FRED C. CONRAD
One
of the finest country homes in Lucas county, set in a fertile
tract of three hundred and eighty-three acres of choice land
in Otter Creek township, bespeaks the prosperity and
substantial position of Fred C. Conrad, who since infancy has
been a resident of this township, where he has grown to
manhood, his interests having been closely connected with the
development of this region.
A well educated man, he takes a deep interest in the
issues and questions of the day as they affect government and
general conditions, and is widely respected as one of the best
informed men of his community.
Born in Mahaska county, Iowa, November 21, 1865, he was
brought by his parents to Otter Creek township, Lucas county,
in March, 1866, and here the family has since resided, the
father following agricultural pursuits with good results. The parents of our
subject are R. B. and Maria (Canterbury) Conrad, the former a
native of Oswego, New York, and the latter born near
Burlington, Iowa. The
father’s birth occurred January 9, 1833, and that of the
mother on November 30, 1839, the latter being one of the first
white children born in this state. Both Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Conrad are
passing their declining years on the same farm on which they
settled in 1866, highly esteemed and respected by all who know
them. The father
was the first democrat ever to be elected to a township office
in Otter Creek and for twenty-six years held the office of
justice of the peace, discharging his duties with fairness and
impartiality. In
their family were four children: Catharine, born August 13, 1859, who
died October 18, 1860; J. F., born May 10, 1860, who attended
Simpson College at Indianola, Iowa, and after studying law
with an uncle—Judge Conrad, of Des Moines—was admitted to the
bar in Iowa in 1885 and is at the present time one of the
leading lawyers of Des Moines; Mrs. Emma Gray, born December
10, 1862, a resident of Siebert, Colorado; and Fred C., our
subject. J. F.
Conrad of Des Moines—better known as Fitch to his intimate
friends—is a well known author of state-wide magazine articles
which appear under the caption of “My Views.” The two sons of
this family were born in Mahaska county, Iowa, and the two
daughters in Des Moines county.
The mother is one of the oldest living native Iowans
and the father, in age, the oldest settler of his township.
Fred C. Conrad was reared under the parental roof and in the acquirement of his education attended the common schools in the vicinity of his father’s farm, whom he helped in the work on the homestead in his leisure hours. He is now engaged in the cultivation of three hundred and eighty-three acres of choice land on sections 23, 24 and 27, Otter Creek township, which are equipped with two sets of good improvements. Mr. Conrad has just completed one of the finest country homes in Lucas county—furnace-heated, gas-lighted, with hot and cold running water, and up-to-date in every respect. He takes great pride in his home and recognizes the importance of creating a true home atmosphere so that his children, although living on a farm, may lack nothing that a city affords. For this reason he also has garnered a very complete library, and much of the time the family spend their leisure in literary pursuits.
On
March 19, 1893, Mr. Conrad was married to Miss Margaret L.
Baugh, who was born in Warren county, Iowa, on February 21,
1869. Her
father, J. F. Baugh, a native of Hendricks county, Indiana,
died in Lucas county in 1908, and her mother, Margaret Jane
(Breen) Baugh, was born a Ladoga, Indiana, on April 19, 1831,
and died February 26, 1900.
They came to Warren county, Iowa, about fifty years
ago, making the trip overland.
In their family were seven children: Effie A., deceased;
Mrs. Jennie Rubel, born May 11, 1864, at Indianola, Iowa; Mrs.
Mollie Amos, deceased; Orrin T., deceased; Mrs. Fred C.
Conrad; Mrs. Martha Ellen Good, of Milo, Iowa; and Mrs. Ada B.
Rogers, who resides at Fullerton, California. The two eldest
children were born in Hendricks county, Indiana, and the
younger ones in Warren county, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Conrad
have four children, all of whom were born in Otter Creek
township; Vivian Inez, born March 30, 1894, and attending high
school in Chariton; Margaret Marie, born September 22, 1899,
who is attending the common schools in the vicinity of her
father’s farm; Gretchen Willa, born June 8, 1904; and Ralph
Burdette, born December 27, 1905. Mr. and Mrs. Conrad, recognizing the
value of a good education, give their children the best
advantages that can be obtained, and in their home help in any
possible way to improve the opportunities through books and
study. Mrs.
Conrad has taught school for five terms in her own home and
her sister, Mrs. Rodgers, has the remarkable record of having
taught for fifty terms.
Politically Mr. Conrad is a democrat and fraternally a member of Good Shepherd Lodge, No. 414, A. F. & A. M., of Lucas; and Camp No. 5040, M. W. A., of Norwood, serving at the present time as clerk of the latter. Both Mr. and Mrs. Conrad are highly esteemed and respected for their substantial qualities of character and are a valuable addition to the community, not only from a material point of view, but from the standpoint of intellectuality and morality.