William & Anna Prange
The Courtship of William Prange & Anna Mewes
By 1887, William Prange had begun corresponding on a regular basis with Anna Mewes. She was born in State Center, Iowa, on Novemeber 14, 1869, and confirmed at Zion, Marysville in 1884 by Pastor J. George Weller, who later served as the first president of the Lutheran Teachers Seminary in Seward, Nebraska, now Concordia University, Nebraska. The Mewes family had moved to Utica, Nebraska, in 1880.
For the most part, the young couple's correspondence was conducted in German, but smatterings of English were also used, including several sets of verses that William sent to Anna. "Has Sorrow Thy Young Days Shaded" and "When First I Met Thee" were originally composed by the Irish poet Thomas Moore (1779-1852). "I Am Thine in Thy Gladness" could possibly have been original with William.
I am thine in thy gladness,
I am thine in thy tears,
My heart it can change not.
In absence or years
Were a cabin thy dwelling
My home it should be
My heart would be happy
Were I but with thee.
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Has sorrow thy young days shaded,
As clouds o’er the morning fleet?
Too fast have thy young days faded,
That even in sorrow were sweet
Does time with his cold wing wither
Each feeling that once was dear
Then child of misfortune come hither
I’ll weep with thee, tear for tear.
When first I met thee warm and young
There shone such truth about thee.
And on thy lip such promise hung,
I did not dare to doubt thee.
I saw thee change, yet still relied
Still clung with hope the fonder,
And thought though false to all beside,
From me thou couldst not wander.
But go, deceiver: go
The heart, whose hopes could make it
Trust one so false, so low,
Deserve that thou shouldst brake it,
When ev’ry tongue thy follies name’d
I fled the unwelcome story,
Or found, in even the faults they blame’d,
Some gleams of future glory.
I still was true, when nearer friends
Conspired to wrong and slight thee
The heart that now thy falsehood sends
Would then have bled to right thee.
But go, deceiver; go
Some day perhaps thou’lt waken
From pleasures dream to know
The grief of hearts forsaken.
Affection's Offering
Among the several letters that Anna Mewes wrote to William Prange over the course of these years was this short note on April 17, 1887. Besides sending him a few lines, Anna also provided some mementos by which to be remembered.
Utica, April 14, ‘87
Dear friend William,
I congratulate you on your birthday and wish that you shall be able to celebrate it many more times in good health.
Yesterday it rained here; now at least it won’t be so dusty for a while.
I have no more time. So excuse your friend who sends you many greetings.
Anna Mewes
Just like the roses bloom, so may always bloom your happiness,
And when you see roses, think back to me.
The William & Anna Prange Family
On November 17, 1889, William Prange and Anna Mewes were married at Zion, Marysville, with Pastor Weller officiating at the wedding. He was 26; she had just turn 20. It is likely that John Mewes farmed the land he owned southeast of Utica, Nebraska, beginning in 1888 and that the property he purchased north of Utica in 1890 was farmed by his new son-in-law, William Prange.
When William and Anna Prange's first child, Bertha, was born on November 4, 1890, the baptismal records at Zion, Marysville, indicate that the new Prange family lived "bei Utica." William and Anna were also listed as members of the Utica congregation, while the rest of the Prange family was active in the Marysville church. A second daughter, Louise, was born on June 10, 1892. Their third Nebraska daughter, Emma, was born on May 13, 1894, but died that same year on September 6. She was buried in the Immanuel, Utica cemetery, further evidence of the close connection between John Mewes and William Prange.