RELEASED!

Little Lodges on the Prairie: Freemasonry & Laura Ingalls Wilder has been released on Amazon.com.

Other formats forthcoming.

Little Lodges on the Prairie - Coming Soon!

Welcome to my (revised) blog!

If you’ve been here before, you will notice that I have removed almost all of my previous posts. That’s because, for a while at least, Hen Scratches will focus more on the hen’s scratches than on the hen.

One of the few remaining previous posts is the announcement of the upcoming Little Lodges on the Prairie.

Little Lodges has been my primary research/writing project for the past couple of years. I’m excited to be able to give you an update. Biggest news: it will be released this month!

The subtitle of the book has changed, to “Freemasonry & Laura Ingalls Wilder.” The book focuses on more than just Laura, which is why I chose the original subtitle, but after receiving much feedback that having Laura’s name on the cover is essential, I have taken heed of the advice. As implied, the book chronicles the connections of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family to Freemasonry. Although it has long been known that Laura was an Eastern Star, and her father and husband were Masons, few other details have been documented. Little Lodges on the Prairie provides those details. One of the records included is Charles Ingalls’ original petition to the Masonic Lodge. Another is Laura’s report to the Grand Chapter of Missouri, Order of the Eastern Star, as District Deputy Grand Lecturer. There are lots more; I hope readers will enjoy seeing these documents, and come away with a new perspective of Laura and her family.

Check back here, or at www.LittleLodgesonthePrairie.com, to learn when the book is available. I’ll be having some sneak peeks and bonus documents posted regularly, too, so check back for those as well.

Now that Little Lodges is complete, what will become the hen’s primary scratches? I have long been intrigued at how some people see the hand of God in everything from butterflies to the Holocaust, while others experience the same events, both joyful and tragic, and see them as evidence that no god could possibly exist. My next book - currently about a third completed, and still untitled - is a work of literary fiction that explores faith and reason in our lives. I’ll be posting more about this in the future, and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

In development: a book based on the life of my ancestors. Set in mid-1800s Texas, it will tell the story of how my Comanche g-g-g-g-mother was taken from her tribe by a Texas Ranger (my g-g-g-g-father), and how she dealt with life as a native woman in a white (mostly man’s) world.

My first three books: a nonfiction, a literary fiction, and a historical-western-memoir. This reminds me of when a new friend visited my home for the first time. He went immediately to my bookshelves, saying, “You can tell a lot about a person by their books.” After browsing through for a few minutes, he turned to me and said, “This is a very eclectic collection; you’re still an enigma to me.”

A.J.'s a Bargain! But he doesn't want to be...

You know how in the old days, newspapers reported all the local gossip: who visited whom, who got new furniture, who sold a horse, who made a trip, and so on?

In April, 1909, the Mansfield Mail reported that "Last Saturday Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Wilder took in the sights at Springfield."

Nothing unusual in the printing of that.

These kinds of snippets were put into certain pages of the paper fairly randomly, often used as filler. The item noted above filled a small spot between the "bargains" column of local stores and a display ad.

The next week, this notice appeared in the paper.

 "A.J. files a protest against being placed in the bargain column. We apologize most abjectly, it was an act of inadvertance, Sir, and inadvertance. The boy who makes up the bargain column had been told to place therein the brightest and best. Being guided by youthful intuition, he did as he did. Again we apol--"

Isn't that a hoot? I love it.

(By the way, the misspelling of inadvertence is their own.)

Swanzey the Record Saver

Another for the LIW folks.

So many fun things that I come across in researching Little Lodges won’t be in the book, but are still interesting enough that I want to be sure all the LIW fans have seen them. Like this one:

Thanks to Bob Hayes for the photo.

See the guy in the photo? On the left side. You might have to look twice to notice him, but it’s David Swanzey (Carrie's husband). This was taken in May, 1933. David was still CB&Q agent then, and when the flood waters began to overflow into the town of Keystone, he ran to gather the railroad’s records, getting them out just in time. I guess it’s just the idea of him saving the records that makes this one of my favorite photos of him - even though you can’t really see him.

February: A Big Month for the Ingalls Family

On the 1^st day of February Charles wed Caroline, in 1860.

On the 2^nd day of February, the Ingalls family hosted the first church services of De Smet in their home, 1880.

On the 7^th day of February, Laura was born, 1867.

On the 10^th of February, Laura passed away, 1957.

On the 13^th of February, Almanzo was born, 1857.

The month of February held several Masonic events for various Ingalls family members through the years (more about that in Little Lodges on the Prairie: Freemasonry in the Ingalls Family).

February was the month in 1889 that Charles was appointed Deputy Sheriff in Kingsbury County (De Smet). (Note: this was not his first gig as Deputy, just the only one for which I have proof in hand of a February appointment.)

What Ingalls-Wilder-Lane-related February happenings can you add?