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Alexander Bacon Sprong (M)
b. 3 September 1873, d. 5 October 1874
Pop-up Pedigree
Relationship=Granduncle of Cynthia Lee Sprong.

Appears on charts:
     Descendant Chart for David Henry Sprong

     Alexander Bacon Sprong, son of David Henry Sprong and Rachel Marie Halladay, was born on 3 September 1873.1

Alexander Bacon Sprong died on 5 October 1874 at age 1.1 He was buried in Round Prairie, Easton.2

Citations

  1. [S208] Howard Griffith Burdge, Sprong and Allied Families 1656-1953, card #40 (record of David Henry Sprong).
  2. [S160] Debra Graden, "Re: Seeking information about a relative's grave in the Round Prairie Cemetery," e-mail to Elizabeth (Karl) Churchett, 2 June 2002.

Alfred John Sprong (M)
b. 14 June 1869
Pop-up Pedigree
Relationship=Granduncle of Cynthia Lee Sprong.

Appears on charts:
     Descendant Chart for David Henry Sprong

Alfred John Sprong
From a photograph taken with his four brothers
Photographs in possession of Cynthia Sprong Karl and Lyn Braden Mueller
     Alfred John Sprong, son of David Henry Sprong and Rachel Marie Halladay, was born on 14 June 1869 in Round Prairie, Kansas.1,2

He was also known as John.1

On 28 December 1898, Alfred John Sprong married Ida H. Edwards, daughter of Benjamin Franklin Edwards and Sarah Jane Dooley.3

Alfred John Sprong was a farmer, according to the 1900 US Census.1

John appeared as the head of a household in the 1900 US Federal Census of Leavenworth County (Kickapoo Township), Kansas, enumerated 10 June 1900. He was living with his wife Ida at a farm that he owned, although it had a mortgage on it.1

Citations

  1. [S406] 1900 U.S. census, Leavenworth County, Kansas, population schedule, Kickapoo Township, enumeration district 89, supervisor's district 1, sheet 13, dwelling 228, family 229, online <www.genealogy.com>.
  2. [S208] Howard Griffith Burdge, Sprong and Allied Families 1656-1953, page 48.
  3. [S208] Howard Griffith Burdge, Sprong and Allied Families 1656-1953, card #48 (record of Alfred John Sprong).

Alfred John Sprong (M)
b. 15 October 1825, d. 1849
Pop-up Pedigree
Relationship=Great-granduncle of Cynthia Lee Sprong.

     Alfred John Sprong, son of David Sprong and Susannah Schumacher, was born on 15 October 1825.

Alfred John Sprong died in 1849 at, of drowning.


    Alice Mary Sprong (F)
    b. 21 September 1864, d. October 1939
    Pop-up Pedigree
    Relationship=Grandaunt of Cynthia Lee Sprong.

    Appears on charts:
         Descendant Chart for David Henry Sprong

    Alice Mary Sprong
    Taken at the Sprong reunion in Potter, Kansas, on 30 October 1919
         Alice Mary Sprong, daughter of David Henry Sprong and Rachel Marie Halladay, was born on 21 September 1864.1

    On 24 August 1890, Alice Mary Sprong married Peter Fleer.1

    Alice Mary Sprong died in October 1939 at age 75.1

    Citations

    1. [S208] Howard Griffith Burdge, Sprong and Allied Families 1656-1953, card #40 (record of David Henry Sprong).

    Alma Nell Sprong (F)
    b. 5 March 1908, d. 10 May 2003
    Pop-up Pedigree
    Relationship=1st cousin 1 time removed of Cynthia Lee Sprong.

    Appears on charts:
         Descendant Chart for David Henry Sprong

    Alma Nell Sprong
    Taken at the Sprong reunion in Potter, Kansas, on 30 October 1919
         Alma Nell Sprong, daughter of David Henry Sprong Jr. and Myrtle Grable, was born on 5 March 1908 in Round Prairie, Kansas.1,2

    On 22 June 1933, Alma Nell Sprong married Norman Adelbert Braden Sr., son of Arthur Braden and Cora Gertrude Yoho, at Wee Church of Heather in Los Angeles, California.3 Norman and Alma Nell had known each other since their childhood together in Kansas.4

    At her husband's last job assignment (superintendent of a reform school in the South), Norman had to testify in an investigation into corruption in purchasing of goods for the state. He told the truth (yes, there was indeed corruption), and as a result their lives became miserable. About that same time, a lake cabin they owned burned down and they received a lump sum from their insurance. Norman wanted to make a fresh start--go west, buy a farm, and live the good “clean” life. (Norman's parents had since returned to Southern California.) Alma Nell had grown up on a farm, however, and while she had fond memories of being a child there, she had no illusions about the hard work of farm life for adults. But neither of them wanted to return to the families in Southern California, and she knew the farm was Norman’s dream, so she gamely went along.

    So in the spring of 1941, Norman took their oldest son with him to find a farm out west. He went to the Federal Land Bank, where he bought an 80-acre farm that had been repossessed, four miles from Moscow, Idaho.5

    In December of 1941 the family of 6 (ages 34, 33, 7, almost-4, almost-2, and 4 months) started the drive to the farm in a 1938 Ford, pulling a small trailer. They had reached Pocatello, Idaho when they heard on the radio the shocking news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which meant that Norman’s draft classification might become 1A (active). They arrived at the farm a few days after Christmas. The house had no electricity and no indoor plumbing, but Norman had prepared with kerosene lanterns (which had to be cleaned each day before dark, which came around 4:00pm). Water was brought in from a pump near the house and heated on the wood stove in the kitchen. The many diapers were hung in strategic locations in the house, because they would freeze on the line outside. The winters are long in that part of the country, but it was an exciting challenge and they never doubted spring would come.

    In the spring, Norman connected up the electricity, built a bathroom, and added plumbing. He had always loved this kind of work, and now he could do it any way he wanted. He bought a cow, intending to milk it, which lasted a few months….. we don’t know exactly how that ended. Any intention of doing the actual farming had to be abandoned because of the urgent need for an income, so Norman got a job in Moscow. First he did janitorial work at the Elk’s Club, then clerked at a hardware store. At one point, Alma Nell raised chickens, killed and cleaned them for sale to a restaurant in town (NOT a fond memory).

    The two oldest children, Colonel and Lyn, started school in a one-room schoolhouse that happened to be located some 200 yards from the property line of the farm. Nine children made up the “school district”, and the teacher became a family friend.

    The Braden children thrived on the freedom and adventure of living so close to nature. They had two wonderful dogs (Australian shepherds), cats & many kittens (outdoors only), bantam chickens with adorable little chicks, pigeons, a Shetland pony, and for a short time, a goat (also not a good story). A “creek” ran near the house that further away widened & deepened into a place for swimming in the warmest weather.4

    In 1944, to avoid being drafted, and helped by an old friend in the FBI, Norman took a “strategic” job at Hunt, Idaho, where one of the notorious internment camps (Minidoka) was being set up for Japanese-Americans. The family moved, and Colonel and Lyn went to schools in which they were among very few non-Japanese children. It was not a happy experience for anyone in the family, and they were relieved when the assignment was over in nine months and they could return to the farm. However, even though he was 37 and had four children, Norman’s draft status reverted 1A. So he applied for a commission in the Navy.

    Norman left for training in military government at Princeton and Stanford. The family visited him (and all the other Sprong and Braden relatives) in California. After a brief visit at the farm, now 38 years of age, he shipped out to Korea just after the war ended. Alma Nell decided to stay on the farm rather than moving in with family in California (everyone thought she was crazy, except her kids!). She didn’t drive, so they sold the car, and the family got by during the year Norman was away with the help of wonderful farmer neighbors and the taxi service in Moscow, who would provide transportation for the weekly shopping trip. Colonel and Lyn and later Bill went to school in Moscow, joining the other farm kids for the long, long bus rides. One day a neighbor found Bill and Bart about ½ mile from home, Bill riding and Bart pushing their tricycle, “going to see Daddy in Korea”. (Those who knew the two boys weren’t at all surprised at the assigned roles – Bart was the same size as Bill, but 17 months younger and likely to be the one pushing.).4

    Her husband returned from the war in 1947, but his taste for janitorial work and retail sales had been satisfied, as had his illusions of being a farmer. They finally left the farm in 1948, when Norman was offered a job as Dean of Men at a new college that was being started at the site of the former Farragut Naval Training Base on Lake Pend Oreille in North Idaho.

    Rather amazingly, each member of the family long remembered the years on the farm as extraordinarily happy ones.4

    On 10 May 2003 Alma Nell died at age 95, leaving Norman a widower.2

         Children of Alma Nell Sprong and Norman Adelbert Braden Sr.:
    Norman Braden Jr.   (excluded)
    Norma Lynette Braden   (excluded)
    Wilbur Sprong Braden   b. 7 Jan 1940, d. 9 Sep 2001
    Charles Barton Braden   (excluded)

    Citations

    1. [S208] Howard Griffith Burdge, Sprong and Allied Families 1656-1953, card #68 (record of Alma Nell Sprong)--the birth date here is incorrectly recorded as 8 March when it should have been 5 March, as per Alma Nell's daugher Lyn and her nephew Dale Braden.
    2. [S482] Dale Braden, "'Sprong family tree' (Dale Braden)," e-mail to Elizabeth (Karl) Churchett, 1 Dec 2004.
    3. [S208] Howard Griffith Burdge, Sprong and Allied Families 1656-1953, card #68 (record of Alma Nell Sprong).
    4. [S501] Lyn (Braden) Mueller, "Braden Story", typewritten manuscript, March 2004.
    5. [S501] Lyn (Braden) Mueller, "Braden Story", typewritten manuscript, March 2004, reproduced here mostly verbatim.

    Annetje Sprong (F)
    Pop-up Pedigree
    Relationship=5th great-grandaunt of Cynthia Lee Sprong.


      Caroline Amelia Sprong (F)
      b. 24 October 1867, d. 5 February 1952
      Pop-up Pedigree
      Relationship=Grandaunt of Cynthia Lee Sprong.

      Appears on charts:
           Descendant Chart for David Henry Sprong

      Caroline Amelia "Carrie" Sprong
      Taken at the Sprong reunion in Potter, Kansas, on 30 October 1919
           Caroline Amelia Sprong, daughter of David Henry Sprong and Rachel Marie Halladay, was born on 24 October 1867. Caroline Amelia Sprong was named for Caroline Amelia King her father's first wife (apparently).1

      On 2 August 1906, Caroline Amelia Sprong married G. N. Redmon.2,1

      She was also known as Carrie.2

      On 11 December 1933 Carrie wrote a letter to Dr. Aaron Alfred Sprong. The letter was to congratulate her nephew on his recent marriage. She wrote, "My dear Aaron and wife: . . . Aaron I always thought so much of you. You were so much like your dad and we all thought George [Carrie's little brother, Aaron's father] was about right--he was our baby there at home and all of us made a great pet of him. . . . With much love, Aunt Carrie."2

      Caroline Amelia Sprong died on 5 February 1952 at age 84.1

      Citations

      1. [S208] Howard Griffith Burdge, Sprong and Allied Families 1656-1953, card #40 (record of David Henry Sprong).
      2. [S361] Letter from Carrie Redmon to Aaron and Elene Sprong, 11 Dec 1933.

      Catherine Sprong (F)
      Pop-up Pedigree
      Relationship=5th great-grandaunt of Cynthia Lee Sprong.


        Charles Garfield Sprong (M)
        b. 30 July 1877
        Pop-up Pedigree
        Relationship=Granduncle of Cynthia Lee Sprong.

        Appears on charts:
             Descendant Chart for David Henry Sprong

        Charles Garfield Sprong
        From a photograph taken with his four brothers
        Photographs in possession of Cynthia Sprong Karl and Lyn Braden Mueller
             Charles Garfield Sprong, son of David Henry Sprong and Rachel Marie Halladay, was born on 30 July 1877.

        On 25 June 1905, Charles Garfield Sprong married Clara C. Hastings, daughter of Zach S. Hastings and Rosetta Butler.1

        Charles and Clara had twins, Edith and Ethel, on 12 May 1906 in Kansas.1

        On 12 May 1906, his daughter Edith died.1

        On 23 May 1906 his wife Clara C. Hastings died at age 28 Kansas, of probably complications from childbirth, leaving Charles a widower at 28 years old.2,3

        In March 1908, Charles Garfield Sprong married Alice Thompson.1

        , his daughter Nellie died. She did not live past infancy.1

             Children of Charles Garfield Sprong and Clara C. Hastings:
        Edith Sprong   b. 12 May 1906, d. 12 May 1906
        Ethel Sprong   b. 12 May 1906, d. 1975

             Children of Charles Garfield Sprong and Alice Thompson:
        Mable Sprong
        Nellie Sprong

        Citations

        1. [S208] Howard Griffith Burdge, Sprong and Allied Families 1656-1953, card #50 (record of Chas. Garfield Sprong).
        2. [S160] Debra Graden, "Re: Seeking information about a relative's grave in the Round Prairie Cemetery," e-mail to Elizabeth (Karl) Churchett, 2 June 2002.
        3. [S208] Howard Griffith Burdge, Sprong and Allied Families 1656-1953, card #50 (record of Chas. Garfield Sprong--a date with no names next to it appears to indicate that she may have died on 14th May rather than 23rd May).

        Charles Wesley Sprong (M)
        b. 16 March 1835, d. 3 January 1837
        Pop-up Pedigree
        Relationship=Great-granduncle of Cynthia Lee Sprong.

             Charles Wesley Sprong, son of David Sprong and Susannah Schumacher, was born on 16 March 1835.

        Charles Wesley Sprong died on 3 January 1837 at age 1.



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          Please contact me if you wish to share or correct information. I would be delighted to hear from you.
          Compiler:
          Elizabeth Churchett
          Austin, Texas

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          Site updated on 8 August 2005 at 11:08:56 PM