Tom Quiner

Thomas Lewis Quiner

Thomas Lewis Quiner, Ma's younger brother, was born on November 23, 1844. "Uncle Tom" makes his appearance in the "Little House" books in These Happy Golden Years, when he visits the Ingalls family in De Smet.

Laura's Uncle Tom lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin when Laura was a little girl, but he is not mentioned in Little House in the Big Woods. Tom left the Big Woods and joined the Garrison party to search for gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Tom later married Lillian Graham Hill, and had six children: Helen, Alice, Donald, Dugold, Lillian, and John. The Quiner family lived for some time in De Smet, South Dakota, near the Ingalls home in town.

Uncle Tom died in a logging accident along the Columbia River on February 23, 1903, soon after the birth of his youngest son John.