It remains unknown whether Mr. Edwards was a completely fictional person or if his story was based on some authentic events and people from Laura's life. Many researchers of the "Little House" books believe that Edwards was actually a composite of people who did kind deeds for the Ingalls throughout the years.
In her earliest memoir Pioneer Girl, Wilder recalled the name of the neighbor who swam a creek near their house to bring her and sister Mary Christmas presents as "Mr. Brown," a deed that she ascribed to Mr. Edwards in Little House on the Prairie. An Alabama native and 35-year-old bachelor named Fred Brown is listed as a resident of Rutland Twp Montgomery Co. KS in the 1870 US Census, the same township where the Ingalls family lived in 1870.[1] Possibly this Fred Brown was the model for Mr. Edwards. However, Pamela Smith Hill, the editor of Pioneer Girl suggested that Mr. Edwards may have been the 25-year old English native named Edmund Mason who is also enumerated as a bachelor neighbor of the Ingalls in Rutland Co. Montgomery Co KS ([2]). Mason's grave may be found in the local Harrison Cemetery, near where the Ingalls were living in the book Little House on the Prairie, though certain key aspects of Mason's known life are at odds with the information about "Mr. Edwards" supplied by Laura in her novels.
with 1st Wife - Alice Edwards Adopted with Grace Snider - John Jr., Carl and Alicia Sanderson
The character of Isaiah Edwards was introduced in the pilot movie, which established the Ingalls family settling on a prairie tract in Kansas. Victor French, a close friend of series creator Michael Landon and a character actor who had acted in several television westerns beforehand, portrayed the role throughout most of the series run.[3][4]
A poorly educated, gruff-looking dirt farmer, Mr. Edwards helps the Ingalls family build their new home on the prairie and deal with the hardships that arise. It is during this time that the series' main protagonist, Laura Ingalls, develops a close relationship with Edwards. Laura's mother, Caroline, distrusts Mr. Edwards at first, finding his mannerisms and rough demeanor uncouth, but in time grows to respect and accept him as one of the family. Edwards and the Ingalls family are separated when they are forced to leave their property by the government.
When Little House on the Prairie was picked up as a weekly television series, Victor French was returned to the role. In the time between the pilot movie and his first episode, "Mr. Edwards' Homecoming," Mr. Edwards had become a drunken drifter, and eventually arrives in Mankato, Minnesota; there, he gets into a barroom brawl when by chance Charles Ingalls – who was making a delivery run from Walnut Grove, where the Ingalls family had settled – arrives and (upon hearing the commotion and recognizing Mr. Edwards) comes to his defense. Mr. Edwards is brought to the Ingalls' new home near Walnut Grove, and eventually gets a place of his own. It is about this time he reveals his past: He became an alcoholic after his first wife and young daughter died of Mountain Fever, and renounced his Christian faith as a result. For the most part, Mr. Edwards is able to keep his drinking under control in episodes that aired during the first three seasons. Mr. Edwards frequently sang the song, "Old Dan Tucker," and a musical cue sometimes introduced his character.
Mr. Edwards eventually meets Grace Snider; the two fall in love and are married. They adopt three children orphaned when their mother dies of an illness: John Jr., Carl and Alicia Sanderson. The family remains a part of the cast until the end of the third season, when Mr. Edwards uses a gold claim to begin a logging empire (the storyline was created after Victor French took the lead role in another series, Carter Country). French reprised his role in a Season 6 episode, "The Return of Mr. Edwards", where he is seriously injured by a falling tree and becomes suicidal; Charles and Laura arrive to help Mr. Edwards out of his depression.
With French's return to the show during Season 8, a story arc was developed around the death of Mr. Edwards' eldest son, John Jr., and the consequences that result. John Jr., who had become an investigative reporter for a Chicago newspaper, was murdered by a corrupt businessman who didn't want his activities becoming public. Mr. Edwards is initially told that it was a street accident that killed John Jr., but as Charles helps him grieve, the two – along with the editor and a street urchin – uncover the truth. It is John Jr.'s death that causes Mr. Edwards to relapse into deep alcoholism, causing him to lose his logging business and eventually, his family. Distraught, Mr. Edwards returns to Walnut Grove, keeping his dark secrets under wraps until he causes a street accident that seriously injures Albert Ingalls (Charles' adopted son). Charles breaks off his friendship with Mr. Edwards and tells him to leave and never return, leaving Laura as his only hope. Laura and her husband, Almanzo (who are by now married) agree to help reform Mr. Edwards, and it works ... until he gets a letter from Grace telling him she has filed divorce papers. Mr. Edwards tries to break into the Mercantile to obtain alcohol, but when it is locked up, he sees the church and goes in to pray and seek God's forgiveness and guidance; he subsequently reconciles with Charles and eventually becomes Rose Wilder's godfather.
During the final season, Mr. Edwards was featured in several episodes, primarily as a comic foil to Harriet Oleson, the snobbish wife of mercantile owner Nels Oleson. However, there were a few serious episodes featuring the character, most notably the two-part episode "The Wild Boy," where he agrees to adopt a mute boy who had been abused by a traveling showman. He also plays key roles in the TV films that aired in 1983 and 1984, most notably "Bless All the Dear Children."
The Little House on the Prairie books comprise a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The stories are based on her childhood and adolescence in the American Midwest between 1870 and 1894. Eight of the novels were completed by Wilder, and published by Harper & Brothers in the 1930s and 1940s, during her lifetime. The name "Little House" appears in the first and third novels in the series, while the third is identically titled Little House on the Prairie. The second novel, meanwhile, was about her husband's childhood.
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American writer. The Little House on the Prairie series of children's books, published between 1932 and 1943, were based on her childhood in a settler and pioneer family.
Michael Landon was an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983), and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven (1984–1989). Landon appeared on the cover of TV Guide 22 times, second only to Lucille Ball.
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western historical drama television series about the Ingalls family, who live on a farm on Plum Creek near Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s–90s. Charles, Caroline, Laura, Mary, and Carrie Ingalls are respectively portrayed by Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Melissa Gilbert, Melissa Sue Anderson, and twins Lindsay and Sydney Greenbush. The show is an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books.
Almanzo James Wilder was the husband of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the father of Rose Wilder Lane, both noted authors.
Charles Phillip Ingalls was an American pioneer, farmer, government official, musician, and carpenter who was the father of Laura Ingalls Wilder, known for her Little House series of books. He is depicted as the character "Pa" in the books and the television series.
Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie is a 2005 American western television miniseries directed by David L. Cunningham. It is a six-part adaptation of children's novels Little House in the Big Woods (1932) and Little House on the Prairie (1935) by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was broadcast on ABC as part of The Wonderful World of Disney anthology series.
Nellie Oleson is a fictional character in the Little House series of autobiographical children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. She was portrayed by Alison Arngrim in the NBC television show Little House on the Prairie, where her role is much expanded. Three different girls from Laura Ingalls Wilder's childhood — Nellie Owens, Genevieve Masters and Stella Gilbert — were the basis for the fictional Nellie Oleson.
On the Banks of Plum Creek is an autobiographical children's novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published in 1937, the fourth of nine books in her Little House series. It is based on a few years of her childhood when the Ingalls family lived at Plum Creek near Walnut Grove, Minnesota, during the 1870s. The original dust jacket proclaimed, "The true story of an American pioneer family by the author of Little House in the Big Woods".
Little Town on the Prairie is an autobiographical children's novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published in 1941, the seventh of nine books in her Little House series. It is set in De Smet, South Dakota. It opens in the spring after the Long Winter, and ends as Laura becomes a schoolteacher so she can help her sister, Mary, stay at a school for the blind in Vinton, Iowa. It tells the story of 15-year-old Laura's first paid job outside of home and her last terms of schooling. At the end of the novel, she receives a teacher's certificate, and is employed to teach at the Brewster settlement, 12 miles (19 km) away.
Little House on the Prairie is an autobiographical children's novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder, published in 1935. It was the third novel published in the Little House series, continuing the story of the first, Little House in the Big Woods (1932), but not related to the second. Thus, it is sometimes called the second one in the series, or the second volume of "the Laura Years".
Little House on the Prairie is a 1974 American made for television film]] which served as the pilot to the Little House on the Prairie TV series on NBC. It is closely based on the Little House on the Prairie novel; second of the "Little House" series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The pilot was produced by Ed Friendly with the script written by Blanche Hanalis and directed by Michael Landon.
William Anderson is an American author, historian, and lecturer. He is a specialist in the subject of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her times.
Laura, the Prairie Girl is a Japanese anime television series based on the novels Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Twenty-six half-hour episodes were released between 1975 and 1976.
Edwin Hyde "Robert" Alden was an American Congregational minister. He was one of the many real people upon whom Laura Ingalls Wilder based a character in the Little House on the Prairie series of books and the NBC television series of the same name.
Little House on the Prairie: The Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder is a documentary film about the life of American author Laura Ingalls Wilder. She is best known for her Little House on the Prairie book series.
"I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away" is episode 21 and 22 of the fourth season of Little House on the Prairie. It aired in two parts on NBC, part 1 on March 6, 1978, part 2 on March 13, 1978.
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