There are many Little House on the Prairie characters, appearing in various forms of media in the Little House on the Prairie media franchise.
Actor | Character | Pilot movie | Little House on the Prairie | A New Beginning | Movie specials | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||
Michael Landon | Charles Ingalls | Main | Guest | |||||||||
Karen Grassle | Caroline Ingalls | Main | Guest | |||||||||
Melissa Gilbert | Laura Ingalls Wilder | Main | ||||||||||
Melissa Sue Anderson | Mary Ingalls Kendall | Main | Guest | |||||||||
Lindsay Sidney Greenbush | Carrie Ingalls | Main | ||||||||||
Dean Butler | Almanzo Wilder | Starring | Main | |||||||||
Katherine MacGregor | Harriet Oleson | Starring | Main | |||||||||
Richard Bull | Nels Oleson | Starring | Main | |||||||||
Victor French | Isaiah Edwards | Guest | Recurring | Guest | Recurring | Main | ||||||
[a] | ||||||||||||
Kevin Hagen | Dr. Hiram Baker | Starring | ||||||||||
Karl Swenson | Lars Hanson | Starring | Guest | |||||||||
Dabbs Greer | Rev. Robert Alden | Starring | ||||||||||
Charlotte Stewart | Eva Beadle Simms | Starring | ||||||||||
Ted Gehring | Ebenezer Sprague | [b] | Starring | |||||||||
Jim Jeter | Hans Dorfler | Guest | Starring | Guest | ||||||||
Alison Arngrim | Nellie Oleson Dalton | Recurring | Starring | Guest | ||||||||
Jonathan Gilbert | Willie Oleson | Recurring | Starring | |||||||||
Merlin Olsen | Jonathan Garvey | Recurring | Starring | |||||||||
Hersha Parady | Alice Garvey | [c] | Recurring | Starring | ||||||||
Patrick Labyorteaux | Andy Garvey | Recurring | Starring | |||||||||
Matthew Labyorteaux | Albert Quinn Ingalls | [d] | Starring | Guest | ||||||||
Linwood Boomer | Adam Kendall | Guest | Starring | |||||||||
Lucy Lee Flippin | Eliza Jane Wilder | Starring | Guest | Recurring | ||||||||
Steve Tracy | Percival Dalton | Guest | Starring | |||||||||
Allison Balson | Nancy Oleson | Starring | ||||||||||
Jason Bateman | James Cooper Ingalls | Guest | Starring | |||||||||
Missy Francis | Cassandra Cooper Ingalls | Guest | Starring | |||||||||
Wendi & Brenda Turnbaugh | Grace Ingalls | Recurring | Starring | |||||||||
Ketty Lester | Hester-Sue Terhune | [e] | Recurring | Starring | ||||||||
Stan Ivar | John Carter | Starring | ||||||||||
Pamela Roylance | Sarah Reed Carter | Starring | ||||||||||
Lindsay Kennedy | Jeb Carter | Starring | ||||||||||
David Friedman | Jason Carter | Starring | ||||||||||
Shannen Doherty | Jenny Wilder | Starring | ||||||||||
Leslie Landon | Etta Plum | [f] | [f] | [f] | [f] | Starring | ||||||
Robert Casper | Sherwood Montague | Guest | Starring | |||||||||
Sherri Stoner | Rachel Brown Oleson | Guest | Starring |
Name | Seasons | No. of episodes | Portrayer | Character summary |
---|---|---|---|---|
Charles Ingalls | 1–9 | 161 | Michael Landon | Farmer; husband, father and grandfather |
Caroline Ingalls | 1–8 | 172 | Karen Grassle | Wife, mother, teacher and grandmother |
Laura Ingalls Wilder | 1–9 | 190 | Melissa Gilbert | Daughter; became teacher, later Almanzo's wife and Rose's mother; nicknamed "Half-Pint" by Charles and "Beth" by Almanzo |
Mary Ingalls | 1–8 | 133 | Melissa Sue Anderson | Daughter, eldest child; later Adam's wife and Adam Jr.'s mother |
Carrie Ingalls | 1–8 | 164 | Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush | Daughter, youngest child at the beginning of the series |
Charles Ingalls Jr. | 1 | 2 | Unknown | Son, died as an infant |
Grace Ingalls | 5–8 | 60 | Wendi and Brenda Turnbaugh | Daughter, youngest child |
Albert (Quinn) Ingalls | 5–9 | 89 | Matthew Labyorteaux | Son, adopted after spending many years in orphanages and on the streets |
Jack | The dog of the family | |||
James (Cooper) Ingalls | 7–8 | 21 | Jason Bateman | Son, adopted after birth parents were killed in a wagon accident |
Cassandra (Cooper) Ingalls | 7–8 | 21 | Missy Francis | Daughter, adopted after birth parents were killed in a wagon accident |
Rose Wilder | 8–9 | 17 | Sarah and Jennifer Coleman | Granddaughter, daughter of Laura and Almanzo |
Bandit | The dog of the family |
Name | Seasons | No. of episodes | Portrayer | Character summary |
---|---|---|---|---|
Almanzo Wilder | 6–9 | 65 | Dean Butler | Farmer; Laura's husband (season 7); Rose's father; his friends called him Manly. |
Jenny Wilder | 9 | 18 | Shannen Doherty | Almanzo's niece, whom he gets custody of after his brother/her father Royal dies |
Eliza Jane Wilder | 6–8 | 14 | Lucy Lee Flippin | Teacher; Almanzo's older sister |
Perley Day Wilder | 6 | 1 | Charles Bloom | Almanzo and Eliza Jane's youngest brother; gambler |
Adam Kendall | 4–8 | 35 | Linwood Boomer | Teacher/Lawyer; Mary's husband (season 5) |
Name | Seasons | No. of episodes | Portrayer | Character summary |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nels Oleson | 1–9 | 147 | Richard Bull | Mercantile proprietor; husband and father |
Harriet Oleson | 1–9 | 153 | Katherine MacGregor | Mercantile proprietor; wife and mother |
Nellie Oleson | 1–7, 9 | 104 | Alison Arngrim | Oldest child of Nels and Harriet |
Willie Oleson | 1–9 | 140 | Jonathan Gilbert | Son of Nels and Harriet |
Nancy Oleson | 8–9 | 33 | Allison Balson | Daughter of Nels and Harriet, adopted from orphanage |
Percival Dalton/Isaac Cohen | 6–7 | 11 | Steve Tracy | Nellie's husband |
Rachel Brown Oleson | 9 | 2 | Sherri Stoner | Willie's wife |
Dr. Hiram Baker | 1–9 | 113 | Kevin Hagen | Town physician |
Reverend Robert Alden | 1–9 | 76 | Dabbs Greer | Church minister |
Melinda Foster | 1–9 | 61 | Ruth Foster | Post office manager |
Isaiah Edwards | 1–3, 6, 8–9 | 52 | Victor French | Charles's best friend |
Grace Snider Edwards | 1–3, 6, 8 | 23 | Bonnie Bartlett / Corinne Camacho | Wife of Isaiah Edwards |
John Sanderson Edwards | 2–4 | 8 | Radames Pera | Oldest child of Isaiah & Grace Edwards, adopted after first mother died |
Alicia Sanderson Edwards | 2–3, 6, 8 | 19 | Kyle Richards | Youngest child of Isaiah & Grace Edwards, adopted after first mother died |
Carl Sanderson Edwards | 2–3, 8 | 19 | Brian Part / David R. Kaufman | Middle child of Isaiah & Grace Edwards, adopted after first mother died |
Matthew Rogers | 9 | 5 | Jonathan Hall Kovacs | Young boy that is taken care of by Isaiah Edwards (season 9) |
Jonathan Garvey | 4–7 | 51 | Merlin Olsen | Farmer; husband and father |
Alice Garvey | 4–6 | 33 | Hersha Parady | Wife and mother; teacher; dies in fire with Adam Kendall Jr. |
Andy Garvey | 4–7 | 43 | Patrick Labyorteaux | Son of Jonathan and Alice |
Eva Beadle Simms | 1–4 | 45 | Charlotte Stewart | School teacher |
Adam Simms | 4 | 2 | Joshua Bryant | Miss Beadle's husband |
Lars Hanson | 1–5 | 41 | Karl Swenson | Lumber mill owner; a founder of Walnut Grove |
Hester-Sue Terhune | 5–9 | 40 | Ketty Lester | Head of the school for the blind |
John Carter | 9 | 19 | Stan Ivar | Blacksmith; husband and father |
Sarah Carter | 9 | 15 | Pamela Roylance | Starts a newspaper; wife and mother |
Jeb Carter | 9 | 18 | Lindsay Kennedy | Older son of John and Sarah |
Jason Carter | 9 | 18 | David Friedman | Younger son of John and Sarah |
Susan Goodspeed | 4–7 | 16 | Michelle Downey | Student at the school for the blind |
Etta Plum | 9 | 15 | Leslie Landon | School teacher |
Christy Kennedy | 1–2 | 10 | Tracie Savage | Schoolgirl |
Sandy Kennedy | 1 | 4 | Robert Hoffman | Schoolboy; Christy's brother |
Hans Dorfler | 1–4, 6 | 9 | James Jeter | Resident of Walnut Grove; a stable-owner |
Bill Anderson | 6–9 | 6 | Sam Edwards | Banker of Walnut Grove |
Joe Kagan | 4–5, 7 | 5 | Moses Gunn | Aging boxer who retires to farm life in Walnut Grove |
Judd Larrabee | 4–5 | 5 | Don "Red" Barry | Resident of Walnut Grove |
Mrs. Amanda "May" Whipple | 1–4 | 5 | Queenie Smith | Resident of Walnut Grove; local seamstress |
Mr. Kennedy | 1 | 4 | Wayne Heffley | Resident of Walnut Grove; father of Christy and Sandy |
Mrs. Kennedy | 1–2 | 3 | Eileen Ryan (season 1), Janice Carroll (season 2) | Resident of Walnut Grove; mother of Christy and Sandy |
Ebenezer Sprague | 2–3 | 4 | Ted Gehring | Banker of Walnut Grove |
Houston Lamb | 6–7 | 4 | Dub Taylor | Works and lives at the school for the blind in Sleepy Eye |
Henry Riley | 4–9 | 15 | Dan McBride | recurring role - customer in Nellie's Restaurant arguing |
Kezia Horn | 4–5 | 3 | Hermione Baddeley | Resident of Walnut Grove and friend of Laura and Albert |
Johnny Johnson | 1 | 2 | Mitch Vogel | Schoolboy love interest of Laura |
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Charles Ingalls | Caroline Quiner | James Wilder | Angeline Day | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mary Ingalls | Carrie Ingalls | Charles Frederic Ingalls | Grace Ingalls | Laura Wilder | Royal Wilder | Eliza Jane Wilder | Alice Wilder | Perley Wilder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Laura Ingalls | Almanzo Wilder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rose Wilder | Unnamed son | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jonathan Ingalls (1750–1834) & Martha Jane Locke (1753–1785) | Jonathan Delano (1735–1811) & Anne Ladd (1734–1816) | Ezekiel Colby (1739–1791) & Sally Fowler (1734–1834) | Elijah Blood (1748–1826) & Eunice Sleeman (1758–1811) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Samuel Ingalls (1771–1841) | Margaret Delano (1773–1837) | Nathan Colby (1778–1857) | Eunice Blood (1782–1862) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lansford Ingalls (1812–1896) | Laura Colby (1810–1883) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Peter Ingalls (1833–1900) | Aaron Ingalls (1835–1835) | Charles Ingalls (1836–1902) | Lydia Ingalls (1838–1913) | Polly Ingalls (1840–1886) | Lansford Ingalls (1842–1928) | Laura Ingalls (1845–1918) | Hiram Ingalls (1848–1923) | George Ingalls (1851–1901) | Ruby Ingalls (1855–1881) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Based on the data from : The Genealogy of Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder
NOTE: A second daughter of Ruby Ingalls Card, Lettie Letishia Card Anderson, is listed as being born in 1888, seven years after Ruby's death. How this is possible is unknown.
William Quiner (1773–1831) | Margaret Doer (1774–1839) | Lewis Tucker (1779–1870) | Martha Gráinne Morse (1772–1862) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Henry Quiner (1809–1844) | Charlotte Tucker (1809–1884) | Frederic M. Holbrook (1819-1874) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Martha Quiner (1832–1836) | Joseph Quiner (1834–1862) | Henry Quiner (1835–1880) | Martha Quiner (1837–1927) | Caroline Quiner (1839–1924) | Eliza Quiner (1842–1931) | Thomas Quiner (1844–1903) | Charlotte Holbrook (1854–1939) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(Laura's maternal great-great-grandparents)
Allan Alexander Morse and Margaret Drummond *These are fictional names. Real names unknown.
(Laura's maternal great-grandparents)
Lewis Tucker(1779–1870) and Martha Gráinne Morse(1772–1862)
William Quiner(1773–1831) and Margaret Doer(1774–1839)
(Laura's maternal grandparents)
Charlotte Tucker and Henry Quiner
Henry Quiner died in October 1844 in the sinking of a trading ship on the Great Lakes. Charlotte Tucker Quiner remarried, to Frederic Holbrook, and they had one child
Lewis Tucker | Martha Morse (1782–1862) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Betsy Tucker (1800–?) | Lewis Tucker (1802–?) | Linus Tucker (1802–?) | Lydia Tucker (1805–?) | Thomas Tucker (1807–?) | Charlotte Tucker (1809–1884) | Caroline Tucker (1811–?) | Mary Tucker (1813–?) | Nancy Tucker (1816–?) | George Tucker(1820–1821) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Charlotte Wallis Tucker was born on May 25, 1809, in Roxbury, Massachusetts (a suburb of Boston). She died September 20, 1884, in Rome, Wisconsin. Her mostly fictionalised story was described in the four-book series The Charlotte Years by Melissa Wiley. Charlotte was maternal grandmother to Laura Ingalls Wilder.
As a young woman, Charlotte married Henry Newton Quiner from Connecticut. She was the first woman in her family to travel west, living in Ohio and Indiana before settling in the frontier town of Brookfield, Wisconsin.
Allan Alexander Morse | Margaret Drummond | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grisell "Grisie" Morse (b. 1774) | Alisdair Morse (b.1776) | Robert "Robbie" Morse (b.1778) | Duncan Morse (b.1780) | Martha Morse (1782–1862) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Martha Morse was born on January 2, 1782, in Scotland, where her father was a wealthy landowners in the Scottish Highlands. Her mostly fictionalised story was told in the four-book series The Martha Years , by Melissa Wiley. Martha was Charlotte Tucker's mother and great-grandmother to Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Martha married Lewis Tucker, a blacksmith's son. Lewis and Martha travelled to the United States and began their new life near Boston, Massachusetts, becoming the first of Laura's ancestors to immigrate to America.
Daniel Wilder (1764–1851) | Mary Polly Gould (1765–1828) | Thomas Payne | Sarah Stewart Mason | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abel Wilder (1784–1849) | Hannah Payne (1790–1842) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Royal Gould Wilder (1809–1815) | Thomas Payne Wilder (1811–?) | James Mason Wilder(1813-1899) | Hannah Payne Wilder (1814–1891) | Royal Gould Wilder (1816–1887) | Phoebe Wilder (1821–1890) | Polly Maria Wilder (1824–1851) | William Wilder (1828–1909) | Sarah Charlotte Wilder (1820–1892) | Joshua Prince Wilder (1832–1832) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Justin Day, I | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Justin Day, II (1790–1861) | Diadema Bateman (1794–1868) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Laura Day (1819–?) | Delia Day (1824–?) | Angelina Albina Day(1819-1905) | Celinda A.Day (1826–?) | Andrew Day (1828–1894) | John Wesley Day (1829–1907) | George W.Day (1821–1872) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||