Charles Prinslow - Germany to South Dakota to California

       Charles Prinslow was born in Germany in 1853.  In 1869, he arrived in New York, heading west fairly quickly.  We believe the his father took the family to Wisconsin because that is where he is in 1880 and 1885.  (I haven't found Charles or his father in the 1870 Census.)  By 1880 Charles had settled in Lincoln County, South Dakota.  He met and married Sarah Nina Ireland in 1881.  Charles Prinslow and his family lived about two miles east of the border with Turner County in Brooklyn Township .
     The directory in the 1910 Lincoln County Atlas¹ states that Charles was a "Farmer, Feeder, Buyer, Shipper and Breeder of Thoroughbred Polled Angus Cattle and Duroc Jersey Hogs."  It also shows that he had amassed almost 1000 acres. 
     He invested in businesses in Centerville, including The Centerville Telephone Exchange, although Exchange turned out to be an unsuccessful venture.
     A history of Centerville¹ included information about Joy School, the school that at least the youngest Prinslows attended.  A picture in that history shows the two youngest children at the school.  Charles Prinslow, Elmer Prinslow, John Prinslow, and Charles Prinslow, Jr. all served on the school board.  Gretchen Epple, who grew up in the area, worked as a teacher at Joy School and later married Elmer Prinslow. 
     In 1915, he traveled to San Francisco to visit Panama-Pacific International Exposition and then spent time traveling south to San Diego.  The following year he returned to California and purchased land in Harper (much later named Costa Mesa).  Some of his sons remained in South Dakota working on the farm.  He became involved in the community in California, serving on the water commission.
    When he passed away in 1933, six of his children each received a quarter section of land in Lincoln County.  Another son received land in California.  He died in California but is buried in Centerville, near his farm.

The Prinslow home in South Dakota

     The map³ below shows the location of Charles Prinslow's Land and suspected location of the family home.  The location of Joy School is indicated.  The markers indicates which of the children received that quarter section of land upon Charles' death.  
    Unfortunately for us, Charles passed away when his grandson, John Prenslow Boyd was three years old, so he doesn't have any memories of Charles Prinslow that he can pass down to us.  
     Note: John Prenslow Boyd's middle name is not misspelled even though the name came from Charles Prinslow. That spelling is another story. 





1. _______,  Standard Atlas of Lincoln County South Dakota, George A Ogle & Co, Chicago, 1910 


2. Centerville Centennial Book Committee, Centerville, Dakota Territory - Sunshine State:Our home town. Freeman, SD: Pine Hill Press, 1983.

3. Google Maps Engine, Google Imagery 2013 Digital Globe, State of Ohio / OSIP, U.S. Geological Survey, USDA Farm Service Agency.

Charles Prinslow & James B. Ireland

     My favorite genealogical website is familyseach.  I make a point of checking a few times each week to see what records have updated by checking the column heading "Last Updated".  At least once records, which had not shown up on microfilm, have showed up as digital records online.  Last night, ten different record collections were updated.  One collection caught my eye.
     Charles Prinslow had settled in the Lincoln County, South Dakota at least by 1884 and James B. Ireland had arrived in Turner County by at least 1887. When 'South Dakota, School Records, 1879-1970' showed as being last updated on Dec. 13, 2013, I had to go do some more research. Schools in Lincoln County are not yet in the data base but Turner County Records are included.  
     The school records are not indexed but with some effort we should be able to locate some useful records.  While trying to decipher the school district number that might be useful, I ended up in Centerville, SD and noticed a link for some records and photos for Riverview Cemetery.  This site had some photos and a map that Findagrave does not have on their site.   (By the way, I will get back to that school research.)
     By combining information on that site with a Google Map we can see approximately where family members are buried.  If you click on the markers you should be able to see pictures of the graves.



     In this second map you can see the land that Charles Prinslow was able to purchase (outlined in yellow).  He owned around 960 acres.  This land was in Lincoln County.   James B. Ireland owned 160 acres (outlined in a peach color).     His land was in Turner County.  James had difficulty farming his land because of injuries suffered in the Civil War so he eventually moved into Centerville. The blue line is the border between Turner County to the west and Lincoln County to the east.  The orange dot (a rectangle if you zoom in), north of Centerville is the location of Riverview Cemetery.  




     The picture below is of the Prinslow home in Brooklyn Township, Lincoln County, South Dakota.   When Minnie Prinslow Boyd, daughter of Charles, passed she offered her son, John Boyd, a chance to farm 160 acres in Lincoln County.  John, a native Californian, decided to stay in Orange County. 

Prinslow Homestead in South Dakota