1837 - 1927
John Conrad [Mom said he didn’t have a middle name] was born in 1837 on shipboard when the family was “almost to America - they were in American waters - so he was an American” (says Mom). John’s mother had him “baptized in a Catholic church in New York City - he was born on St. John’s day - now I can’t tell you this minute when St. John’s Day is - and that’s why she called him John” Mom says. I looked on the web and June 24 is celebrated as St. John the Baptist’s birthday on the Catholic calendar, so I am assuming that this would have been John Conrad’s birth date.
Mom continues:
He was born blind - he was born with cataracts - now that’s a long, long time ago [1837] - but they were able to remove the cataracts from his eyes when he was a baby or very, very young, and he was able to see . . . and then he was able to see until after I was born and let’s see, I think he went blind again when I
was two or three years old [about 1906] - whether it was cataracts again I don’t know, but I do remember that he had the most beautiful blue eyes and they were wide open all the time.
So it sounds like he had sight for about 69 years before he went blind again. John’s granddaughters, Nancy and Mary (Mom) remember seeing a “glass eye that belonged to Grandpa.”
Uncle George says that John was exempted from serving in the armed forces at the age of 26 [the Civil War?] because of a “disability,” which I thought might be the blindness, but that came later, so I don’t know what the disability could have been.
Mom continues:
He was a handsome looking old guy with a Van Dyke beard - a little white Van Dyke beard, ya know, and with these lovely blue eyes, but I remember him walking with a cane and having his little dog with him - it was a little spotted terrier - that used to walk around with him - the dog’s name was Belle - and Belle didn’t like me - he snapped at me once and I was afraid of it and I guess he just kept me cowed - but anyway I remember Belle - but it was Grandpop’s dog.