The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1874-09-24


erected his house of stone, in which
the meeting was held. This house
has been (says the writer) torn down,
and is now the property of Jacob
Burns, having newer and larger
two story stone house on the ancient
site, and retaining in its structure on
the north side part of the original
wall OF the first house of Dennis Gun
rad, which is known from the newer
wall by its being, made of squared
stone, and in horizontal lines. But
| must not dwell too long on the
particulars of this document, the
facts 81 which were furnished to the
| writer by j. T. Watson, of German
town, the 18th of February, 1924.
1 will not attempt to trace the reg
ular line of descent from this Dennis
Cunrad down to the present genera
ton, nor have I any records of the
family by which I can fix the time
when or by whom the spelling of the
name was changed. But 1 think 1
can remember my father telling me
that his gradfather was the first to
spell the name Conard. Others of
the same family he said spelled it
Conrad.
1 will now begin with my grand
father, whom 1 remember well. l
think he was the son of a Cornelius
Conard, and 1 know he had brothers
by the names of Matthew, John and
Joseph. Ny grandfather's name was
Everard Conard, and 1 think he was
born in Germantown and was mar
ried there to Margaret Cadwallader.
He was wagon-maker by trade. 1t
is certain he moved to near Doyles-
town, Bucks CO., Pa, where most OF
his children were born. Their
names were, as far as my knowledge
goes, Isaac, Cornelius, (my father)
Abraham, Everard, Jesse, Sarah,
Mary and Margaret, all of whom mar
ried, and all raised families except
Isaac and Margaret.
My grandfather moved from Bucks
CO., to New London, Chester co, PA,
about as near as I can tell, in the
year 1884, and bought about 300
acres of land, that was naturally of a
poor quality ofsoil, and had previous
ly been exhausted by bad tillage
Here he was one of the pioneers in
improving the worn out lands of that
section, and among the first to haul
lime stone distance of four miles
and burn it into lime for manure
Subsequently he divided his land
among his three sons, viz: Cornelius,
(my father Everard and Jesse. His
other two sons, Isaac and Abraham,
settled on the limestone lands of the
Conestoga valley, in Lancaster coun-
ty.
The house where my grandfather
first settled in Chester CO., about
1854, is still standing, although it
was an old house then. It is still
occupied by one Of the family, Ed
win Conard. 1t is built of hewn logs,
but has been weather r-boarded and
painted within my recollection, say
some so years ago.
My father, Cornelius Conard, mar
ried Susanna Chalfont, about the year
1890 or first of 1871, and settled on
so acres of his fathers land. This
he famed and improved, and at the
same time working some at tailoring,
to which trade he had been appren-
ticed by his father before leaving
Bucks county. Helearned his trade
with o man by the name of Robins, a
relative of the late Charles Robins,
of New Lexington in this county.
He had been apprenticed to tailor
on account of his being lamed by a
wound from an az when quite small.
After remaining on this so acres
for q few years, building house and
making some other improvements,
he sold his property and moved to
the vicinity of historic Valley Forge,
engaged first in tailoring and store
keeping, and afterwards in farming
and dairying for the Philadelphia
market. He moved to Valley Forge
in 1897, where all but two of his chill
dren were born. Here, while I was
yet too young to comprehend the
great loss, my mother died, on the
23d OF June, 1917, and on or'about the
first of April of the. next year, 1918,
my father moved to the neighbor-
hood of his fathers, and bought
worn-out farm of 71 ares, taking
with him seven children, namely,
Lydia, Esther, Mary, Elizabeth, Jo-
seph, Amy aud Benjamin. Amy died
June 26, 1921, aged 13 years.
Our oldest brother, William, re-
mained behind and soon after mar
ried in that neighborhood
On this farm of72 acres my father
continued to reside until his death,
which took place the 10Th of October,
1886, aged Y years. He was very
industrious, hard-wo4king man, and
always did a full share of farm labor,
Notwithstanding his lameness. He
pursued on this farm, what was then
called the modern system of i'm
provement by lining, &c, and before
his death it was in good condition.
In 1887 my sister, E. Edwards,
rrhncn cn-n1,an,r rrn nrn hlesSed with