Robert Alden
| Edwin H. Alden | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | January 14, 1836 Windsor, Vermont, U.S. |
| Died | May 6, 1911 (aged 75) Chester, Vermont, U.S. |
| Spouse | twice |
Reverend Edwin H. Alden, known as Robert Alden (January 14, 1836 - May 6, 1911), a real person and a character of the "Little House on the Prairie" series of books and a television series based on it.
[edit] Biography
Reverend Alden was born in Windsor, Vermont. He was the minister of the Congregational Church in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, described in the book "On the Banks of Plum Creek". He was a home missionary, having a church in the East, involved in planting new churches, such as the one in Walnut Grove, on the western frontier.
When the Ingalls family left Walnut Grove, they were convinced they would never see him again, but he unexpectedly appeared in Dakota Territory (which Laura Ingalls Wilder mentioned in "By the Shores of Silver Lake"). Reverend Alden held the first church service in De Smet in the Surveyors House (where the Ingalls lived temoporary) in the February 1880. He was the one who told the family about Iowa College for the Blind in Vinton, Iowa.
Next, he went north and became an Indian agent in what would later become North Dakota. He committed various acts of fraud in this position until the defrauded Indians threatened to kill him.[1] He was married twice and had two children. He died in Chester, Vermont, at the age of 75.[2]
[edit] In the media
Reverend Alden was portrayed in the television series "Little House on the Prairie" and its movie sequels, (1974–1984) by an actor Dabbs Greer.
