I'm a member in a german LHOTP-forum as well. Some of the other members there don't speak english, so I tried to create a timeline for them in german, using several sources from the internet and the few books I own.
But soon I had to notice, that events were dated differently. Of course there are a lot of errors in timelines, which were created by LIW-fans like you and me. But I also found this kind of inconsistencies in "professional" biographies.
As more I searched, as more confused I became.
So the year when Laura received her first teaching certificate is dated on December 1883 by William Anderson. In "Laura's Album" there is a picture of the certificate too and you can read the date of December 10th, 1883.
But in the book "The World of Little House" by Carolyne Strom Collins it's said that Laura received her teaching certificate in December 1882. And actually this makes sense as Laura herself pointed out in her book that she became a teacher before she was 16 years old.
The best blooper I found in Zochert's LIW-bio, as he wrote that she received her teaching certificate in December 1883 when she was 15 years old, what is simply impossible because LIW was born in Feb. 1867.
So what is true? Did Laura pass her teaching exam in 1883 in the age of 16
or when she was only 15 years old in 1882?
The oddest thing was that I found Baby Boy Wilder's death dated once 1888 and once 1889 - in two books which are both written by William Anderson!
In "Laura's Album" he wrote it happened in 1889, but in "The Story of the Wilders" he quotes Grace's diary with that the baby boy died in 1888.
I found other sources, which also dated the event 1889, so I would think this is the right date, but on the other side: Grace was quoted with the earlier date and she wrote her diary at this very time and not years later.
So what is the true?
Other events are not so importand, but intersting details as well.
So when did Pa sell his farm in DeSmet? Some sources say it was in 1887, when the Ingalls family moved into their new house in DeSmet.
Other sources say it was in 1892, the same year when Laura and Almanzo returned to DeSmet.
And so the list of inconsistencies grows longer and longer...
It really drives me nuts!
Has anybody here a clue, which biographies and timelines are trustworthy and which are not? I would be thankful for every advice, because I guess it's not such a good idea to publish my timeline with various dates for the same event. :think:
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