Carrie Ingalls

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Carrie Ingalls Swanzey
Born
Caroline Celestia Ingalls

(1870-08-03)August 3, 1870
DiedJune 2, 1946(1946-06-02) (aged 75)
Resting placeDe Smet Cemetery
Spouse
David N. Swanzey
(m. 1912; died 1938)
Parents
Relatives

Caroline Celestia Ingalls Swanzey (/ˈɪŋɡəlz ˈswɑːnzi/; August 3, 1870 – June 2, 1946) was the third child of Charles and Caroline Ingalls, and was born in Montgomery County, Kansas. She was a younger sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder, who is known for her Little House books.

Biography[edit]

Carrie Ingalls Swanzey was described as small, thin and frail,[1] and, according to Laura's books, suffered the most of all the Ingalls family members through the deprivations of the hard winter of 1880–1881. Ingalls was not constantly ill, but she never enjoyed robust physical health during her life. She traveled to several places in her young adulthood seeking a more comfortable climate, including Colorado and Wyoming.[2]

Surveyors' House, first home in Dakota Territory of the Charles Ingalls family
De Smet School, first school in De Smet and attended by Carrie Ingalls and her older sister, Laura

During her late-teen years Ingalls was a typesetter for the De Smet News and, subsequently, other newspapers throughout the state for Edward Louis Senn.[3][4][5][6][7] She settled in Keystone in 1911.[6]

In 1912, she married widower David N. Swanzey, who is best-remembered for his part in the naming of Mount Rushmore.[4][5][6] She became stepmother to Swanzey's two children: Mary and Harold.[4][6] Harold was one of the workers who helped carve Mount Rushmore, and his name can be found on the granite walls below the monument.[8] He was later killed in a car accident in Keystone, South Dakota on April 9, 1938.[8] David also died in 1938.[6]

With her sister Grace's help, Swanzey took care of their blind sister Mary after their mother's death in 1924.[9]

Like Grace and Laura, Swanzey suffered from diabetes, and died of complications from the disease in Keystone, South Dakota, on June 2, 1946, at age 75.[9][10] She was buried in the De Smet Cemetery.[11]

In the media[edit]

Carrie was portrayed in the television adaptations of Little House on the Prairie by:

References[edit]

  1. ^ Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (June 1, 2018). Frontier Women and Their Art: A chronological encyclopedia. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-0976-2.
  2. ^ Pechan, Bev (July 3, 1991). "Laura Ingalls' younger sister lived in Keystone". Rapid City Journal. Rapid City, SD – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Benge, Janet; Benge, Geoff (2005). Laura Ingalls Wilder: A storybook life. YWAM Publishing. ISBN 1-932096-32-9.
  4. ^ a b c "Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House on the Prairie". Route Magazine. Retrieved February 7, 2022 – via routemagazine.us.
  5. ^ a b Miller, John E. (January 31, 2006). Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The woman behind the legend. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-6115-1.
  6. ^ a b c d e Pechan, Bev (July 3, 1991). "Laura Ingalls' younger sister lived in Keystone". Rapid City Journal. Rapid City, SD – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Miller, John E. (January 31, 2006). Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The woman behind the legend. University of Missouri Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-8262-6115-1.
  8. ^ a b "Three killed, three injured in Hills accidents". The Rapid City Daily Journal. Rapid City, SD. April 17, 1939 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b Pechan, Bev (July 3, 1991). "Laura Ingalls' younger sister lived in Keystone". Rapid City Journal – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Swanzey funeral at 2 P.M., DST". Rapid City Journal. Rapid City, SD. June 5, 1946. Retrieved February 3, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Memories of Ingalls family live on through Laura Ingalls Wilder pageant". Rapid City Journal. Rapid City, SD. July 4, 1976. Retrieved February 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

External links[edit]