WILDER MORGANS up As a Pioneer Girl
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u MORGAN AMERICANA u MORGANS By Brenda L. Tippin Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “LittleThe House” novels of American pioneer livingWilder are beloved, and have sold millions of copies. Among their cast of characters are the Morgan horses which she and her husband, Almanzo, depended upon for life. Our resident historian recites how Morgans graced the pages of these novels, as they did the lives of their early day owners. he immensely popular series of “Little House” books the eyes for her sister Mary, who became blind, it is possible to see by Laura Ingalls Wilder first appeared with Little House vividly through Laura’s descriptions. Prince and Lady, the spirited, in the Big Woods in 1932. Eventually nine books were perfectly matched, glossy brown Morgans of Almanzo Wilder play included, the last being The First Four Years, discovered a subtle but powerful role from the time Laura first notices them Tand published after Laura’s death and telling of the hardship of her in By the Shores of Silver Lake through drawing the buggy for Laura first years of pioneering with her young husband Almanzo Wilder. and Almanzo’s wedding in These Happy Golden Years. Although classed as fiction and adapted as children’s books, they are based on the true episodes of Laura’s own childhood growing WILDER MORGANS up as a pioneer girl. Their appeal lies in Laura’s simple and direct The history of the Wilder Morgans goes back to the very beginnings style of describing life in that day as it really was. Just as she became of the Morgan breed. The Wilder family ancestors were among the ABOVE: Almanzo Wilder (left) and wife, Laura Ingalls Wilder (right). The Morgan Horse 13 MORGAN AMERICANA u early settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony,The arriving Wilder in America Morgans Register. His breeding survives to the present in descendants of as early as 1630. Black Morgan 810 (Bachops Green Mountain x mare by Levi Daniel Wilder was born in Bolton, Massachusetts, in 1764, Wilder Colt) foaled in 1840, and Streeter Horse 674 (Billy Root x fought in the Revolution and died in 1851. He married Polly Gould mare by Batchelder Horse) foaled in 1844, whose third dam was in Wyndham, Vermont, in 1783 and they had ten children, among bred by Levi Wilder. These lines trace down to us today through them Almanzo’s grandfather, Abel Wilder who was born in 1784 the U. S. Government farm’s use of the famous mare Artemisia in Westminster, Vermont. It was Abel who established the Wilder (Ethan Allen 3d x Lady Laura), dam of Mansfield and several full farm in Malone, Franklin County, New York, and the tradition of siblings by Bennington (General Gates x Mrs. Culvers), as well as Morgan horses began with him or his father, both of whom may J. C. Brunk’s foundation mare Daisy (Billy Bodette x mare by Billy well have known the original Justin Morgan horse and certainly Folsom) foaled in 1884 and registered in Volume I. They are also they knew his offspring. Abel married Hannah Payne and had nine found in most of the Lippitt and Lambert lines. Levi was a distant children, including Almanzo’s father James. Abel died in 1849. cousin of Almanzo’s father, James, and, as the Wilders maintained At the time James Wilder was born in 1813, the family was living connections with a large extended family, it is also possible they near Milton, Vermont, within 70 or 80 miles of where the Justin may at some time have obtained horses from him. Morgan horse stood at that time. They moved to Malone, New York, when James was four years old and it is likely that the farm ALMANZO WILDER horses they brought with them included sons and daughters of old Almanzo James Wilder was born February 13, 1857 in Malone, New Justin Morgan. In 1840, James purchased his own 88 acre farm and York, the fifth of six children born to James Wilder and Angeline married Angelina Albina Day in 1843. Day. By this time the Wilders had three long barns that surrounded Here the story becomes even more remarkable, for Angelina, three sides of the square barnyard, and were considered the finest born in 1819, was the daughter of Justin Day II and Diademia barns in the country. The horse barn, which faced the house, was Bateman. Justin Day was a grandson of Ezekiel Day, a brother of 100 feet long and contained fine box stalls for the horses in the Thankful Day, the mother of Justin Morgan, the singing master middle. On one end was the Buggy House which contained two who owned the original Justin Morgan horse who bore his name. buggies and a sleigh. It was large enough that it could be driven And Luke Day, another brother of Ezekiel and Thankful, was the into, the horses unhitched inside, and led directly to their stalls father of Martha Day, who was Justin Morgan’s wife (and first without going outside again. cousin). So, Almanzo Wilder was not only raised with the tradition Almanzo was fascinated with the horses from an early age, of the earliest Morgan horses—he was in fact a relative of Justin but was never allowed to handle the young horses or the colts Morgan, the man who became famous for his horse. as his father feared he might spoil them. He was only allowed The Wilders were considered prosperous farmers in Franklin to handle the gentle old work mares, Bess and Beauty, which County and were known for the quality of their Morgan horses. probably had been foaled sometime around 1850. In the book The town of Malone originated in 1805 with a huge expanse of Farmer Boy, which is the second of the “Little House” books nearly three quarters of a million acres, but was not incorporated written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the story of Almanzo’s boyhood until 1853, just a few years before Almanzo was born in 1857. on the farm in Malone is recounted. Almanzo’s father is Franklin County, created in 1808, was named in honor of Benjamin described as being an important man and well-respected, known Franklin and Malone became the county seat. for driving the best horses in the country. This is significant New York was impacted more heavily than any other state in considering that Morgans were common throughout that area the Union during the Civil War, which raged from 1861 to 1865. at the time. The exact number of horses owned by the Wilders They also suffered more losses, with more than 46,000 deaths, and is not mentioned in Farmer Boy, which covers Almanzo’s ninth it is estimated at least five horses were lost for every soldier killed. year; but, in addition to the older, gentle work horses, there were This was when Almanzo was four to nine years old. This must at least six older colts of various ages from yearlings to three- and often have been a topic of conversation in the Wilder home with four-year-olds, and at least two newborn foals that year. There is Malone providing Companies A, B, and C of the 98th Regiment. no indication the Wilders owned their own stallion, so they must Among the most famous cavalry regiments of the Civil War was the have used a neighboring one. The Veto line has been suggested as 5th, which was mounted completely on Black Hawk Morgans from one highly regarded in Franklin County. Steven’s Veto, foaled in Essex County, which borders Franklin County just to the southeast. 1852, was a son of Smith’s Veto (Godfrey Horse x mare by Hale’s Of these 108 horses, just seven survived the war. At the time, all Green Mountain Morgan) and stood in Bangor, New York, from of upstate New York including Franklin County, and Clinton and 1862-66, which was about 12 miles from Malone, and came to St. Lawrence counties which bordered it on the east and west sides Malone in 1867. He was dark bay and had a reputation as one of respectively, were all rural farming areas and rich sources of the the finest stock horses in Franklin County, and might well have earliest Morgan families. been the sire of the Wilder colts. Another possibility could have While the exact bloodlines of the Wilder Morgans are not been Prince Albert, a son of Hale’s Green Mountain Morgan, who recorded, another interesting link is that the James Wilder family stood in Malone during the 1850s. He left a son, Prince Albert was also related to Levi Wilder (1798 - 1876) of Lyndon, Vermont, Jr., out of a mare by Flying Morgan who continued to stand who is mentioned several times in Volume I of the Morgan Horse in Malone for many years and was highly regarded. Doubtless 14 July 2014 MORGAN AMERICANA u The Wilder Morgans Almanzo and Morgans at Rocky Ridge (probably Fanny and Kate) (Courtesy of the Rose Wilder Lang Collection). there were many other good Morgans in the area who were never roots tracing back to the early settlers of Massachusetts. Laura registered, as this was thirty years before Battell founded the Elizabeth Ingalls was the second of five children, born in 1867 in Morgan registry. Pepin, Wisconsin. Mary, the oldest, was born in 1865, Carrie was born in 1870, Charles Frederick (who died at nine months) was STARLIGHT born in 1875, and Grace was born in 1877. After stays in Kansas, Almanzo’s favorite was the colt of the old mare Beauty, foaled Minnesota, and Iowa, the Ingalls family moved to De Smet in the in 1866, when Almanzo was nine years old.