Preacher takes a wife.

Sometimes mrs olsen makes me soo .Glad they got married in the end & mrs olsen changed.

I love the Harriet story in this one! You really feel her pain in this one. Katherine did a wonderful job in this one.

I liked how you got to see 2 sides of her also...she is such a good actress. The pain she felt and harbored a bit inside seemed very real.
I wish they showed the preachers wife more often after they married, so much trouble and then she wasn't shown even at church (unless I missed it)

I think when they expand a character to show their past, etc. it helps you understand them better. When Harriet tells Nellie in one episode how the store helped her get a husband, you see a vulnerability in her. You might forget it when she is shooting barbs at Nels or Caroline, but it's there.

was Reverend Alden's wife seen again after this episode? I don't remember seeing her again after they were married, but of course I could have missed it. But if I did, I know I'd like to see the later episodes with her

She wasn't seen again, that I remember, but she was mentioned in the episode where the women of Walnut Grove moved into Nellie's Hotel to convince the men to sign the state petition to get women the right to vote.

The actress passed away 2 weeks after the episode thats why she was never in another episode

Episode aired in 1979......................Passed away 3 years after airing..............


Iris Korn played Anna Craig

Born: January 6, 1907 in Arkansas, USA

Died: January 27, 1982 (age 75) in Springfield, Missouri, USA

There has always been that rumor, though, that she wasn't featured because she had died soon afterwards. Reminds me of that rumor about Katherine MacGregor having cancer, which prevented her from participating in the show's finale.

She made two appearances in the three years after Little House. Never know, could have been ill...

1982 Jimmy the Kid
Farmer's Wife

1981 Taxi (TV Series)
Edith Tremayne
- Louie Bumps into an Old Lady (1981) ... Edith Tremayne

1979 Little House on the Prairie (TV Series)
Anna Craig
- The Preacher Takes a Wife (1979) ... Anna Craig

I am currently watching The Christmas Present on The Patty Duke Show (1963).  As many of you know, William Schallert played Patty's father.  In this episode, 'Martin' is remembering someone he went to school with, 'Harriet Oleson'.  This made me chuckle since William Schallert played Dean Russell Harmon in The Preacher Takes a Wife (1979).  If you remember, he was Harriet Oleson's fiance and chose his religion over marrying her. If you notice the years these episodes were shown in and then how far apart that these shows were done, isn't it cool how they tied in and it was all by accident?

That's neat.

I watched this episode (recorded from COZI TV) this evening. I am not even completely sure I've ever watched it all the way through before. I remembered the stuff with Harriet and the other preacher, but I don't remember the way that Anna confessed her love for Rev. Alden earlier in the episode. That seemed a bit over the top, but his reaction was funny.

In any case, I think this was a pretty nice episode and gave Dabbs Greer a chance to shine. (But I thought it was corny that Charles was going to perform the wedding! Is there anything that man cannot do?) In the end, it is not clear to me if the Rev. William Schallert (don't remember the character's last name, although his first name was Russell) performed the wedding ceremony or if Charles did. I would assume that Russell performed it, since he was there in town.

I also liked that we saw a side of Harriet which gave some explanation for her nasty behavior. If they had not had that as a part of the plot, her being so upset about Rev. Alden getting married would just have seemed odd to me, even for Harriet Oleson. It's not like Rev. Alden is a Catholic priest, after all, and I assume that ministers fairly routinely got married back then, as today. But throwing in the little plot twist about Harriet's past was really a good way to go, in my opinion. I like that she told Russell that she is proud of her family, and in that case, I don't think it was necessarily a haughty arrogance but demonstrating that she realized she did come out ahead after all. What a difference her life might have been, though, if she had been a minister's wife! I don't think that she was cut out for that.

What I don't like about the episode, though, is that it seems as if it is all forgotten in the future. I think that Anna is mentioned in a later episode as having gone traveling somewhere. Then after that I don't know that she is ever mentioned again. If they didn't want to have her as a recurring character, they could have just had her die off. That could also have been a powerful episode for Dabbs Greer.

Rhonda wrote:

I am currently watching The Christmas Present on The Patty Duke Show (1963).  As many of you know, William Schallert played Patty's father.  In this episode, 'Martin' is remembering someone he went to school with, 'Harriet Oleson'.  This made me chuckle since William Schallert played Dean Russell Harmon in The Preacher Takes a Wife (1979).  If you remember, he was Harriet Oleson's fiance and chose his religion over marrying her. If you notice the years these episodes were shown in and then how far apart that these shows were done, isn't it cool how they tied in and it was all by accident?

I love THE PATTY DUKE SHOW but have not seen it for quite a long time....but I sure don't remember that about Harriet Oleson! Hilarious!

I also realized there was another issue about this episode I wanted to comment on.....didn't we learn in some other episode (one where Mr. Edwards was battling alcoholism maybe?) that Revd. Alden did have a family at some time but that he (Revd. Alden) battled alcohol and somehow lost his family because of that? Yet in this episode he told Anna that nobody ever told him they loved him before except his parents.

Perhaps I just have things mixed up, but I felt like somewhere along the way we did learn that Revd. Alden had a family at some time in the past. Does anyone else remember this?

amyk wrote:

I also realized there was another issue about this episode I wanted to comment on.....didn't we learn in some other episode (one where Mr. Edwards was battling alcoholism maybe?) that Revd. Alden did have a family at some time but that he (Revd. Alden) battled alcohol and somehow lost his family because of that? Yet in this episode he told Anna that nobody ever told him they loved him before except his parents.

Perhaps I just have things mixed up, but I felt like somewhere along the way we did learn that Revd. Alden had a family at some time in the past. Does anyone else remember this?

I think you may be mixing up parts of Isaiah's and Reverend Alden's lives. In Season 1, when Charles brings Isaiah Edwards back with him to Walnut Grove, Isaiah gets upset when he discovers Laura in bed with a fever. Afterwards, he explains to Charles that he was married once and had a young daughter. He brought smallpox back with him, and Isaiah blames himself for having a homestead so far away from help, which is what he says killed his wife and daughter.

You are correct that at some point Reverend Alden admits to Isaiah (if I recall correctly) that he battled alcoholism.

amyk wrote:

In any case, I think this was a pretty nice episode and gave Dabbs Greer a chance to shine. (But I thought it was corny that Charles was going to perform the wedding! Is there anything that man cannot do?) In the end, it is not clear to me if the Rev. William Schallert (don't remember the character's last name, although his first name was Russell) performed the wedding ceremony or if Charles did. I would assume that Russell performed it, since he was there in town.

Do you remember the episode titled "Blizzard" when Miss Beadle let the kids out early from school on Christmas Eve and a blizzard blew through Walnut Grove? Reverend Alden was away that Christmas, so he asked Charles to preach. Maybe that's what they did instead of expecting another minister to travel to marry people.

amyk wrote:

I also liked that we saw a side of Harriet which gave some explanation for her nasty behavior. If they had not had that as a part of the plot, her being so upset about Rev. Alden getting married would just have seemed odd to me, even for Harriet Oleson. It's not like Rev. Alden is a Catholic priest, after all, and I assume that ministers fairly routinely got married back then, as today. But throwing in the little plot twist about Harriet's past was really a good way to go, in my opinion. I like that she told Russell that she is proud of her family, and in that case, I don't think it was necessarily a haughty arrogance but demonstrating that she realized she did come out ahead after all. What a difference her life might have been, though, if she had been a minister's wife! I don't think that she was cut out for that.

I like this episode for this very reason as well. It is good to see some of her past, and Nels' as well, since he reminds her that his mother thought marrying Harriet was a mistake.

amyk wrote:

What I don't like about the episode, though, is that it seems as if it is all forgotten in the future. I think that Anna is mentioned in a later episode as having gone traveling somewhere. Then after that I don't know that she is ever mentioned again. If they didn't want to have her as a recurring character, they could have just had her die off. That could also have been a powerful episode for Dabbs Greer.

I wish we would have seen more of Anna as well.

bethandmanly wrote:

amyk wrote:

I also realized there was another issue about this episode I wanted to comment on.....didn't we learn in some other episode (one where Mr. Edwards was battling alcoholism maybe?) that Revd. Alden did have a family at some time but that he (Revd. Alden) battled alcohol and somehow lost his family because of that? Yet in this episode he told Anna that nobody ever told him they loved him before except his parents.

Perhaps I just have things mixed up, but I felt like somewhere along the way we did learn that Revd. Alden had a family at some time in the past. Does anyone else remember this?

I think you may be mixing up parts of Isaiah's and Reverend Alden's lives. In Season 1, when Charles brings Isaiah Edwards back with him to Walnut Grove, Isaiah gets upset when he discovers Laura in bed with a fever. Afterwards, he explains to Charles that he was married once and had a young daughter. He brought smallpox back with him, and Isaiah blames himself for having a homestead so far away from help, which is what he says killed his wife and daughter.

You are correct that at some point Reverend Alden admits to Isaiah (if I recall correctly) that he battled alcoholism.

Yes, I remember about Isaiah having had the wife and daughter that died. There is a LITTLE HOUSE "wiki" that states that a disaster killed Revd. Alden's family, which led him to turn to alcoholism, so that is saying not that he lost his family because of alcoholism, but rather that he turned to alcohol after losing his family. That also states that it is in the episode A PROMISE TO KEEP that Revd. Alden shared this background with Isaiah. Here is the link to that website: https://littlehouse.fandom.com/wiki/Robert_Alden

I'm going to go check out the A PROMISE TO KEEP thread and see if anyone on this forum mentioned about Revd. Alden turning to alcoholism after losing his family.

My own comments from A PROMISE TO KEEP were: "My favorite part, though, is when Isaiah goes to the church and prays and then the heart-to-heart with Revd. Alden. And so neat that Revd. Alden actually had been an alcoholic himself. I wonder what he meant that he lost everything? Was he married before and had a family??"

So it seems that it was unclear to me when I watched that if Revd. Alden meant he had lost a family. I watch the show from COZI-TV though, and it cuts out parts, so part of that scene may have been cut. I wish someone who has the show on DVD would watch that scene and let us know if Revd. Alden did really turn to alcohol after losing a family or if that is more clear in the complete version of that episode.