William M. Prehn ^{2 3 4}

   Cause of his death was carbuncle on his neck, diabetic. He had a lomnectomy on 1 Dec 1936..⁶

  General Notes:

William's parents were Charles (Carl) Prehn, b. Aug 1851 Germany and Sophia Schultz, b. Oct 1848 Germany. They came to America from Hamburg, Germany, arriving in New York on 26 Sep 1883 aboard the Polaria. They were traveling with their 10 month old daughter Marie. His father declared his intentions for citizenship on 3 Dec 1884 in Blanco County, Texas. They were living in Blanco County, Texas, at the time of the 1900 census.

(Note: the names given above are according to Will's death certificate with CF Wall as the informant and supported by Weldon Prehn, ship records and Carl's naturalization papers. Will's sister Emma married Eddie Hooker and lived in San Angelo, Texas. Her death certificate with her husband as the informant gave the parents names as William Prehn and Sophia Crain.)

Will left home at an early age and worked for a Dr. Keidel in Fredericksburg, Texas. About 1910, Will attended Barber School in San Antonio, Texas. He owned a barber shop and barbered in Spicewood for a short while. Archie Dean Krause bought the shop from him for $25. He stayed in practice by cutting the hair of his 5 sons.

His mother in law Anna Neumann gave or helped him acquire about 160 acres north of the county road (now CR 404) from the home place in Spicewood, Texas.

When Will registered for the WWI draft 6 May 1917, he was farming in Spicewood, Burnet County, Texas. He had a wife and 3 children and requested an exemption based on his occupation and relatives. At the time of the 1920 census, Will owned his home in Burnet County, Texas, free of any mortgage. He was a farmer on a general farm. He served on the Board of Trustees for the Spicewood School for several years.

On 11 Sep 1924 the Marble Falls Messenger carried a report that Will had sold part of his Spicewood property and bought a farm in Jourdanton. On 24 Nov 1925, the paper reported that the family had moved. Son Weldon recalled that it was about 400 acres and it was mortgaged. They had a small dairy operation there.

At the time of the 1930 census, the family was living in Atascosa County, Texas, where Will was also shown as a farmer on a general farm. They lived on a farm and he owned his home. By 1932 he had lost his farm. They moved down the road about a mile and rented for a while. After harvesting the cotton in Jourdantown in the fall of 1932, they went back to Spicewood where they rented Paul Neumann's farm through 1936. The newspaper reported the Will Prehn family back in Burnet County, Texas, in Oct 1932.

In 1936 Will agreed to rent a 500 acre farm in Cypress Mill, Blanco County, Texas, from Fritz Wenmohs. Will became extremely ill from a carbuncle on his neck in Jun 1936 and in spite of surgeries and treatment in Breckenridge Hospital in Austin, Texas, and Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas, he failed to regain his health, His daughter Etheline took care of the family during his hospitalization and his wife Emma returned home long enough to help them move to Cypress Mill around Christmas. The doctors released Will to go home when there was no more that they could do for him and he died soon after returning to his home.

  Additional Information:

• Death Certificate Image: here.

Will married Emma Neumann, daughter of Robert Neumann and Anna Guielich, on 26 Jun 1912 in Spicewood, Burnet County, Texas.¹ (Emma Neumann was born on 2 Oct 1887 in Spicewood, Burnet County, Texas,^{8 9} died on 18 Apr 1973 in Johnson City, Blanco County, Texas ^{8 9 10} and was buried on 20 Apr 1973 in Cypress Mill Cemetery, Cypress Mill, Blanco County, Texas ⁹.). The cause of her death was pneumonitis, hypostatic, heart disease, atherosclerotic with CHF.⁶

  Marriage Notes:

The marriage of Emma and Will Prehn was performed by D.A. McInnish in Burnet County. The license was taken out in Travis County, Texas.