Mary Elling Pringnitz's Baby Boy, Herbie

 
Herbert Huldrich , "Herbie", Pringnitz was the youngest child of Henry and Mary Pringnitz. Born on October 29, 1883, he lived on Kelley's Island his whole life and eventually, he ran the jail there. He never married and after his parents' deaths, he lived in the homestead with his sister and her family until his death on February 23, 1952. 

On the Ohio Historic Inventory for the Pringnitz house, it stated that "...he was a popular island resident. Many faceted and good humored, he served as village constable, a pillar of the German Reformed Church, farmer, butcher, and blacksmith, using the Bauman smithy on Division Street. In the 1930's, he operated a silver fox farm with Frank Nowalk adjacent to his farm to the west...Vestiges of the old fox farm are still visible."

A newspaper article from the the early 1950's that appeared in the Toledo Blade included an interview with the infamous jailer/ constable of Kelley's Island. Apparently, his job was not really a challenging one.

"Jail on Kelley's Island Gathering Dust"

Kelley's Island, O. May 20 - if a crime wave ever started on this island its one-man police force would have its hands full.

But Herbert Pringnitz, 66, the only policeman here and his own police chief, is not worried. The jail has not been occupied for the last 20 years. Since its construction in 1861 it has been used on an average of about once every 10 years.

'I keep a mattress on one of the bunks and a couple of blankets there, but that is all the bedding I keep in the jail," Pringnitz said. 'If I put more out it would simply rot, so why waste money?'

The two cells are painted a rusty red and have a capacity of four. But the bunks have been gathering dust and one of Prignitz's duties is to dust the jail about every two weeks.

'If I don't clean it at least that often I have to give myself a dressing down when I go on an inspection tour,' he declared.

Another of his jobs is to keep the keys polished.

'I use them so rarely that if I don't clean them they would get a heavy coating of rust. I also keep the locks oiled so that if I should ever have to lock anyone up, I'd be able to get the doors open.' he said.

Prignitz has often toyed with the idea of having some of the islanders sit in the cells just to see what the cells look like when occupied. None of the islanders seem interested, so Pringnitz will have to wait until he can get a genuine lawbreaker."