Hi Auntie Gail! Sandy mentioned that you were interested in some of the information that I've tracked down about your mom's side of the family. I'm not sure what you know and what you don't, so I'll make this an overview with highlights. Hopefully, you can also help me fill in some blanks about what you know, remember, and perhaps any personal stories you can share about some of the people in the story of our family. Dates and times and those sorts of details are good, but its really the stories that shade in the corners about who the people really were.
So I'll start with your Grandpa Charlie (Charles Errol Ingalls). You probably knew that he was born in Aitkin county, Minnesota and came to Canada as a young man, somewhere around the age of 7. The family did still live in Minnesota as late as 1905. From reading your mom's writings on family history, it sounds like they homesteaded northeast of Bashaw around 1907. I'm not sure exactly where, and I haven't been able to confirm the homestead record for them (There's a homestead record for a man that could be his grandfather at Lorraine, AB, not that far away). I'm guessing that this is history that's known in the family, but I don't have it (yet).
While he was born in southern Minnesota, they actually lived both there and just south in northern Iowa. The Ingalls' family across generations is a story of a slow, steady move west as the lands were tamed and opened up. A long line of pioneers.
Grandpa Charlie's dad was also Charlie- he was Charles Elmer Ingalls. The closeness of their names actually made finding the links difficult for a time, but I sorted it out. Charles Sr was born in McHenry County Illinois in 1863, which is only a hundred miles southwest of where they ended up in Iowa. So they had a few generations of farming in that area.
Charles' parents were Alpheus Oliver (Alfred) Ingalls (1827-1890), who was born in New York.
I don't know when he moved from New York to Illinois, but it was prior to the civil war and after he was married. He was drafted into the Union army in June of 1863. I don't have additional service history for him yet.
Alpheus was married to Elizabeth Sanders, who was from Virginia. Again, I'm not sure when she moved or why, but looks to be around the same time as her future husband. She was in McHenry county Illinois by the age of 13, and Married Alpheus sometime before she was 23. I never see her in census records with family members, so I don't know if she had family in Illinois or not. She's prominently mentioned in the early pioneer history of McHenry County. More digging required, because I think her story might be an interesting one. The people that move usually are.
Anyways, moving on, and back, up the Ingalls chain.
Alpheus' dad was Benjamin Ingalls (1771-1830), born in Rehoboth R.I, but the family moved to Jefferson county New York. Benjamin served in the US army during the war of 1812 in the 55th regiment of the New York militia under Colonel Clark Allen. Still digging on this one, if I figure out what battles he fought in, I'll let you know.
Benjamin's dad was Edmund Ingalls jr, (1740-1826). He was born in rehoboth R.I, and moved the family to Jefferson county NY.
His dad was Edmund Ingalls Sr (1679-1749). He was born in Bristol Ma. and moved the family to Rehoboth R.I. He was a second lieutenant during the revolutionary war, serving under Col Johnathan Chase.
At this point it should be noted the broader Ingalls family involvement in the Revolutionary War. There were about 100 family members in the northeast at this time, and almost all men of suitable age either fought or were brought to service on a periodic basis. A great source of this information is The Genealogy and History of the Ingalls family in America: Giving the Decendants of Edmund Ingalls who settled at Lynn. Mass. in 1629 (Charles Buleigh, MD, Malden Mass. 1903)
Here's an excerpt from that book:
The Ingalls family was one of the earliest in the country', coming only eight years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, and have, as a whole, maintained an honorable place in the history of the country. The largest majority have been tillers of the soil, industrious, caring little for public office, but always willing to assume such duties when called upon by their fellow citizens. If there is one characteristic that is evi- dent above another, it is the weak ties of relationship, and no doubt this has been fostered in a large extent by the conditions existing at this period and the necessity of the younger genera- tions pushing out into the wilderness from the over-crowded coast towns. Travelling was hazardous on account of the Indians as well as the tractless forests, so that communication was very difficult. When the children went out to found a home for themselves it was often never to return.Edmond's father was Johnathan Ingalls (1624-1721). He was amongst the first Ingalls to arrive in North America, some 8 years after the pilgrims in 1628 with his family at the age of 4 or 5. Johnathan is also the grandfather of Charles Ingalls, father of Laura Ingalls-Wilder of Little house on the Prairie fame. So yeah, if you ever wondered if we were related to those Ingalls- yes, we are.
His travelled with his family of course, including his father Edmund Ingalls (1595-1648). The Ingalls family is from the Skirbeck area of Lincolnshire, England. Edmund Ingalls was the founder of Lynn, Mass, in what is now Boston. One of the interesting things has been trying to find out if the Ingalls' were puritans, looking to escape religious persecution like the pilgrims at Massachussetts Colony. From Edmund's Wikipedia page:
It is of record that Edmund had a malt house, and it may be surmised that he knew how to malt grain and brew beer, and probably did so. It is also probable that he drank what he brewed. According to the accounts there was a "festive" time, with much hilarity and profanity, when his house was erected with the assistance of his friends. It is likely, therefore, that Edmund Ingalls was not a strict Puritan.
There are another 5 generations of Ingalls' traced back in Lincolnshire, England. But I'll add that part of the story another day.
I hope you enjoy what you read here, Aunty Gail. While I had a lot of this compiled already, composing this for you demanded of me that I do some additional research. That research produced a whole lot of new and interesting pieces, documents, and accounts.
Hopefully soon I'll find the time to publish one of these write-ups on grandma Ingalls. Agnes Fairbanks family is just (if not more) interesting than Grandpa Charlies family. Are you related to Douglas Fairbanks? To Charles Fairbanks, the 21st vice president of the United States, and namesake of Fairbanks, Alaska? Stay tuned.
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