Monday, January 8, 2018

Frederick Conrad - G.A.R., Bishop Post


According to past census records, Frederick Conrad was born on March 1, 1840, in Bavaria, Germany.  He and his parents immigrated to America in 1848 or 1849.

 By the 1860 census, young Frederick was plying his trade as a barber in Norwalk, Huron County, Ohio.  He lived in the boarding house of Paulina Coffinberger, 19, apparently the owner of a barber shop, and Wilhelmina Bahmer, 42, and her four children.  All of the four boarders were from Germany and all were barbers.







In January, 1864, Frederick enlisted into Company K, 25th Ohio Infantry.  This regiment was on a leave home, but most of them reenlisted.  However, they needed more men to fill their numbers, and Frederick was recruited to join them.  The group headed to Hilton Head, South Carolina, where they were in several skirmishes.  The official records showed that Frederick was wounded on November 30, 1864, at the Battle of Honey Hill, South Carolina.  He was later discharged for disability,  being officially mustered out on May 26, 1865.


Elizabeth Wehrie (Warley) and Frederick Conrad were married on December 21, 1862 in Lucas County, Ohio.  They eventually settled in Defiance, Ohio, where Frederick continued the barbering trade.  Their five children were: Frederick A., William A., Alice M., Charles, and M. M.  Upon the birth of son Frederick, the father became known as Frederick, Sr.

Two sons preceded their parents in death: William and Charles.  William died in November 1895, at the home of his parents after suffering from consumption for years.  At thirty years old, he left a wife and three children.  

In August, 1908, their son, Charles, died at Defiance Hospital after suffering from consumption for three years and then having an operation there on an abscess. 
Charles was married to Josephine Gillian and had one daughter at the time of his death, also at the age of thirty.

For an undetermined length of time, Frederick, 60, and Elizabeth moved in with his mother on Woodland Avenue, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County.  Margaret Conrad was a widow born in January, 1819, according to the census of 1900.  The reason for this relocation is unknown, but by 1910, the couple were back in Defiance, living at their home at the corner of Wayne and 4th Streets. 

Elizabeth Conrad died in 1916.  Her obituary, in one Defiance paper of 1917:

The marriage date in the obituary conflicts with another record.
Frederick Conrad lived on until October 6, 1927, when he passed away in Defiance at the age of 87.



(This is part of a series on Civil War veterans of Defiance County who were part of the G.A.R., Bishop Post, that headquartered in the city.  Formed in 1879, the post was named after a local man, Captain William Bishop, Company D, 100th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army who died as a result of wounds received in battle.  The veterans' photos are part of a composite photo of members that has survived.  If you have other information or corrections to add to the soldiers' stories, please add to the comments!)

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