Laura Elizabeth was born to Charles Phillip Ingalls and Caroline Lake (Quiner) Ingalls on February 7, 1867. She was born near Pepin, Wisconsin. She was the 2nd oldest child and had 3 sisters and 1 brother.
Laura's older sister was Mary Amelia Ingalls (born Jan. 1865.) Laura's younger sister were Caroline (Carrie) Celeste Ingalls Swanzy (born August 3, 1870), and her brother was Charles (Freddie) Fredrick Ingalls Jr. (born November 1, 1875 and died 9 months after birth.) Laura's younger sister was Grace Pearl Ingalls Dow (born May, 23 1877.)
Laura and her family traveled a lot through out Laura's childhood. Remember how Laura was born in Wisconsin? Well her family moved to Independence, Kansas when she was 5-6 years old. They lived in Kansas for a short amount of time. While living in Kansas Carrie was born. When the Ingalls thought that they were happy in Kansas, Pa was told that they were living on Indian land and that they had to move. So the Ingalls packed up and moved back to Wisconsin and stayed for a little while until moving on the Walnut Grove, Minnesota. The lived in a dugout for a bit and then Pa built them a house. The Ingalls' only son was born in Minnesota on Nov. 1, 1875. The birth and death of "Freddie" was not mentioned in the Little House Series. In Minnesota Pa had planted a big crop of wheat and was waiting to harvest it and get lots of money for it. Grasshoppers. Grasshoppers ate the whole crop and the Ingalls did not get the money that they desperatly needed. Pa went away far away from home to earn money to pay off the morgage and other things that needed to be payed for. Pa decided to move the family to Burr Oak, Iowa. In Burr Oak the managed the Masters' Hotel. In Iowa Grace wasa born. Grace's birth was a cheerful time for the family since they didn't like living in town. The Ingalls family stayed in Iowa for a year until moving back to their house in Minnesota. Laura did not write about Burr Oak, Iowas in her books. Once returning to Minnesota Ma, Mary, Carrie, and Grace got scarlet fever. Ever one got better but the fever had weakend Mary's sight nerve's and Mary became permanetly blind. Laura had to become Mary's sight and describe to her how everything looked. Pa then moved the family to Dakota Territory (which is now present day South Dakota) and worked on the railroad. For the first winter in the Dakota Territory the Ingalls stayed in the Surveyor's house. Later on Pa bought a homestead and the family moved there. Ma made Pa promise that they wouldn't move anymore and Pa promised. Pa had a store building in town that the family lived at in the winter.
On the second year in Dakota Territory an Indian predicted several months of blizzards, and he was right. Pa was lucky to have moved the family to the store building before the bigger blizzarrds came. From October to May it blizzarded on the wide prairie. The people that lived on the prairie and the prairie town almost starved that winter, but two young men; Almanzo Wilder and Cap Garland went to a far away farm where a farmer had loads of wheat. Almanzo and Cap bought a lot of wheat to feed every one. Later on Laura got her teaching certificate at the age of 15 and went away to teach at Brewster school and taught five students. Laura didn't want to teach but she did to pay for Mary's college. Laura boarded with a couple and came home to her family on the weekends. Almanzo Wilder drove Laura back and forth on the weekends.
When Laura was done teaching at the school she had began courting Almanzo Wilder. Although she didn't know. Together they went on buggy rides and to choir practice. Almanzo proposed and they got married quickly.