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The Prange Boys Resettle in Nebraska
In January 1878, Henry Prange sold his Indiana farm and moved to the vicinity of Staplehurst, Nebraska, northwest of Seward. He married Caroline Herman on February 21, 1879, at Zion Lutheran Church in Marysville, Nebraska. By 1881, he had become acquainted with John and Margaretha (Gluesing) Mewes, who lived in Utica, serving as a baptismal sponsor for one their children that year.
Three of Henry's brothers soon followed him to Nebraska; two of them would marry Mewes daughters. Chris Prange married Annina Mewes on October 26, 1882, at Zion, Marysville. In April 1885, the young couple purchased 80 acres of land 2.5 miles north of the Marysville church.
Chris and Annina Prange
A second brother, Ernst Prange, married Maria Homeier in Friedheim, Ind., but when their daughter, Clara, was born in 1884, she was baptized at the Marysville church, indicating that they too had moved to Nebraska by that time.
A third brother, William Prange, apparently came to Nebraska around 1884 to serve as Henry's carpentry helper. There he would meet his future helpmate, Anna Mewes, the younger sister of his sister-in-law, Annina Prange.
William Prange, 1884
Anna Prange, circa 1889
Christian & Caroline Prange Come to Staplehurst
In 1886, Christian and Caroline followed their four oldest sons west, selling their Indiana farm in March to William Conrad for a total of $7,500. Caroline's father, Christian Bruns, died in Friedheim on March 16, 1886, suggesting another contributing factor to their move west at this time.
When the senior Pranges arrived in Nebraska, they purchased 160 acres of land immediately west of Chris' farm. Henry Prange also bought land at the same time just east of Chris' farm. The Pranges' youngest son, Diedrich, married Elizabeth Bley at Zion, Friedheim on September 3, 1889, but the newlyweds soon joined the Prange contingent in Nebraska.
The Pranges' youngest daughter Caroline was married on November 25, 1888 at Zion, Marysville, to Fred Conrad, whose father had purchased the Pranges' Indiana farm. The couple first lived near Friedheim, Ind., but in 1893 they returned in Nebraska. Their older daughter, Wilhelmina, was the only child who did not accompany the family to Nebraska. She married William Dehne and lived in Fort Wayne. The mother of two children, Wilhelmina died on April 20, 1937. Her funeral was held at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne.
The majority of the Prange family was not destined to remain in Nebraska and be buried there. In August 1894 John Mewes and Henry Prange hatched a plan to purchase a considerable tract of land south of Crocketts Bluff, Arkansas. In December of that same year, William and Anna Prange moved their family to Crocketts Bluff in a mass migration of the Prange-Mewes clan that would change their lives forever.
The Recollections of Prange-Mewes Cousins: William & Walther Prange
1973 Walter Prange Recollections.mp3In 1973, two grandchildren of Christian & Caroline Prange and John & Margaretha Mewes sat down to recall some Prange-Mewes family history. William Prange (born 1885) was the son of Chris and Annina Prange, and Walther Prange (born 1898) was the son of William and Anna Prange.
A transcript of their recollections
Walter Prange: The Pranges went to, to, ah, Nebraska from Indiana. Henry probably was the first one.
William Prange: He went, he was there before Dad [Chris Prange]. I don’t know how many years. He already had a farm with buildings on it and everything.
Walter Prange: Yeah. And, ah, your dad come later and then later my Dad [William Prange].
William Prange: Yeah, your dad must have come later.
Walter Prange: Yeah, cause, ah, he worked for, I think he worked for Uncle Henry and he also worked for Grandpa.
William Prange: Oh, your dad worked for Uncle Henry?
Walter Prange: Yeah, it seems to me.
William Prange: Well, of course I wouldn’t know.
Walter Prange: I’m not sure.
William Prange: He might’ve.
Walter Prange: Ernst, he never did go to Nebraska.
William Prange: Yeah, Uncle Ernst was in Nebraska, too.
Walter Prange: Was he? Yeah.
William Prange: They were all there.
Walter Prange: Well, they … and then, ah, Grandpa Prange, he had to follow to stay with the children (laughing).
William Prange: Whether he come later, I don’t know, because as far as the way the places were, were there, why the Pranges were all, one, one, one place joined the other.
Walter Prange: Yeah.
William Prange: One place joined the other. And, ah, whether [Fred and Caroline] Conrad come there later, I don’t, don’t remember. I remember when Conrad was married, and I think I remember when your dad was married, cause I was … no, I’m wrong there. It was Uncle Diedrich. There was another uncle.
Walter Prange: Yeah
William Prange: Uncle Diedrich.
Walter Prange: Ah, well, Dad and Mother [William and Anna Prange], they married in, ah, ’60 … in ’89.
William Prange: In ’89.
Walter Prange: ’89, November ’89. Mm, hmm.
William Prange: Well that was … so I guess I, I always felt I was, I was, I don’t know whether I was at the wedding, but I think I was because, you see, I was four years old then already.
Walter Prange: Of course, he asked a question here, (reading) “when Grandpa Prange led the boys to, to Nebraska,” but it’s … the boys led him. (laughing)
William Prange: No, Grandpa Prange did not lead the boys to Nebraska because Uncle Henry was there first and then my Dad [Chris] followed.
Walter Prange: He asked a question then too about, ah, education. As far as I know, education was mostly parochial schools.
William Prange: Mm, hmm. Education was practically all parochial school and, of course, that just went up to eighth grade. Of course, I doubt whether they had grades then at that time (laughing).
Walter Prange: Then, well, she asked a question here, (reading) “your dad [Chris] married a girl [Annina Mewes] from Iowa, the daughter of an innkeeper [John Mewes].” Well, that, ah, that doesn’t correspond with what I heard.
William Prange: I heard he was a loom keeper.
Walter Prange: It’s a loom keeper (laughing). Well, she comes from Iowa alright, but they lived in, in Nebraska when they married.
William Prange: Yeah.
Walter Prange: And, [let's] see, well, they married in ’76. But I don’t know. (laughing)
William Prange: I don’t think they were married in ’76 [Chris and Annina Prange were married on October 26, 1882]. Better take that off.
Third Person: (laughing) We oughta erase that.
Walter Prange: (reading) “They had money, they must have had money to have financed the relative large initial purchase of land by the brothers in Arkansas.”
William Prange: Well, it didn’t take much money to buy land in Arkansas then. It averaged about $2.50 an acre (laughing). So they bought—from what information I’ve got—why, they bought around 3,500 acres. And, ah, of course, the year after they bought that, we all moved to Arkansas.
Walter Prange: And that, ah, was mostly Uncle Henry and, ah, Grandpa Mewes. They had the money, I guess.
William Prange: Ah, Uncle Henry and Grandpa Mewes, they were cahoots in this.
Walter Prange: Yeah.
William Prange: And, ah, later on for some reason they fell out, and they divided the land; each one went his own way. They didn’t get along at all.
Walter Prange: Then, (reading), “To volunteer at the same time to find political [?] help for, for the, ah, adventure,” or was it the adventures? That I wouldn’t hardly know.
William Prange: Well, they went, the first place they went to Indiana [sic] on account they needed more land, and they needed to leave Nebraska to get more land.
Walter Prange: (laughing) Well, of course, Dad was born in Nebraska, ah, in Indiana.
William Prange: Yeah, the boys were all born in Indiana, of course.
Walter Prange: No.
William Prange: Weren’t they?
Walter Prange: Your dad [Chris] and Uncle Henry, I’m pretty sure, was born in, in Germany.
William Prange: No, my Dad was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Walter Prange: Yeah?
William Prange: Mm, hmm.
Walter Prange: Well, I, I’m not sure.
William Prange: About Uncle Henry, I wouldn’t know. [Henry Prange was born in Germany on August 30, 1852]
Walter Prange: Yeah. I know, ah, some of them come from Germany, I’m pretty sure. Ah …
William Prange: I never really did hear whether any of the boys were born in Germany. I know Grandfather was, but my Dad was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, or at least in that county, Allen County.
Walter Prange: Yeah, that, that’s where Dad [William Prange] was born, too. But Grandpa Prange came, well, Herman [Prange, Chris and Annina's oldest son] told us, in 1857; he come to Indiana.
William Prange: Huh?
Walter Prange: In 1857.
William Prange: Grandpa came in 1857?
Walter Prange: Yeah, that’s …
William Prange: I might’ve heard that, but …
Walter Prange: Let’s see, (reading) “it became evident to me that when (inaudible), a dissension among the Prange brothers in Arkansas developed not too long after their arrivals. It was, I was always known … I had always known that Chris and Henry went their separate ways (inaudible). And your parents [William and Anna Prange] moved to Benton County.” Well, that, that was Saline County. (reading) “What happened to break the ties which must have been strong to have brought them to Arkansas together?”
William Prange: Well, I think the reason your dad [William] left, he didn’t want to raise rice. I don’t know, that’s the impression I always had.
Walter Prange: Yeah, that’s, ah, that’s one reason, I guess. But the mosquitoes was so bad. He didn’t have, have, ah, the finances to go into the rice. (reading) “Your fam … your father seemed to have pursued family farming and stayed with the church. Grandfather Prange, Chris, apparently leaned more to mercantilism, store, and sawmill, with smaller scale farming. And he stayed with the church. Henry was engaged in more large scale farming, and my impression his religious life declined. Is there anything you can tell me on this subject?”
William Prange: Well, I don’t think that he went to church anymore after that day. See, him and Grandpa Mewes didn’t hitch either.
Walter Prange: Yeah, I, ah, I gathered that. When, ah, Selma [Dupslaff] and Theodore [Mavis] were getting, getting up that family history on the Mewes side, and we, we went to DeWitt [Arkansas], ah, Grandpa Mewes, Uncle Henry, and, ah, Mr. Stakes, they were the trustees of the church there when it started.
William Prange: Yeah.
Walter Prange: And then later I learned from someone that, ah, somebody accused Uncle Henry of something. He was the treasurer, I think, and, ah, that, ah, brought dissension. (laughing) But, ah, when after Uncle Henry went to, ah, Hot Springs [Arkansas], I heard he was very active there.
William Prange: I never heard much about him after he went to Hot Springs.
Walter Prange: That the pastor that, ah, was there, (inaudible), he said he was, he was very active there. He didn’t live there too long. (reading) “Your Prange brothers—Will, Chris, Henry—were obviously imbued with culture, sophistication, principles, and ambition.” Quite some innovation to get started then.
William Prange: Well, you could usually make a living. You didn’t need any money. And we always had a good living.
Walter Prange: (reading) “Along with that, strong family ties that prompted them first to the same area in Nebraska and again, some years later, to the same area in Arkansas. These ties were sufficiently strong to have influenced Fred Conrad to accompany the group in Arkansas, which made it possible for his wife Lina to be near her brothers. This strong togetherness is not very often seen today, but this had been a outgrow, an outgrowth of their parental training. Or was it merely mutual protection in an economical sense? Or could it be that settlements of Lutherans were so widely scattered that it took all of them—Pranges, Mewes, and Conrad—to support that organized church body?”
William Prange: Let’s see, we moved there in 1894, and in, ah, 1895 the congregation was organized. And that church must have been built right away after that. It must have been built in ’95 or ’96. I bought that church and that property later for $150.
Walter Prange: Yeah.
Christian & Caroline Prange Remain in Staplehurst
While the vast majority of the Prange and Mewes families relocated to Arkansas in 1894, Christian and Caroline Prange stayed behind in Nebraska. They were not alone. Their son Diedrich also remained in Nebraska, but he died in the state psychiatric hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, on May 13, 1895, just five months after the other families' departure. He is buried in the Zion, Marysville cemetery. Several years later his widow Elizabeth and their three daughters returned to Friedheim, Indiana. She married William Schaekel and the couple had a son named Herman. She died in 1951.
Ernst and Marie (Homeier) Prange also continued to live in the Staplehurst-Seward, Nebraska, area with their family. Marie died November 3, 1933, and is buried in Seward. Seven months later on June 20, 1934, death also came to her husband and he was laid to rest in Seward as well.
Ongoing Correspondence
Despite their distance from one another, the Nebraska and Arkansas Pranges continued to provide family updates to one another through regular correspondence. For example, on August 18, 1899, Christian and Caroline Prange both wrote to the William and Anna Prange family in Crocketts Bluff, Arkansas, after recently receiving a picture of their growing family. Ernst's wife, Marie, also included a few lines, giving an update of their family.
Caroline Prange letter
Caroline Prange letter
Nemelfort (Staplehurst), August 18, 1899
Dear children,
Your loving mother takes up the quill in the name of the Lord to write to you that we have received the picture. It pleases us, and dear Grandmama in particular, that she can see you all in the picture and that you all look healthy and well.
Wilhelm and Anna, thank you very much for not sparing effort and trouble with your letters. Dear children, these days we have also received a picture from Sisi [Diedrich's wife, Elizabeth], in which all three [children], Frieda, Adelinde, and Hulda are shown. They are all healthy and look well. They also have quite an assortment of fruits for the kitchen, just like last year. May the Lord protect them.
We have more rain, also thunderstorms; last week it hailed. Now and then some corn is damaged, but so far not ours, it happens locally in different places.
Dear children, many greetings from your loving mother and all the others [to] Fritz and Line [Fred and Caroline Conrad], Christ and Heinzi [Chris and Henry Prange], all grandchildren, [and] mother Mewes especially. Mother P[range] is still in the house; this is difficult, and the strength is waning. - Write again soon
Christian Prange letter
Christian Prange letter
Because mother has written, so I also want to write a few lines. We have more rain this year than last year, and if nothing else gets damaged, we can say that we have a good harvest. The winter wheat was frozen, but Ernst had sown summer wheat; [it] was also pretty good. We have not threshed yet. If it stays dry, he will be done with cutting tomorrow.
Schalli Wiesman will begin living in the house where Ernst usually stays, although I have not yet finally confirmed it with him.
We two old people have a room where we sleep and eat. I still hoped that I would find someone who would buy it, but nobody wants to pay the 7000. And I won't sell below that because we can live here too.
There are 80 acres of corn planted of which I work 8 acres myself, and of the others I get a third. We still have 3 cows that I milk. Potatoes are good, if they stay in such a way that they do not rot; also fruit. Now I will close with greetings.
Christian Prange
Dear in-laws!
Well, now I want to quickly write a few lines to you how about we are doing. We are quite well, thank God, only our little Rosina has something like dysentery (Sauerkrankenheit; lit. "sour sickness"). [We] Want to hope that it does not get worse. She is teething a lot. She stands up on her own if she can grab something to pull herself up.
Today we are finally done with cutting [wheat]. When we have cut a part on one day, then it rains again. Now it has gone well for a few days. With all this rain, we don't get many cucumbers and green beans. Last Saturday we had hail here. With us it has not done any damage, but with Heinrich Zwick’s and further west there was a lot of damage to the grain.
I must say, you have not changed, only Louise did; what a big girl she is now. Now I must close, I have no more time. Father wants to leave.
With greetings,
Your sister-in-law Eva Maria Prange.
I hope that these lines reach you in good health.
Included in the August 1899 letters from Nebraska was a swath of blonde hair, presumably taken from the head of the one-year-old Rosina Prange.
New Year's Greetings
On January 11, 1906, both Christian and Caroline offered New Year's greetings to their family in Arkansas.
Nemelfort (Staplehurst), January 11, 1906
My dear Wilhelm and Anna and nephew and everyone,
I will try to see if I can still write in this year of 1906, since we are buried under heavy snow, and now we have to wait it out as to what our dear God has in mind to show us, for his love for us has not yet ever ceased, for indeed he has given his Son to whom we will turn and call out, "Lord, abide with us, for it will become evening in our hearts."
We have received your letter and see that you are looking for piece of property. For that I wish you God's blessings materially and spiritually for which you may not be able to realize, for anything great has a small beginning. Before you create a debt and pay interest, (remember) those (things) land every day on your table. What is the condition of the building? How many trees? How many rooms? And clear boundary lines? How big a debt will you have afterward? If you dare to (have me) know these things, but a person is often curious for his own children. And so about these questions, there is no requirement on my part to know if the price is too far out or too high.
When I stop my rambling, I find it is still evening and here I am in my house. Yesterday I was in Nemelfort; there was no one other than me and my two horses and buggy. Seems like it's always evening, and this winter I will have two cows to milk, which I have always done alone. And even if it goes slow, I still get it done. The butter costs 16 cents; eggs 20; potatoes 50; corn 31.
At this point I will close with many greetings to you all who have my name Prange and who still know that I am your father. I am Christian Prange. Write soon again. Greet also Mewes.
(From:) Your dear mother and grandmother.
I wish for you all a blessed New Year, peace, health, contentment, and harmony. O Holy Spirit, enlighten with understanding the crying out of our hearts in prayer. And I go on God's path, knowing what he has done and makes me sure of the blessing of the Kingdom of Heaven, and that whoever makes God his refuge, God will not abandon such a one.
Now, dear children, I wish you success and blessing with your farm, which leaves me behind. I am very much in pain night and day. I see myself slipping away. Your will, O God, be done as you see fit. Make me ready, thus I pray. Greetings from your dear mother to everyone who is there with [William] Conrad and Caroline Prange. As for me, I have at last written a letter. I must close, once again, greetings to all. I just can't do more.
Carolena Prange
A Final Resting Place
Christian and Caroline were born in the Weser River valley of Germany and are buried in the Zion Lutheran cemetery, Marysville, Nebraska, near a small prairie waterway named Lincoln Creek. Their bodies await the resurrection in a land that was not originally theirs, a vivid reminder that we are all "aliens and strangers on earth" (Hebrews 11:13).
Caroline Prange died on May 17, 1907, at the age of 81. Her funeral was conducted by Pastor Rittamel at Zion Lutheran Church, Marysville, Neb. The sermon text was Psalm 31:15. Her husband Christian lived another five years, dying at the age of 89 on February 8, 1912. The sermon text for his funeral service was John 5:24.
Christian and Caroline Prange were the parents of eight children and 52 grandchildren. Christian Prange left a trust of $1,500 that allowed his grandson, Rudolph Prange, to study for the pastoral ministry at St. John's Lutheran College, Winfeld, Kansas. In later years, younger brother Erich also attended this college. Other grandsons who became Lutheran pastors were Bruno and Erwin Prange. The Lutheran church was near and dear to their hearts.
Christian and Caroline's son Ernst continued to live in the Staplehurst-Seward, Nebraska area. He died on June 20, 1934, and was buried in Seward.
Christian Prange (1823-1912)
Caroline Prange (1825-1907)
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