Married Anne Kirstene With 20 May 1814
Erik-Peder-Samuel-Mary Ann-Dixie
Died 11 April 1846
Buried in Denmark
Makkeprang (along with many spelling variations) was the name that Erik's descendents in Utah were know as. Here's an explanation of where the name came from, by a Michael Mackeprang from Germany:
The Mackeprang line originates on the island of Fehmarn, about 10 miles south of the Island of Laaland. Fehmarn belonged to the Danish crown for hundreds of years, until it was occupied by the Prussians in 1865. Mackeprangs have lived on Fehmarn since the 15th century. Some relocated to the islands of Rodby and Maribo (about 20 miles away from Fehmarn) in 1665.
The great grandson of the founder of the Rodby line, Erik Mackeprang (b. abt. 1733) married three times. He died in 1783 and had 15 children. His 3rd wife, Anne Kristine Knudsdatter, was married after her husband's death to a man named Peder Andreas Coldvin Kruckow. They had two children: Jorgen Mathiasen Kruckow and Erik Mackeprang Kruckow. According to Michael Mackeprang, young Erik assumed the surname Mackeprang to honor his mother's former husband Erik Mackeprang.
Young Erik Mackeprang had three kids: Anna Kristine, Peder Mathiason, and Christian. They all used the Mackeprang surname, even though they were not genetically related to the other Mackeprangs in the vicinity. Peder Mathiasen left Rodby and went to America. For reasons unbeknownst to anyone I've talked with, he changed his name to Mackelprang upon arriving in America--maybe an Ellis Island mis-transcription? (although, intriguingly, I recall that his tombstone in Cedar City has it spelled something like "Peter McKelprang"--if anybody is down in that vicinity, maybe you could verify that). I've always heard that Peter was sent to settle Iron County Cedar City by Brigham Young as soon as the early Mormon pioneers arrived in Utah. Family legend has it that he built the first permanent structure in Cedar City. I know for a fact that he helped build the college down there because his name is on a large plaque by a bronze statue of a some teamsters hauling a wagon load of lumber out of the snowy mountains for the construction.
All the subsequent Mackelprangs (with an L) in the United States are descended from him. One of his kids was assigned to settle eastern Utah, and was part of the "Hole in the Rock" party that ended up in Bluff, Utah. Those Mackelprangs subsequently went north and settled up in the Huntington, UT area, and I believe they now spell their names "McKelprang." --gives it kind of an Irish twist, don't you think? There's even a "McKelprang Canyon" near Huntington.
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