I had a pen pal from South Dakota, oh years ago, who was related to Laura Ingalls!!! His grandparents were Ingalls (their actual last name!) and they were decedents of the family (I'm not sure how). It was quite neat anyways! So I wrote to Melissa Gilbert, to tell her this, and she signed a pic for my pen pal as a gift!
Plus, my pen pal's cousin's name is Laura Ingalls. Too cute!!