It’s hard to believe in just six days THE LAURA INGALLS WILDER COMPANION: A CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER GUIDE will be published. 

When I research any book, my favorite research doesn’t come from books or online searches. I love to chat with others and get hands-on when possible. (That’s how I got to hold an owl!) 

It was during my visit to the Almanzo Wilder Homestead in Malone, New York, where FARMER BOY takes place that I began to wonder about what year Almanzo Wilder was really born.

Books about Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder report Almanzo’s birthday as February 13, 1857. Even his headstone in Mansfield, Missouri states that 1857 birth year. But some researchers wonder if this is accurate. Multiple census records show he may have been born in 1859.

Read more about my research about the year Almanzo Wilder was born here. 

And you can read even more about my research about Almanzo's birthday here.