Mary Amelia Ingalls

1865 - 1928  (63 years)

• Name	Mary Amelia Ingalls  [1, 2, 3, 4]
  Birth	10 Jan 1865	Pepin, Pepin, Wisconsin, United States   [1, 2, 3]
  Gender	Female
  Death	17 Oct 1928	Keystone, Pennington, South Dakota, USA   [1, 2, 3, 4]
  Burial	De Smet Cemetery, De Smet, Kingsbury County, South Dakota, USA   [1, 2, 3]
  	3952
  Person ID	I14846	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	16 May 2026

  
  

  Father	Charles Phillip Ingalls,   b. 10 Jan 1836, Cuba, Allegany, NY d. 8 Jun 1902, DeSmet, Kingsbury, SD (Age 66 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Caroline Lake Quiner,   b. 12 Dec 1839, Brookfield, Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States d. 20 Apr 1924, DeSmet, Kingsbury, SD (Age 84 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	1 Feb 1860	Concord, Jefferson, Wisconsin, United States   [1]
  Family ID	F3939	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  From her Find-A-Grave memorial: Folk and literary figure. Born the eldest child of Charles and Caroline Ingalls in Pepin County, Wisconsin on her father's birthday. At the age of 14 she fell ill with what was then described as brain fever. Although she recovered, the illness robbed her of her sight. In 1881, Mary enrolled in the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School in Vinton, Iowa. Mary's academic achievements were considered exceptionally high, in addition to academic subjects she excelled in music sewing, beadwork, knitting, hammock and fly net tying. Mary graduated in June 1889, one of eight in her graduating class. After graduation she returned to De Smet where she lived with her parents. After her father's death, she made fly nets in order to supplement the family income. She was active in the church, and taught Sunday school classes. With the death of her mother in 1924, Mary moved in with her sister, Grace, before settling in with her sister Carrie, at Keystone, South Dakota. She never married. At the age of 63, she succumbed to pneumonia, and was interred in the family plot at De Smet. Her sister, Laura, would later immortalize the family in the popular ‘Little House' series of books.

  
  

• Sources

  [S3] Ancestry.com, Public Member Trees, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2006;), Database online. Record for Caroline Lake Quiner http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=pubmembertrees&h=395956401&indiv=try [S72] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012;). Record for Mary Amelia Ingalls https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=60525&h=1381474&indiv=try [S3] Ancestry.com, Public Member Trees, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2006;). Record for Mary Amelia Ingalls https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1030&h=360077444676&indiv=try [S85] Ancestry.com, South Dakota Death Index, 1905-1955, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2004;). Record for Mary Ingalls https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=8659&h=65315&indiv=try