John Joseph Primus, Jr.

John J. Primus was born on June 10, 1824 in Arnsberg, Westphalia, Germany to Elizabeth & John Primus Sr. He married Catherine Nathe 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

John J Primus died on June 29, 1905, four years after his wife died. He is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Melrose, Minn.

In the 1885 Grove census there is : Henry - 3 Michael - 2 Elizabeth - 1/2 They are Joseph Primus' children

In 1862, they came to Grove township, and settled near Meire Grove in a cabin with no floors, no windows and only the kitchen stove for light. The "family had an oxen team for farming, but they had no suitable winter shelter for them, so often on a winter night, 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 bottoms."

Mel and the Rose p 72. See History of Stearns County, Mitchell 1915.