Bio: Prehn, Fred (1860 - 19??)

Contact: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Prehn, Erdmann

----Source: History of Marathon County Wisconsin and Representative Citizens, by Louis Marchetti, 1913.

Prehn, Fred (5 May 1860 - 19??)

Fred Prehn was born in the city of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on the 5th day of May, 1860, and brought up on a farm, and after graduating from the common school, attended high school in the city of Manitowoc; he then learned the trade of harness-maker and saddler and after coming to Marathon county in 1881, established a harness-maker shop in Marathon City, to which after a few years he added a hardware and furniture store. He was appointed postmaster under the Harrison administration in 1889 and held the office until 1893. He was village president for three years; for two years a member of the county board, and for three years a member of the village school board. His large store building caught fire in 1905, and building, together with contents of hardware and furniture, was a complete loss, with only an insurance of $5,000, which did not cover one-fourth of the loss. But Mr. Prehn was undaunted by his hard luck, and carried on his business with his son in another store at Marathon City. He also owns a farm of two hundred and forty acres in Jackson County, Wisconsin; stands well as a business man and citizen and is working hard to recoup his loss. His first wife died, leaving him two children, and he has five children by his second wife, a Miss Erdmann, of Settin, Marathon County, and also an adopted child.