Lake County IN Archives Biographies.....Conrad, August 1841 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 21, 2006, 9:57 pm Author: T. H. Ball (1904) AUGUST CONRAD. Perhaps no one business enterprise or industry indicates more clearly the commercial and social status of a town than its hotels. The wide-awake, enterprising villages and cities must have pleasant accommodations for visitors and traveling men, and the foreign public judges of a community by the entertainment afforded to the strangers. In this regard the Conrad Hotel, of which Mr. Conrad is proprietor, is an index of the character and advantages of Tolleston, for the hostelry will rank favorably with those of many a larger place, and its genial proprietor neglects nothing that can add to the comfort of his guests. Mr. Conrad is a native of Germany, his birth having occurred in the fatherland on the 9th of September, 1841. He was there reared, his boyhood days being quietly passed, and the public schools of Germany afforded him his educational privileges. After putting aside his text-books he began preparation for life's practical duties by serving an apprenticeship to the cabinet-maker's trade. He began when fourteen years of age and worked on that way until twenty years of age, when, in accordance with the laws of the fatherland demanding military service from every able-bodied son, he joined the German army and served for three years. Desirous of benefiting his financial condition Mr. Conrad resolved to come to America, having heard much of its superior business opportunities and possibilities. Accordingly he bade adieu to home and friends and in 1866 sailed for the new world, landing eventually at New York. He did not tarry in the eastern metropolis, however, but made his way at once into the interior of the country, locating in Chicago, where he followed his trade as an employe until 1870. In that year he removed to Clarke Station, where he entered the employ of the Washington Ice Company, but later returned to Chicago, although he still remained in the service of the Washington Ice Company. In 1879 he came to Tolleston, where he embarked in the hotel business, in which he has continued to the present time, covering a period of twenty-five consecutive years. As hotel proprietor he is well known, being a genial landlord, and has made it his study to understand the needs and wishes of his guests and to meet these inasfar as is possible. He has obtained a good patronage and has made the Conrad Hotel a credit to the town. In 1870 was celebrated the marriage of August Conrad and Miss Harmena Ratzlow, who died in 1898 leaving four children, namely: Otto, Emma, Minnie and Paul, all of whom are yet under the parental roof. Mr. Conrad has been quite active and influential in public affairs in his community and is a recognized leader of public thought and action in Tolleston, where his worth and ability have been recognized by election to public office. In 1892 he was chosen by popular suffrage to the position of township trustee, in which capacity he served in a most acceptable manner for four years. He then was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry Seegers in the office of trustee. He was also supervisor for two terms, or four years. Mr. Conrad cast his first presidential vote for General Grant, but since that time has been a Democrat and is a stanch advocate of the party, believing that its platform contains the best elements of good government. Mr. Conrad is well known in his part of the county and has been identified with its upbuilding and progress through a quarter of a century. In every office that he has been called upon to fill he has discharged his duties with promptness and fidelity so that over the record of his public career as well as his private life there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. He came to America empty-handed, but the strong and salient characteristics of the German people have been manifested in his career, and the hope that led him to come to the United States has therefore been more than realized. As time has passed he has made financial progress and has also gained in addition to his material success the good will and confidence of those with whom he has been associated. Additional Comments: Extracted from: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Genealogy and Biography OF LAKE COUNTY, INDIANA, WITH A COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY 1834—1904 A Record of the Achievements of Its People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. REV. T. H. BALL OF CROWN POINT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ILLUSTRATED CHICAGO NEW YORK THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1904 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/lake/bios/conrad502gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/infiles/ File size: 5.1 Kb