Malone, New York

Tour of the Wilder Farm
Morgan horses are from Miner Institute in Chazy, NY.
Child and oxen are from Zion Farm in DeKalb, NY.

Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura
Please note: Release date has been changed to September 2008.
Video by Dean Butler and Legacy Documentaries. Used with permission.

Malone, New York

Past:

Abel and Hannah Wilder, the grandparents of Almanzo James Wilder settled in Franklin County, New York, two miles from the town of Malone. Almanzo's father James grew up here, and later built his own farmhouse five miles from Malone. Here, Almanzo was born on February 13, 1857.

Laura's second book, Farmer Boy tells of Almanzo's childhood on the Malone farm with his older brothers and sisters Royal, Eliza Jane, and Alice. Almanzo also had an older sister, Laura, who was grown when the book took place, and a younger brother Perley, who was not yet born during the events of Farmer Boy.

The Wilders lived in Malone until 1875, when crop failures forced the family to move to Spring Valley, Minnesota.

Present:

The original Wilder farmhouse, restored and furnished with period items, some of which belonged to relatives of Almanzo, still stands near the present town of Burke, New York. The Trout River still flows nearby. The large barns described in Farmer Boy have been torn down, but replica barns have been built on the property.

In the town of Malone, five miles from the Wilder farm, visitors can see the fairgrounds where Almanzo's milk-fed pumpkin won first place. Many of Almanzo's relatives are buried in Morningside Cemetery, north of the fairgrounds.

Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder Association
P.O. Box 283
Malone, New York 12953

The Wilder parlor, where Almanzo threw
the blacking brush at Eliza Jane

A loom like Mother Wilder used

The pantry at the Wilder Farm