in various forms of media in the Little House on the Prairie media franchise.

Television series characters

See main article: article and Little House on the Prairie (TV series).

The Ingalls family

Name Seasons No. of
episodes
Portrayer Character summary
Charles Ingalls 1–9 161 Farmer; husband, father and grandfather
Caroline Ingalls 1–8 172 Wife, mother, teacher and grandmother
Laura Ingalls Wilder 1–9 190Daughter; became teacher, later Almanzo's wife and Rose's mother; nicknamed "Half-Pint" by Charles and "Beth" by Almanzo
Mary Ingalls 1–8 133 Daughter, eldest child; later Adam's wife and Adam Jr.'s mother
Carrie Ingalls 1–8 164 Daughter, youngest child at the beginning of the series
Charles Ingalls Jr. 1 2 Unknown Son, died as an infant
Grace Ingalls 5–8 60 Wendi and Brenda Turnbaugh Daughter, youngest child
Albert (Quinn) Ingalls 5–9 89 Son, adopted after spending many years in orphanages and on the streets
Jack The dog of the family
James (Cooper) Ingalls 7–8 21 Son, adopted after birth parents were killed in a wagon accident
Cassandra (Cooper) Ingalls 7–8 21 Daughter, adopted after birth parents were killed in a wagon accident
Rose Wilder 8–9 17 Jennifer and Michele Steffin Granddaughter, daughter of Laura and Almanzo
Bandit The dog of the family

The in-laws

Name Seasons No. of
episodes
Portrayer Character summary
Almanzo Wilder 6–9 65 Farmer; Laura's husband (season 7); Rose's father; his friends called him Manly.
Jenny Wilder 9 18 Almanzo's niece, whom he gets custody of after his brother/her father Royal dies
Eliza Jane Wilder 6–8 14 Teacher; Almanzo's older sister
Perley Day Wilder61Charles BloomAlmanzo and Eliza Jane’s youngest brother; gambler
Adam Kendall 4–8 35 Teacher/Lawyer; Mary's husband (season 5)

Townsfolk

Name Seasons No. of
episodes
Portrayer Character summary
Nels Oleson 1–9 147 Mercantile proprietor; husband and father
Harriet Oleson 1–9 153 Mercantile proprietor; wife and mother
1–7, 9 104 Oldest child of Nels and Harriet
Willie Oleson 1–9 140 Son of Nels and Harriet
Nancy Oleson 8–9 33 Daughter of Nels and Harriet, adopted from orphanage
Percival Dalton/Isaac Cohen 6–7 11 Nellie’s husband
Rachel Brown Oleson 9 2 Willie’s wife
Dr. Hiram Baker 1–9 113 Town physician
1–9 76 Church minister
Melinda Foster 1–9 61 Post office manager
1–3, 6, 8–9 52 Charles’s best friend
Grace Snider Edwards 1–3, 6, 8 23 Bonnie Bartlett / Corinne Camacho Wife of Isaiah Edwards
John Sanderson Edwards 2–4 8 Oldest child of Isaiah & Grace Edwards, adopted after first mother died
Alicia Sanderson Edwards 2–3, 6, 8 19 Youngest child of Isaiah & Grace Edwards, adopted after first mother died
Carl Sanderson Edwards 2–3, 8 19 Brian Part / David R. Kaufman Middle child of Isaiah & Grace Edwards, adopted after first mother died
Matthew Rogers 9 5 Young boy that is taken care of by Isaiah Edwards (season 9)
Jonathan Garvey 4–7 51 Farmer; husband and father
Alice Garvey 4–6 33 Wife and mother; teacher; dies in fire with Adam Kendall Jr.
Andy Garvey 4–7 43 Son of Jonathan and Alice
Eva Beadle Simms 1–4 45 School teacher
Adam Simms 4 2 Miss Beadle's husband
Lars Hanson 1–5 41 Lumber mill owner; a founder of Walnut Grove
Hester-Sue Terhune 5–9 40 Head of the school for the blind
John Carter 9 19 Blacksmith; husband and father
Sarah Carter 9 15 Pamela Roylance Starts a newspaper; wife and mother
Jeb Carter 9 18 Lindsay Kennedy Older son of John and Sarah
Jason Carter 9 18 Younger son of John and Sarah
Susan Goodspeed 4–7 16 Michelle Downey Student at the school for the blind
Etta Plum 9 15 School teacher
Christy Kennedy 1–2 10 Schoolgirl
Sandy Kennedy 1 4 Robert Hoffman Schoolboy; Christy's brother
Hans Dorfler 1–4, 6 9 Resident of Walnut Grove; a stable-owner
Bill Anderson 6–9 6 Banker of Walnut Grove
Joe Kagan 4–5, 7 5 Aging boxer who retires to farm life in Walnut Grove
Judd Larrabee 4–5 5 Resident of Walnut Grove
Mrs. Amanda "May" Whipple 1–4 5 Resident of Walnut Grove; local seamstress
Mr. Kennedy 1 4 Resident of Walnut Grove; father of Christy and Sandy
Mrs. Kennedy 1–2 3 Eileen Ryan (season 1),
Janice Carroll (season 2)
Resident of Walnut Grove; mother of Christy and Sandy
Ebenezer Sprague 2–3 4 Banker of Walnut Grove
Houston Lamb 6–7 4 Works and lives at the school for the blind in Sleepy Eye
Henry Riley 4–9 15 Dan McBride recurring role - customer in Nellie's Restaurant arguing
Kezia Horn 4–5 3 Resident of Walnut Grove and friend of Laura and Albert

One-shot characters

Season one

Season two

Season three

Season four

Season five

Season six

Season seven

Season eight

Season nine

Post-series movies

Animals

Ingalls' and Wilder's genealogy

The Ingalls family

Henry Ingalls and Joan/Johan Wytton

Robert Ingalls (1563–1617) and Elizabeth ? (1567–1631)

Edmund Ingalls (1598–1648) and Ann Tripp (1599–1648)

Henry Ingalls (1627–1718) and Mary Osgood (1633–1686)

Samuel Ingalls (1654–1733) and Sarah Hendrick (1661–1738)

Samuel Ingalls Jr. (1683–1747) and Mary E. Watts (1687–?)

Timothy Ingalls (1720–1757) and ?

Jonathan Delano (b.1647) and Mercy Warren (1658–1727) (gdau. of Richard Warren of the Mayflower)

Jonathan Delano (b.1680) and Amy Hatch (b.1687)

Jabez Delano (b.1708) and Prudence Hibbard (b.1711)

Matthew Colby (b.1530) and (from 1555) Mary (last name unknown) (b.1532)

Thomas Colby (b.1567) and (from May 4, 1596) Anne Jackson (b.1571)

Anthony Colby (b.1605) and (from 1632) Susanna Haddon (b.1608)

John Colby (b.1633) and (from January 14, 1655) Frances Hoyt (b.1636)

John Colby (b.1656) and (from December 27, 1675) Sarah Eldridge (b.1658)

Joseph Colby (b.1680) and (from November 22, 1704) Anne Bartlett (b.1684)

Nathan Colby (b.1710) and (from December 18, 1735) Hannah Worthen (b.1716)Based on the data from : The Genealogy of Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder

NOTE: A second daughter of Ruby Ingalls Card, Lettie Letishia Card Anderson, is listed as being born in 1888, seven years after Ruby's death. How this is possible is unknown.

The Quiner family

(Laura's maternal great-great-grandparents)
Allan Alexander Morse and Margaret Drummond *These are fictional names. Real names unknown.

(Laura's maternal great-grandparents)
Lewis Tucker (1779–1870) and Martha Gráinne Morse (1772–1862)
William Quiner (1773–1831) and Margaret Doer (1774–1839)

(Laura's maternal grandparents)
Charlotte Tucker and Henry Quiner

THEIR CHILDREN (Laura's aunts and uncles) :

Henry Quiner died in October 1844 in the sinking of a trading ship on the Great Lakes. Charlotte Tucker Quiner remarried, to Frederic Holbrook, and they had one child

Charlotte Tucker

Charlotte Wallis Tucker was born on May 25, 1809, in Roxbury, Massachusetts (a suburb of Boston). She died September 20, 1884, in Rome, Wisconsin. Her mostly fictionalised story was described in the four-book series The Charlotte Years by Melissa Wiley. Charlotte was maternal grandmother to Laura Ingalls Wilder.

As a young woman, Charlotte married Henry Newton Quiner from Connecticut. She was the first woman in her family to travel west, living in Ohio and Indiana before settling in the frontier town of Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Martha Morse

Martha Morse was born on January 2, 1782, in Scotland, where her father was a wealthy landowners in the Scottish Highlands. Her mostly fictionalised story was told in the four-book series The Martha Years, by Melissa Wiley. Martha was Charlotte Tucker's mother and great-grandmother to Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Martha married Lewis Tucker, a blacksmith's son. Lewis and Martha travelled to the United States and began their new life near Boston, Massachusetts, becoming the first of Laura's ancestors to immigrate to America.

The Wilder family

The Day family

Neighbors, friends and acquaintances

Real people

Characters based on real people

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Little House on the Prairie Season 8 Episode 8 Chicago . . July 29, 2016 . February 25, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210225031951/http://www.tv.com/shows/little-house-on-the-prairie/chicago-71269/ . dead .
  2. http://www.liwfrontiergirl.com/ Robert and Ella Boast
  3. http://www.discoverlaura.org/what-happened-next.html Robert and Ella Boast
  4. http://www.discoverlaura.org/what-happened-next.html Reverend Brown
  5. http://www.liwfrontiergirl.com/brown.html Reverend Brown
  6. http://www.liwfrontiergirl.com/garland.html Cap Garland
  7. http://www.liwfrontiergirl.com/garland.html Florence Garland
  8. http://www.liwfrontiergirl.com/power.html Mary Power
  9. http://www.discoverlaura.org/what-happened-next.html Mary Power
  10. http://www.liwfrontiergirl.com/neta.html Neta Seal
  11. http://www.liwfrontiergirl.com/tann.html George A. Tann
  12. http://www.liwfrontiergirl.com/osage.html Soldat du Chene