Elbridge
Gary Pring
(1862-1943)
Elbridge
Gary Pring was born on April 24, 1862 in Cedar Creek Twp., Allen County, IN,
the son of John and Caroline (Minerd)
Pring.
Elbridge was married twice, but had no children to either marriage. His first wife was Mary C. Cummings (1867-1917), the daughter of Anna Cummings. They may have gotten married circa 1892, when Mary first moved to the city of Fort Wayne.
A newspaper reported this about their wedding:
[They] were married at the Cathedral rectory last evening by the Rev. P.F. Roche. The wedding was pretty but quiet, only immediate relatives being present. The bridesmaid was Miss Anna Conners; and Mr. Frank Cummings, a brother of the bride, attended the groom. The bride was attired in a blue cloth traveling costume, and Miss Conners wore a steel gray gown with hat to match. After the ceremony Mr. and Mrs. Pring left on a wedding trip, and will be at home to friends after May 15. They will reside at the corner of Jeffferson and Francis Streets
The Prings were members of the Precious Blood Church. They resided at 444 Fairmont Place in Fort Wayne.
Sadly,
Mary passed away at age 50 on Jan. 5, 1917, at St. Joseph's Hospital in Fort
Wayne. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette said she "had been in failing
health for some time."
Later in life, Elbridge married Mary Alda (Elson) Brown ( ? -1939), who brought three children to the marriage -- Grace Ginter, Paul Brown and Lawrence Brown.
In 1911, when his mother died, Elbridge was residing in Fort Wayne.
Seen
at left is a rare old photographic postcard showing the interurban station
on Fort Wayne's Harrison Street, near the intersection with Main Street.
According to Donald Kear's book, The John Cears/Kear Family, Elbridge worked as a machinist for nearly a quarter century at the Horton Manufacturing Co. He retired in 1940.
Sadly, Elbridge passed away on Jan. 4, 1943.
Much research on Elbridge and his Pring siblings has been done over the years by Betty McClanahan. For more information, contact Sandra Ammerman-Paser.
Donald L. Kear, a distant nephew of John Pring's, has an extensive collection of information on this family on his "Kear Family Site." He also has published his findings in The John Cears Kear Family (1984).
Copyright © 2002, 2004-2005 Mark A. Miner