William S. Prentiss was an early pioneer of La Grange County, Ind. He was born in Massachusetts in 1798 and moved west to Indiana in 1832. He became a successful farmer, sawmill owner, and probate judge in Springfield Township. Prentiss married Jane M. Clark (1808-1890) on 25 Dec. 1832 and the couple had five children, including Roderick and William. William S. Prentiss died in 1872. Roderick Prentiss, born in 1840, received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1854. He graduated in 1859 and received his commission as a midshipman, first serving on the USS San Jacinto and USS Portsmouth on a cruise to Portugal and Africa. Roderick was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in Aug. 1861 and was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron on board the USS Crusader. His last assignment was on board the USS Monongahela and during the battle of Mobile Bay on 5 Aug. 1864 he was fatally wounded when that ship engaged the Confederate ironclad CSS Tennessee. Roderick died the next day and was buried at Pensacola, Fla. William Prentiss, Roderick's brother, was born on 18 Apr. 1835. He lived with his parents and eventually entered into a partnership with his father to operate the family properties. In Apr. 1864, William and a group of men decided to travel together to the gold fields of Montana Territory. They followed the Platte River road of the Oregon Trail to Fort Laramie and then went up the Bridger Trail to Montana Territory. Prentiss reached Virginia City on 5 Aug., the same day his brother received his fatal wounds at Mobile Bay. William returned home to Indiana by the end of 1864 and resumed management of his father's property, eventually inheriting the estate and becoming active in the local Republican party. Prentiss was married 27 Feb. 1866, to Hermia S. Coffinberry and he died on 10 Jan. 1911.
From the description of Prentiss family papers, 1855-1987. (Montana State University Bozeman Library). WorldCat record id: 682142393
