James
Wesley Pring
(1853-1934)
James
"Jas" Wesley Pring was born on July 5, 1853 in Cedar
Creek Twp., Allen County, IN, the son of John
and Caroline (Minerd) Pring. The Fort Wayne (IN) News-Sentinel has
acknowledged that he was a member of a "pioneer Cedar Creek Township
family."
Jas "resided most of his life on the old Pring homestead," that once belonged to his parents, said the News-Sentinel. He was a longtime farmer.
Jas married Mary
Burkholder (1859-1913), the daughter of David and Mary (Lutz) Burkholder of
Milan, Allen County. They had six children -- Henry Pring, Anna Pring, Elizabeth
Taylor, Alice Hall, Addie Pettit and Adrien Kimes. Jas, Mary and Adrien are seen here in an early photo.
Mary was one of many members of the Burkholder clan who have married into our extended Minerd-Miner-Minor family over the years. (Most of the others originated in Western Pennsylvania, in Fayette and Somerset Counties.)
The Prings' residence was in or near Cedarville, Cedar Creek Twp., Allen County. They were longtime members of the nearby Robinson Chapel of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette once said that Mary "was well known in Fort Wayne and St. Joe township, where her brothers and sisters reside."
It's believed that Jas was close with his uncle and aunt, James
and Martha (Sheehan) Minerd, who resided on a large family farm on the Indiana-Ohio state
line near Dixon, OH. Seen here, Jas (at left) visits with his uncle James
Minerd in 1925 at an unknown location built of brick.
Sadly, Jas outlived both his wife and his married daughter Adrien. Mary passed away at age 53 on March 29, 1913, in their home in Cedar Creek Township. Adrien died in 1925.
As he aged, Jas went to live with his sister Martha
Hursh in nearby Huntertown, Allen County. He died at Martha's home at age 80
on March 12, 1934. He was buried near his wife in the Leo Cemetery, and his obituary was
carried by the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. A clipping of his newspaper
obituary was sent to cousin Corwin D. Tilbury
in Pittsburgh, PA, who in turn wrote, "One by one the old family
disappears..."
The fates of their other children are unknown. Daughter Anna is said to have married a man named Andrew. Daughter Elizabeth married Mr. Taylor. Alice married Mr. Hall, Addie married Mr. Pettit. In mother Mary's obituary, only daughter Adrien Kimes was mentioned.
Son in law Morton Kimes is said to have been a teacher at
Central High School in Fort Wayne.
For 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, 2007 Mark A. Miner