Was Laura Ingalls Wilder a trouble maker?

Answer 1

Not really, but she sometimes spoke before she thought -- something her Pa reminded her not to do many times. In November 1881, when Laura was 14, she spoke out angrily in school (absolutely not tolerated) over unfair punishment of her little sister Carrie -- for idly and subconsciously rocking her school desk -- and the girls were sent home. This was a dreadful punishment; as Laura writes; the only thing worse was to be expelled.

That semester, the teacher at Laura's school was Eliza Jane Wilder, older sister of Laura's future husband. While Laura acknowledged Miss Wilder was a "good scholar," she seems to have been unable to maintain order in the school. As Laura told it, Miss Wilder played favorites, taunted students and in fact, told outright lies. For whatever reason, she seemed to have a vendetta against Laura from day 1, and goaded her for most of the fall term.

That afternoon, Laura and Carrie told their story to Ma and Pa, who accepted it calmly. They believed the girls, but Ma observed they must never criticize a teacher. Pa asked Laura if she had done anything to cause Miss Wilder to dislike her or to punish her, and the answer was no. That evening, Ma made clear her feelings on the subject of speaking before you think when she wrote in Laura's autograph album: "If wisdom's ways you wisely seek, five things observe with care: to whom you speak, of whom you speak, and how and when and where."

As a postscript, Miss Wilder returned to the family farm in Minnesota that winter. She had taught for several years, but this was apparently her last term. Eliza Jane soon after went to Washington to work for the Department of the Interior. She was also a homesteader who worked as hard as any man. Eventually, the two sisters-in-law, Laura and Eliza Jane made up, and from about age 9, Laura's daughter Rose lived with Eliza Jane and her family in Louisiana. A hundred years ago, it was not uncommon for parents to send their children to live with relatives. The explanation in this case was that the schools in Louisiana were better than those in Mansfield, Missouri, where Rose Wilder was growing up.