Catherine Anna Primus

Catherine Nathe married John J. Primus Jr., in Helden, Germany, but in 1855 they left for America. They took their 2 children, and his parents John Sr. and Elizabeth Primus, and settled in Milwaukee

In 1862, John Jr. and Catherine Primus moved their families to Grove township also. These families included their 5 children, Anne Margaretha Nathe, Elizabeth Homberg and her 2 daughters, (Elizabeth, and Applonia who were apparently born after arriving in Milwaukee), and John Sr. and Elizabeth Primus.

Catherine Nathe was born on September 24, 1829 in Arnsberg, Westphalia, Germany. She married John J. Primus around 1851.

The family of John J. & Catherine (Nathe) Primus immigrated to America and first settled near Milwaukee, Wisc. The family at the time of the journey consisted of John & Catherine and their two daughters: Elizabeth & Anna. In 1862 the family moved to a 160 acre farm 1/2 mile north and 1/2 mile east of Meire Grove in Sections 16 & 17 of Grove Township in Stearns County, Minn.

A log cabin was erected to house the family. The cabin was a primitive affair with dirt floors and no windows and only the kitchen stove for light and heat. They had an ox team for farming, but they had no suitable winter shelter for them. Often on winter nights, the oxen and the members of the family slept in a row on the hard floor, with nothing in the way of a bed but some coarse grass cut from the river bottom.

During the first winter the family had absolutely nothing in the way of purchased provisions except 100 pounds of flour. Their principal fare was deer and rabbit meet cooked in various fashions. There were no vegetables and even potatos being unknown during the whole winter.

In 1890, John & Catherine Primus sold the farm in Meire Grove to their daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth & Christoph Welle, and they moved to town.

Catherine Nathe & John Primus had the following children:

- Elizabeth Primus Welle - Anna Primus Imdieke - Joseph J. Primus - Mary Primus Leukam - John Primus Jr. - Catherine Primus Marthaler - Anton Primus - Pauline Primus Schneider

Catherine Primus died on August 14, 1901, four years before her husband. She is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Melrose, Minn.