Grandma Charlotte: The Original Pioneer Girl
by Leah Hickman
Last time, I introduced you to Charlotte Wallis Tucker, the grandmother of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Although we don't know much about Charlotte's early life (even her birth date is uncertain), we actually have quite a few details about Charlotte's life after her marriage to the silversmith named Henry Quiner, mostly thanks to a letter written by Charlotte's daughter Martha Quiner Carpenter to Laura Ingalls Wilder.
After outlining the details of her mother's marriage, Martha spends some time discussing the early years of her family. One thing that she skips over in her account is the birth of her only older sister, Martha Morse Quiner, whom Charlotte named after her own mother. I'm not sure if Martha was born in New Haven or elsewhere, but, thanks to a Quiner family tree from the Memorial Society archives, we do know that she was born in the year 1832.
The scarlet carnation is the state flower of Ohio, the birthplace of Charlotte's first two sons.
Although I found no records to back this up, I agree with Laura's Aunt Martha that her parents likely lived in New Haven for those first three years, moving to Cincinnatti, Ohio, in 1834. With this move, Charlotte left New England for the first time. By leaving New England, the place where both her mother and father spent their whole lives, Charlotte began the westward movement that would continue throughout the lives of Caroline Quiner and Charles Ingalls, Laura's Ma and Pa.
According to Martha, Charlotte's first two sons, Joseph and Henry, were born during the family's time in Ohio. Later census records confirm this. According to the Quiner family tree that I had on hand during my research, "Joseph Carpenter Quiner" was born in 1834 and his younger brother, "Henry Odin Quiner," in 1835. A year after Henry's birth, in 1836, the oldest Quiner child, Martha Morse Quiner, passed away around the age of 4.
The peony is the state flower of Indiana, the birthplace of Charlotte's second daughter, Martha.
The family's next move was to Richmond, Indiana. Here, in the Hoosier State, the second Quiner daughter was born. Her name was also Martha. According to this Martha's 88-year-old self, "Martha Jane Quiner" was born on November 6, 1837.
The fifth Quiner child was also a daughter. She was born in 1839 after the young family made their next move westward to Wisconsin. According to William Anderson's biographical account of the Ingalls and Quiner families, this child was said by some to be the first non-Indian baby born in the Milwaukee area. Her name was Caroline Lake Quiner, and she would grow up to be the mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
After Caroline's birth, two other children were born to Charlotte and Henry in Wisconsin. Eliza Ann Quiner was born in 1842, followed by Thomas Lewis Quiner about two years later.
Around the same time as Thomas' birth, tragedy entered Charlotte's life. During a trading expedition to the Straits of Mackinac in 1844, Charlotte's husband Henry and the entire rest of his ship drowned in a violent storm on Lake Michigan. This left Charlotte alone in the Wisconsin wilderness with six young children in her care.
For more facts about the rest of Charlotte's life as a Wisconsin pioneer, be sure to keep an eye out for our next post in this series.
the Charlotte-years
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Charlotte Wallis Tucker Quiner Holbrook
by Leah Hickman
In our last two posts, we spent some time talking about Laura Ingalls Wilder's grandmother, Charlotte. Most recently, we learned about her travels from New England to Ohio and from Ohio to Indiana and later Wisconsin with her husband, Henry Quiner, and their growing family. Within the first six years of her time in Wisconsin, however, Charlotte became a widow. Henry drowned in a shipwreck in Lake Michigan in 1844, and Charlotte was left in the Wisconsin woods with her six children who were all under the age of eleven.
The violet is the state flower of Wisconsin, the birthplace of Charlotte's daughter and Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother, Caroline Lake Quiner.
Martha Quiner Carpenter, Charlotte's oldest daughter of the children who survived to adulthood, recounts in a letter to Laura Ingalls Wilder that her mother sold the claim that she and her husband Henry had settled on and bought another nearby. They made the move in 1847. William Anderson, in his biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, explains that the family was able to farm on this new land. As Martha describes it, "When [my mother, Charlotte,] had a piece of land cleared she would take her spade and hoe to make the garden, [and] plant her corn and potatoes among the stumps. It was no easy work I can tell you. She went at it with a will." The family also had bees on their farm and would have harvested the honey as well as the crops they planted.
The year after the family moved to this new farm, Charlotte remarried. The man she married was named Frederick Holbrook. By this time, Charlotte's full name would have been Charlotte Wallis Tucker Quiner Holbrook, Wallis being her middle name, Tucker her maiden name, and Quiner the surname from her first marriage.
William Anderson explains that Frederick purchased the land next to the Quiner farm so that the family could have more space to plant crops and let their animals graze. By the 1850 census, Frederick Holbrook, Charlotte, and all of her kids appear listed together as living in the town of Concord in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. According to the record, Frederick was also from back east, having been born in Connecticut. The census lists him as a farmer by trade. His age is also recorded in this account, and it appears as if he was about 11 years younger than Charlotte, who would have been 39 when she remarried.
In January of 1854, Charlotte and Frederick had their only child together, a very pretty little girl named Charlotte E. She would grow up to be the "Aunt Lottie" that Laura Ingalls Wilder talks about in Little House in the Big Woods, the aunt who answers Laura and Mary's question about whether she likes brown or golden hair better.
In the 1860 census, the Quiner-Holbrook family is still listed as living in the town of Concord. However, by the 1870 census, the family has moved to the town of Sullivan in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. According to modern maps, Concord and Sullivan are only about 5 miles apart. Sixteen-year-old Lottie is the only one of the Quiner-Holbrook children still living at home in 1870 since all of the other children were out of the house or married by that time.
Sadly, by the 1880 census, Charlotte had become a widow for the second time in her life. Her husband Frederick died in February of 1874. He was not even 55 years old. After his death, Charlotte moved in with her youngest daughter, Lottie, who had married a man named Henry Moore. Charlotte most likely stayed with them for the rest of her life. She passed away in 1884 at the age of 75 and was buried next to her second husband, Frederick Holbrook, in the Hoffman Cemetery in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. Their tombstones can still be visited today.
A sign that sits between these two graves describes Charlotte as the "Mother of Caroline Quiner Ingalls" and "Grandmother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the 'Little House on the Prairie' series." Laura would pass on the pioneering legacy of her grandmother Charlotte for generations to come through the stories told in her beloved books.
by Leah Hickman
In our last two posts, we spent some time talking about Laura Ingalls Wilder's grandmother, Charlotte. Most recently, we learned about her travels from New England to Ohio and from Ohio to Indiana and later Wisconsin with her husband, Henry Quiner, and their growing family. Within the first six years of her time in Wisconsin, however, Charlotte became a widow. Henry drowned in a shipwreck in Lake Michigan in 1844, and Charlotte was left in the Wisconsin woods with her six children who were all under the age of eleven.
The violet is the state flower of Wisconsin, the birthplace of Charlotte's daughter and Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother, Caroline Lake Quiner.
Martha Quiner Carpenter, Charlotte's oldest daughter of the children who survived to adulthood, recounts in a letter to Laura Ingalls Wilder that her mother sold the claim that she and her husband Henry had settled on and bought another nearby. They made the move in 1847. William Anderson, in his biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, explains that the family was able to farm on this new land. As Martha describes it, "When [my mother, Charlotte,] had a piece of land cleared she would take her spade and hoe to make the garden, [and] plant her corn and potatoes among the stumps. It was no easy work I can tell you. She went at it with a will." The family also had bees on their farm and would have harvested the honey as well as the crops they planted.
The year after the family moved to this new farm, Charlotte remarried. The man she married was named Frederick Holbrook. By this time, Charlotte's full name would have been Charlotte Wallis Tucker Quiner Holbrook, Wallis being her middle name, Tucker her maiden name, and Quiner the surname from her first marriage.
William Anderson explains that Frederick purchased the land next to the Quiner farm so that the family could have more space to plant crops and let their animals graze. By the 1850 census, Frederick Holbrook, Charlotte, and all of her kids appear listed together as living in the town of Concord in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. According to the record, Frederick was also from back east, having been born in Connecticut. The census lists him as a farmer by trade. His age is also recorded in this account, and it appears as if he was about 11 years younger than Charlotte, who would have been 39 when she remarried.
In January of 1854, Charlotte and Frederick had their only child together, a very pretty little girl named Charlotte E. She would grow up to be the "Aunt Lottie" that Laura Ingalls Wilder talks about in Little House in the Big Woods, the aunt who answers Laura and Mary's question about whether she likes brown or golden hair better.
In the 1860 census, the Quiner-Holbrook family is still listed as living in the town of Concord. However, by the 1870 census, the family has moved to the town of Sullivan in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. According to modern maps, Concord and Sullivan are only about 5 miles apart. Sixteen-year-old Lottie is the only one of the Quiner-Holbrook children still living at home in 1870 since all of the other children were out of the house or married by that time.
Sadly, by the 1880 census, Charlotte had become a widow for the second time in her life. Her husband Frederick died in February of 1874. He was not even 55 years old. After his death, Charlotte moved in with her youngest daughter, Lottie, who had married a man named Henry Moore. Charlotte most likely stayed with them for the rest of her life. She passed away in 1884 at the age of 75 and was buried next to her second husband, Frederick Holbrook, in the Hoffman Cemetery in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. Their tombstones can still be visited today.
A sign that sits between these two graves describes Charlotte as the "Mother of Caroline Quiner Ingalls" and "Grandmother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the 'Little House on the Prairie' series." Laura would pass on the pioneering legacy of her grandmother Charlotte for generations to come through the stories told in her beloved books.
