The Probst Name (Pedigree)

The Probst line has been researched more than 12 generations back to 1518. Starting with Mr. and Mrs. Probst in Lützelflüh, Bern, Switzerland.

This information comes from the new.familysearch.org. If you've got additional information you'd like to share, please do so in the comment section.

The format of the information is as follows:

Name (Wife's Name)
Birth - Death
Birth Place - Death Place

Mr. Probst (Mrs. Probst)
1518 - ?
Lützelflüh, Switzerland - ?, Switzerland

Father of:

Johannes Jacob Probst (Anna Klichhofer)
1542 - 1577
Lützelflüh, Switzerland - ?, Switzerland

Father of:

Christen Probst (Magdalena Christen)
1616 - ?
Lützelflüh, Switzerland - ?, Switzerland

Father of:

Michael Probst (Katharina Flackinger)
1649 - 1737
Lützelflüh, Switzerland - ?, Switzerland

Father of:

Ulrich Probst (Anna Lengehnegger)
1674 - ?
Lützelflüh, Switzerland - ?, Switzerland

Father of:

Hans Ulrich Probst (Elisabeth Dietsch)
1695 - 1744
Bern, Switzerland - ?, Switzerland

Father of:

Jakob Probst (Verena Schindler)
1719 - 1803
Bern, Switzerland - ?, Switzerland

Father of:

Hans Probst (Magdalena Schertenlieb)
1753 - 1791
Bern, Switzerland - ?, Switzerland

Father of:

Johann Ulrich Probst (Anna Barbara Hess)
1798 - 1869
Bern, Switzerland - Bern, Switzerland

Father of:

Ulrich Probst (Anna Barbara Kiener)
1838 - 1923
Bern, Switzerland - Midway, Utah

Father of:

Jacob Probst (Mary Magdalena Huber)
1864 - 1950
Bern, Switzerland - Midway, Utah

Father of:

Karl Lorenzo Probst (Carrie "Cree" Sophia Wright)
1895 - 1986
Midway, Utah - Midway, Utah

History of Karl Lorenzo Probst - Part IV

History written by Karl L. Probst in 1968:

"Besides teaching school and farming, I played for many dances, using the saxophone, trombone and guitar. we traveled in all kinds of weather playing in surrounding towns in and out of the valley."

Old Midway Social Hall where Karl and his orchestra played for dances.
(Notice the pot rock construction.)

"I was Sunday School and ward chorister approximately forty years and was Wasatch Stake Sunday School chorister for eight years."

"In the year, 1914, while attending B.Y.U., I was selected for the Wasatch Stake to take the Scoutmaster's Training Course that the Church had initiated. I was chosen Scoutmaster in midway and worked in Scouting for about forty years as Scoutmaster and on the Troop Committee. Also, I took a course for college credit that gave me the 'Scoutmaster's Key.'"

"I organized a male quartet composed of myself as second bass; Reed Kohler, bass; Rulon Huntington, lead; and Roy Huffaker, tenor. We did much public service, and sang for funerals, on programs, etc., for some forty years. This quartet took first place in the Utah Farm Bureau Contest. I organized other groups and put on about six or seven minstrel shows to help raise money to pay on the present Midway Second Ward meetinghouse., and after the money was matched, it made about $6,000 toward the chapel."

"My favorite sport was baseball, having pitched and won many games. I came by this naturally, because I could curve a ball when I was in the sixth grade. I have obtained a hunting and fishing license each year and never missed a year from the time I was fourteen years old."

"My wife and I served a six-months' mission in the East Central States from October, 1961, to April, 1962. We also spent several winters in Mesa, Arizona, doing temple work and enjoying the warm climate."

"Over the years, I developed the ability to do fancy handwriting and was asked many times to sign numerous certificates, invitations, etc."

"During my farm days, I got into the silver fox business and had a ranch of my own––about twenty pens. We made money for several years and had good luck, and then the styles changed, and the women weren't wearing fox fur. We sold the last ones for $10.00 a piece and got out of the business."

Fox Pens on the Probst Farm where Karl raised silver foxes for their pelts to be used for clothing, 1940's.
At the peak, he had about 500 foxes.

"I also had acquired by this time some black Karakul sheep; the first ram I bought from Texas at a cost of $250.o0. It was the only Karakul ram in Utah at that time, and I crossed him on Suffolk ewes, and their offspring were half bloods, and I kept crossing this ram until I got a 15/16th blood, almost purebred. I also purchased a ewe then, too, and kept inbreeding until I finally had a quality of pelt that was valued at about $25.00 to $30.00 a piece."

"I sold a carload of sheep to Hemingway in California, keeping twelve yearlings that were the highest quality of broadtail type fur. I kept one ram lamb to breed on these twelve, having let the old ram go to California. I figured I had the best ram, and these twelve ewes were the best in America for their quality of fur. I figured now that I would really make some money. I had this valuable ram in the corral with some horses, and about two weeks after I had sold the other sheep, I went up to the barn one morning, and the ram was lying dead. He had been kicked by a horse and had a broken neck, so I had no ram to breed these twelve ewes with. so, I wrote to California to try to get the old ram back, and they informed me that they had already killed him because they didn't think he was worth anything. So, with this disappointment, it put an end to my experiment in the sheep business."

"We also raised peas for silage, sugar beet seed, milk cows, head lettuce and hay. Just recently, I have purchased two rare Mouflon sheep, almost extinct. The ewe now has a lamb."

"We also had a raspberry patch up Snake Creek in the apple orchard which produced berries very abundantly for some time. However, the State Park has now purchased this ground, but I have continued to lease it back since that time. This year is the last time I will take care of the raspberries up Snake Creek. The bushes are just about all dead."

"The last year I taught school, I decided to try making a guitar. I found a large log up Snake Creek, hauled it to my home and with an ax, chopped it down to size. I then took it to the shop in high school where I smoothed it and cut it to the pattern I had made. By the time school was out in the spring, I had finished a very good electric guitar. Later, I invented an instrument I called the Melody Harp. I have made many of these. Lately I have been making Spanish Guitars, and have been experimenting with different kinds of wood. I still have many ideas I want to work out."

Karl created this Trade Mark for his Melody Harp.

"Since retiring from school teaching, I have kept very busy with my hobbies––painting, guitar making, and fishing. I have painted many pictures, many of which I have given away, and some I have sold."

"At seventy-three years of age, I have very good health, enjoy life, and hope to live to be one-hundred years old."

History of Karl Lorenzo Probst - Part III

History written by Karl L. Probst in 1968:

"On my arrival home, the first thing I did was to go over to the Midway School in my soldier's uniform. While I was talking with the principal, Mr. Sorensen, in the eighth grade room, a young lady by the name of Miss Wright came in the room, and he introduced her to me, and that was the first time I met the girl who later became my wife. During the remainder of the winter, we had sleigh riding parties and programs, and I started to date Miss Wright. In early spring of 1919, we became engaged."

Old Midway Grade School

"That fall, I went to Oakley and taught school and was principal. I organized a band of about twenty Oakley boys. They progressed very rapidly, and it wasn't very long until we were playing on programs. Occasionally, during the winter on weekends, I would go to Midway to court Miss Wright and see my folks. Sometimes, I would go down riding horseback and sometimes I would go down with a very fancy trotter outfit that was loaned to me by Mr. Jensen."

"One time I came to Midway, and didn't know it but the town was quarantined for the Flu. The roads leading to Midway from Charleson and Heber were blockaded, but I came by way of the River Road and stopped at my girl's place before going home, and she told me the town was quarantined for the Flu, so I made my visits short that time, and sneaked out Sunday afternoon unknown to anyone and returned to Oakley."

"While in Oakley, I boarded with the Peter Frost family, and they made me very welcome, and I enjoyed that first winter very much in Oakley."

On June 23, 1920, Miss Wright and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple. That summer we lived with my folks in Midway, and then in the fall, we returned to Oakley where I taught school the second year there. We lived in an old log cabin down on the Weber River where our first child, Bernard, was born the following spring, April 1, 1921. The old log cabin is torn down now, and a nice residence occupies the spot."

Karl and Cree Probst

"We enjoyed the winter very much, and in the spring there was an opening to teach school in Midway, my home town, so we decided to return. The people in Oakley offered more money for me to stay, but we didn't accept the offer."

"I taught school for twenty-two years in Midway, eight of which I served as principal, teaching several of my own children, and then was transferred to Wasatch High School in Heber City to teach English and Math in Junior High and some senior high subjects. I taught school for a total of forty years altogether. Lulu Clegg was superintendent during some of the time that I was teaching in the Wasatch High School. One day, she called me into her office and said she would like to have some art taught in the high school, there not being any at that time. "

"She said she thought I was the person who could do it, and she would give me all the help I needed to get started. She assigned me a small room, and the first year I had eleven students from different grades. The next year they had two periods of it, and I had thirty some odd students in each class. The third year, the room became too small, an they moved us down into the old Ag Room where we had five periods of art a day and about 100 students. Th Art Department kept growing until we had seven periods a day, including Junior High and Senior High. We did water colors, oils, handicraft and leather work. The Art Department is still functioning."

Karl and his Artwork/Paintings

"I retired from teaching school for three years, after having spent thirty-five years in the schoolroom. Finally when they couldn't get an art teacher, they urged me to return, which I did for five years longer, making a total of forty years in the schoolroom. In the meantime, I went to the Brigham Young University and got my bachelor's degree in both art and music, graduating from there in August, 1956."

"During my years of teaching, I attended summer schools and took correspondence courses to keep qualified for teaching. The first year I taught for $45.00 per month, and the year I retired I was making $5,600.00 a year."

"The year I started teaching school, my brother Vern and I purchased the farm, upon our father's advice, of G.F. Buehler, for the sum of $5,800.00, fifty-eight acres at $100.00 per acre. For sever years, we had a difficult time to meet the payments and live. Times were difficult, and only by my teaching school and keeping up the payments were we able to holdon to the place and meet our obligations."

Karl and Cree Probst at the Snake Creek Orchard

"We were also involved in the cattle business and had about 100 head of cattle. There was no money to be made in the cattle business, however. One year, we sent a carload of cattle to California to be sold. After paying the freight and yardage, they only made us $13.67 a piece for big three-year old steers. We got a Federal Land Bank Loan on our place that gave us smaller payments to make at a lower rate of interest that was streteched out for a period of thirty-two years, but we finally paid it off on the twenty-ninth year, and as of then, the property was in the clear."

"My brother Vern went on a mission to Germany, and I took care of the business along with tmy father, and we supported him on his mission. We got a few sheep along with the cattle, and they were making us much more money than the cattle did, which enabled us to keep going and help Vern on his mission."

"When my brother Vern got married, we decided to divide the property. Vern took one-third of the propberty and assumed one-third of the obligations. I took two-thirds and assumed two-thirds of the obligation. He took the Snake Creek farm that is cultivated ground and the Bunnel pasture and wire grass pasture. I took the Buehler farm and the Bunnel ground across the road from it, and the range ground, including the fats and Bonner Hollow ground, and two-thirds of the range permit which when was about seventy-five head of cattle."

"By this time, I was living in my present home that was built by my brother, father and myself from the pot rock that was quarried near it."

Probst Home in Midway, Utah, with Pot-Rock Construction circa 1950

"When World War II broke out, Bernard was married and was called to the Army, and I had the responsibility of looking after his cattle and farm, which was leased to him from my brother Vern; and Eugen was called into the Navy. Some years later, I sold the farm to Bernard and Eugene. Bernard too the Snake Creek land, and Eugen took the Buehler property."

History of Karl Lorenzo Probst - Part II

History written by Karl L. Probst in 1968:

"In May of 1918, at the close of the school year, I was the first school teacher drafted to leave for the Service June 1. So, the school board gave me the last two weeks off from teaching that I might get ready to go to war. The night before I was to leave, my friends gave a party for me, and they gave me a wonderful camera as a gift. I got to bed about 12:00 midnight, and was supposed to be at the Heber Depot before 7:00 a.m. the next morning, as the train left that early."

Private, Karl L. Probst, 1918

"About 3:00 a.m. in the morning, I woke up with a severe pain under my jaw. I called my mother, and she said, "It looks like it might be the mumps." She immediately called Dr. Wherritt, and he came over and diagnosed it as the mumps and said that I would have to be quarantined for one month. In that case, my cousin, Elmer Huber, was the alternate and was ready to go in my place and leave on the train at 7:00 a.m. He was in the 145th Field Artillery, a unit from Utah. He went overseas and fought all the way up through the Aragon Forest in combat against the Germans and was very fortunate in returning home safely."

"On the other hand, I was quarantined for one month and left July 1. By this time, Clarence, my cousin was also drafted. We left together for the University of Utah where we studied for eight weeks as carpenters and builders of bridges. While at the U. of U. we both got into the Military Band which was led by Claud Cornwall. I was selected as assistant band leader and had the experience of playing a trombone solo in the old Salt Lake Theater, (the solo was "Just a Baby's Payer At Twilight," with band accompaniment), the night before we left for Camp John Wise in Texas. I will never forget how frightened I was to look out over that vast audience in the gallery and main floor."

"The next morning, we left for Texas, traveling on the train east as far as Topeka, Kansas and then south through Oklahoma for Texas to our destination in San Antonio. We were met there by three large army trucks, and the men in charge ordered us to get in. We had a suitcase and barracks bag that would hold all of the belongings a man could think of to get along."

"We traveled about three miles to get to Camp John Wise which was a balloon camp. Until now, we thought we were carpenters and going to build airplanes. As they were just having mess or supper as we came in through the front gate, all of us standing in those three trucks (there were about thirty Utah boys) as we passed along, the men made all kinds of snide remarks about us such as, "Where are you from?" "Where are your horns?" "Look at the ears on that one." We just kept on going down the main road in the camp and passed all the other soldiers and landed at the far end of the camp about one mile from the mess halls. They ordered us out of the truck then. We set down our suitcases, and they marched us up away to a straw stack and gave us a straw tick and said, "Boys, fill them up," which we did. Then, we went back down to where our other belongings were and spread out for the night. They said, "But be careful and shake your socks in the morning and empty your shoes to be sure there aren't any rattlesnakes or tarantulas in the area." Then, they marched us up to get our supper and back again where we reported in for the night with the open sky above. In the morning, one of the boys found a tarantula in his sock."

"We stayed in this location for about two weeks. Then they moved us up nearer the main barracks and gave us a cot to sleep on. We stayed here two or three weeks and then they moved us into a tent with cots. Still later, they moved us up into a barracks where we had a wooden floor, and it was a much better place. It was all a process of evaluation. We had some wonderful experiences in this camp. We had to serve on balloon duty. It took fifty-eight men to handle a balloon, and they were organized into two groups to take care of each balloon. Every man had a place and knew exactly what to do. Some jobs were much easier than others. We took these balloons out in the morning by holding onto large ropes seventy feet long, and there were about six of these on each side with three men to the rope. Some carried the basket; others carried the rip cord. Others carried the metallic V cord. These were easy jobs, and you were lucky if you got one. We came in at night with blisters on our hands in taking this balloon clear across country and back again. At noon time while we ate our lunch, the balloon was fastened to a winch in a big army truck. The basket was fastened on; two cadets or officers would get in it, and the balloon would be allowed to ascend up about 5,000 feet. While up there, these officers drew maps and watched for positions and activities of the enemy. The average life of a balloon in a front line was only an hour. I was privileged to go up in a balloon with a commanding officer just before being discharged from the army."

"When we arrived at Camp John Wise, there were several posters up wanting musicians to sign up for band. There were several of us Utah boys who signed up when we first got there, but months dragged on and we were never asked to play in any band. One morning as we were ready to go for balloon drill, the Sargent said, "Private Karl L. Probst, you are wanted up at headquarters." I couldn't imagine what I had done or what it was all about, but he said, "Shave, and dress up your very best, and go up to the Adjutant's office." I went up and saluted him and told him why I was there, and he said, "Major Lambert wants to see you just across the aisle." I went in and saluted and said, "Private Karl L. Probst reporting, Sir." He said, "oh, yes, sit down there." He was a rather old man about seventy-five years, wore large thick glasses with a very kind and pleasant look on his face. I learned later that he was a millionaire and was volunteering his services to the Unites States Government because he was a chemist and an expert authority on ballooning. I also learned that he was the inventor or discoverer of Listerine that had made him so much money. He was a very kind, sympathetic man, with a great deal of understanding. He said, "I have a record here that shows that you were assistant band leader at the U. of U." Then, he asked me a lot of questions about my musical experience and playing in bands and orchestras, which I gave him gladly."

"He said, "I think you are the man we have been looking for for a long time. How would you like to organize a camp band?" I told him I would like that very much, so he gave me a list of about 300 names of men who had signed up as band members. Some had gone overseas; some were still there. By giving them an audition, I picked out about thirty-eight men, eight of whom were Utah boys. Then he said, "there is a good set of band instruments down in San Antonio Music Company. We will buy them if they meet with your approval." Then he ordered his sports model convertible car out in front, and together we went to the San Antonio Music Company to look over these instruments and to get some music. The instruments were okay, and he ordered them brought out to the camp that afternoon, and gave us a large place to meet and practice in. With about a week's practice, we gave a little concert in one of the barracks, and the Commanding Officer, Col. Bowers, and Major Lambert, sponsor of the band, and most all of the officers of the camp, numbering about 150, came to hear us play and were very enthusiastic and pleased with the results after just one week's practice. From then on, the band served a very important part in our camp. We played guard mount every afternoon, gave about three concerts a week and went with the football team on Sunday. I had a saxophone quartet organized within the band and we played for many entertainments."

"The war ended November 11, 1918. I was discharged at Ft. Logan, Colorado, the latter part of February, 1919. They gave me $50.00 and a pair of shoes."

History of Karl Lorenzo Probst - Part I

History written by Karl L. Probst in 1968:

"I was born on June 7, 1895, in an old log cabin that Ulrich Probst built, when he came to this country, in Huber's Grove up Snake Creek, constructed of red pine logs. It had one door and one window and was lined inside with white factory cloth. There was a lean-to on the east where most of the cooking was done in the summer. On the west end was another lean-to that housed the old surrey (buggy used in that day) and where leaves and kindling wood were piled for winter use."

Ulrich Probst Cabin where Karl was Born.

"My mother was Mary Magdalena Huber Probst and my father was Jacob Probst."

Jacob Probst, Karl's father.

"In August of 1895, there was a terrible cloudburst in the heart of Snake Creek, (this is the story that was handed down about the flood), and as a result, a great flood of water, sticks, timber, and big boulders came down the canyon. Captain Springer, a neighbor who lived above, came down on a buckskin horse as hard as he could come, warning the people to get out of the canyon. At this time, a mason by the name of Fred Sonderegger, was laying the foundation for a house just east of the old log cabin to take the old cabin's place. my father had purchased the old farm and the old cabin prior to my birth. Sonderegger failed to heed the warning of Captain Springer and kept on working. Captain Springer went down to Grandma Huber's to give the warning there. My mother had me in her arms then as about a three months' old baby, and Aunt Maggie Huber had Frank in her arms, (he was born on June 1, and I on the 7th). They took us babies and ran out of the Huber house over on to the side hill. Grandma was slow in getting away and was caught between the flood waters, part coming down the road and part going down the main creek. She got on top of the old cellar and stayed there until the flood subsided. Mud and water were in the house to a depth of about four feet. You can see the old water mark on the house of Grandpa and Grandma Huber to this present day. It is now about ninety years old and hasn't had a coat of paint."

"Sonderegger had the foundation up about three feet, and was standing on the foundation when the flood came - water up to his waist - boulders and debris going by on all sides."

"My father abandoned this location and built across the canyon up on the hill on his farmland, about one-fourth block across the bench ditch. This was a frame building built by John Bushi of Provo, Utah. We lived in this new house for several years until my father was put in as bishop of the Midway Second Ward. We lived then over in the old Ephriam Molhmen home, the first home east of Uncle Al's and Aunt Maggie's home. Then later, we moved over into the house that was owned by Edward Probst adjacent to the little store that Uncle Goulieb had and now at present is the home of Alma Huber."

Midway 2nd Ward 1895-1955 where Jacob Probst was Bishop for 33 years.

"I went to grade school in Midway, Utah, from the first to the seventh grade. We had sheep at that time, and they were run on the West Desert during the winter. In the spring - latter part of April - when it was time to bring the sheep home, my father took me out of school in the sixth grade to go out and help drive the sheep in. This happened also in the seventh grade and by staying out those two springs, missing school, I didn't get promoted from the seventh to the eighth grade, and as my brother, Vernon, was eighteen months younger than I and was in the grade just behind me, he caught up with me in the seventh grade. I told my parents that I wouldn't go back to school, that I would rather herd sheep, and I presented a problem for them. The embarrassment was too great to be in the same grade with my brother."

At this time, there was a man by the name of Arnold Burgener who was teaching music in the high school down in Salina, Utah. He was a very good friend of my father's, and when he came up in the summer time to visit his folks here, my father told him of the problem that he had with me in not wanting to go back to school. My father had befriended him before by telling him that he would either have to go on a mission or go to school, and he decided to go to the B.Y. (Brigham Young Academy) and finish in music. He was a very wonderful trumpet player. He said to my father, "why won't you let Karl come and go down to Salina and live with us and go to school there, and I probably can get him into first year of high school." My father was pleased with the idea and mentioned it to me. I was also happy about it. I had already been playing a trombone - old brass beaten up) that I had purchased for $10.00. This I carried along while herding sheep, and at night I would blow this old trombone and would be answered up on the hill by the coyotes. Mr. Burgener said, "why can't we start him in music?" But he said, "before he moved down to Salina, I will have to talk to the principal and see if he can miss the eighth grade and go from the seventh into the first year of high school." On contacting the principal, Mr. Burgener told us later that he would give me a chance and a trial period for one month. If I could keep up with the work, I could stay, and if not, I would have to go back home. So, I packed my trunk and took my belongings. My dad and I boarded the train in Heber and arrived in Salina some time later. Mr. Burgerner and my father and I met with Mr Henry Rose, the principal, and he decided to give me a chance in school there."

"After the first month, I got my report card, and I had all A's except one B+, which was very gratifying to him, Mr. Burgener, and my parents. He called me in and said, "you have made good and so you can finish the year." I studied music and finally made Mr. Burgener's dance orchestra, and we played for dances in such towns as Redmond, Aurora, Richfield, Elsinore, Gunnison, and Manti. At that time, we made $1.50 a night. By this experience, I became rather proficient on the trombone and finished my school successfully. I went home on the train in the spring."

"It so happened that the next year, there was an opening for a music teacher in Wasatch High School in Heber, and Mr Burgener made application to teach music at Wasatch High School and was given the job. That year, he brought with him a trumpet player who had played in the dance orchestra by the name of Clarence Brown and a drum player by the name of Seymour Prowse who were very good friends of his and mine. They came to Heber, Utah, and lived and went to school, and I and my brother rode from Midway to Heber in a dump cart to go to school. We had a good band orchestra in the high school and the dance orchestra, including us and made up of several other local boys: Clarence Probst, my cousin, being one––a clarinet player. That was a very successful year at Wasatch High School musically. The next year, Mr. Burgener decided to go back to the B.Y.U. and finish up his musical education, and the two boys from Salina, myself, and Clarence Probst decided to go to B.Y.U. and take up music. We also stayed together and had an orchestra and played for dances in all the towns in Utah County. The next year, Arnold Burgener decided to teach music in Price High School and wanted us to go with him, but we were training and had the idea of going out in education to become school teachers, and we stayed at the B.Y.U. one more year to finish up."

"The second year at the B.Y.U. three of us rented a very small room, (we called it the 2 x4). The last year, myself, along with Taylor Bend from Heber and Otto Anderson from Daniels rented a very small room which cost us $6.00 a month rent, $2.00 each. These two boys wanted to learn to play the trombone, so I gave them lessons at the cost of $.25 (cents) a lesson per week. That made $1.00 from each, and that paid my $2.00 share of the rent on the room each month, so by giving trombone lessons and playing for dances, and what I received from home, I made my way through the B.Y.U. Finishing up a normal course, we were now ready to teach school. So, when school started in September, Clarence was teaching the fourth grade, and I was teaching the fifth grade in Midway."