Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Pralle, Fred H. 1864 - living in 1917
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com July 21, 2005, 9:46 pm

Author: B. F. Bowen

FRED H. PRALLE.

    Fred H. Pralle, one of the prominent and successful business men of Bremen,
Marshall county, was born in Germany on November 22, 1864, the son of Jordan and
Minnie (Rahlfs) Pralle, both of whom were natives of the fatherland.

    Jordan Pralle was born in 1837 and received his education in the schools of
his native land and as a young man learned the butcher trade, which he followed
until his death in 1879. He and his wife, who died in 1875, were active members
of the German Lutheran church and were prominent in the social and religious
life of the district in which they lived. They were the parents of four
children, Fred H., Louisa, Justina and Henry. Louisa Herman is the wife of a
well-known farmer and stockman of Herkimer township; Justina Timme resides in
Idaho, where her husband is engaged in farming and Henry is farming in Oklahoma.

    Fred H. Pralle received his education in the public schools of Germany,
where he lived until he was seventeen years of age, when in 1881 he came to the
United States. On his arrival in this country he at once came to Kansas and
located in Marshall county, where he worked on a farm for nine years in Logan
township. He then rented one hundred and sixty acres of land in Washington
county. He devoted his time for the next two years to butchering, after which he
rented one hundred and twenty acres of land of Mrs. Caroline Geishler for one
year, at which time they were united in marriage. They continued to live on the
farm until September, 1910, but during the last three years the farm was managed
by his son. while Mr. Pralle continued his business in Bremen as cashier of the
Bremen State Bank. He then built his beautiful modern brick house, which is one
of the rlnest in Bremen.

    Mr. Pralle was first married in 1892 to Caroline Geishler, a widow and the
daughter of Fred and Mary (Breneka) Germer. To this union three children were
born, Minnie Lemke, who lives at Carleton, Nebraska, where Mr. Lemke is engaged
in teaching: Ralph, who is a student in the Theological Seminary at St. Louis,
and Walter E., assistant cashier of the Bremen State Bank and is living at home.
Caroline Pralle died on September 24, 1908, and on September 9, 1910, Mr. Pralle
was united in marriage to Louisa Friedrichs, the daughter of Fred and Catherine
(Raemer) Friedrichs, who were natives of Germany. Mrs. Louisa Pralle was born in
Marshall county on June 4, 1865, and was reared on the home farm and received
her education in the local schools. She and Mr. Pralle are prominent members of
the German Lutheran church. They are the parents of one child, Fridel, who was
born on January 29, 1913.

    Fred H. Pralle has always taken a keen interest in local affairs and is
recognized as one of the progressive and successful citizens of the county. In
addition to his interests in the bank, he owns a splendid farm of one hundred
and seventy-five acres in Herkimer township, which is under high cultivation and
well improved. His ability as a business man was noted when he assisted, on
August 7, 1907, in the organization of the Bremen State Bank, by the following
named representative people of the county: Charles F. Pusch, P. E. Laughlan, W.
H. Smith, Frank Yaussi, William Rabe, F. W. Stohs, Ernest Koeneke. On the
completion of the organization the following officers were elected: President,
William Rabe; vice-president, F. W. Stohs, and cashier, Fred H. Pralle. The bank
was opened for business on September 14, 1907, and conducted successfully during
the trying times of 1908. The first location of the bank was in a one-story
frame building, where they continued until the disastrous fire of March 17,
1908, when not only the bank, but the entire business district of the town was
burned. The bank at that time had no vault, but had a burglar-proof iron safe,
in which was some five thousand dollars in currency the most of which was
mutilated by the heat. On advice from the department from Washington, W. H.
Smith, one of the directors of the bank took the currency to Washington, after
the safe had cooled. After a thorough examination the money was all restored,
with the exception of a five-dollar bill that could not be identified. The bank
was at once reopened after the fire and for some time they operated in a box-car
on the Rock Island railroad, which was the only available location. At the time
the bank established the business in the box-car, they had deposits of
thirty-nine thousand nine hundred seventy-five dollars and thirty-five cents and
when they removed to their new building they had a deposit of seventy-two
thousand three hundred thirty-eight dollars and thirty-nine cents. During the
time they were doing business in the temporary quarters they built their present
substantial brick building into which they moved on September 10, 1908. They now
have a surplus of five thousand dollars and a deposit of one hundred and
thirty-five thousand two hundred and ninety dollars and sixty-seven cents, and
the bank is recognized as one of the strongest in this part of Kansas. Through
the efforts of Mr. Pralle, who has been the cashier since the organization, much
credit is due for the high standard to which the bank has risen. He has given
his untiring efforts to the work, and by his business-like methods and courteous
treatment of the public, he has the confidence and the respect of all. His
constant aim is to serve the patrons of the bank in the best manner possible,
consistent with good banking, and the success of the institution demonstrates
his ability in this line.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions
by
Emma E. Forter

Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917)

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/marshall/bios/pralle51bs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ksfiles/

File size: 6.3 Kb