Albert Quinn Ingalls is the adopted son of Charles and Caroline Ingalls. He was introduced to the Ingalls family when Laura caught him stealing newspapers and money from the hotel where her family worked in Winoka when he was 10 years old. Charles let him go after returning the money and papers. But later, he caught him stealing a lantern from a store, and chased him to where he was living underneath some stairs. He didn't want to be caught as he didn't want to live in an orphanage again, but he needed to steal to survive.