Daniel Conrad was a German-speaking ironworker from Lancaster County, who moved north to Huntingdon County and raised a large family there. He was part of a movement of Germans out of Lancaster County. German farmers had prospered in Lancaster and York Counties, but farmland had become expensive by the late 1700s. Some moved up to Huntingdon for opportunities in the iron industry. There the rolling hills were dotted with small villages that grew up around each forge or furnace. The Germans often married other German families, but not exclusively.

It is generally believed that Daniel Conrad of Huntingdon County was the son of another Daniel Conrad who lived in Mount Joy Township, Lancaster County. The older Daniel owned 150 acres of land there, served in the Lancaster County Militia in 1781, and appeared in the census through 1810, with his family mostly of sons.¹ He made his will on August 19, 1811; it was probated in January 1812.² He provided for his beloved wife Barbara with household furniture, a cow, and yearly cash payments. The farm implements were to be sold to cover his debts. After her death the estate was to be divided equally among his ten children: a girl and her nine brothers.³ There was no mention of the land. Presumably he had already disposed of it, and he and Barbara were living with one of their children.⁴

Some lore about Daniel Conrad Senior was passed down through the family. W. Fisk Conrad, a grandson of the younger Daniel, was keenly interested in the family history and wrote an account of the family in his Bible. He wrote that “My great grandfather immigrated to Lancaster County from Germany, I think Saxony. He was [the] father of five boys and six girls.”⁵ This could apply to Daniel of Mt. Joy if you generalize it to mean that he had a large family of children.

The younger Daniel Conrad appeared in Franklin Township around 1795, as a young man. Jacob Conrad and Michael Conrad showed up in records about the same time, and it is believed that they were his brothers.⁶ Daniel of Mount Joy, the man with the nine sons, named sons Daniel, Jacob and Michael in his will.

Daniel was probably drawn to Huntingdon County by the opportunity to work in the iron forges there. Some say that he went with George Anshutz, the iron master from Alsace.⁷ Anshutz set up an iron forge and furnace and became the biggest landholder in Franklin Township.⁸

Daniel’s wife Elizabeth Shank was from Lancaster County as well, so they may have been married before they moved.⁹

They were Lutherans. At first they worshipped in the Dry Hollow meeting house. After 1805 they went to the Lutheran Church at Seven Stars, close to where they lived on Eden Hill.¹⁰ Seven Stars probably took its name from a log cabin tavern that stood there for many years. Early families in the Lutheran Church included Mattern, Anshutz, Adam Mong, Daniel Conrad, “a number of the latter being workmen at the nearby Huntingdon Furnace.”¹¹

Daniel and Elizabeth raised a family of ten children. Some of them stayed nearby, while others moved further west and north in Pennsylvania.

Daniel wrote his will on January 1, 1824; he died on March 11, and the will was probated in April. The will was written in German; a translation accompanied it in the will book.¹² It was witnessed by Samuel Conrad and John Watson (Daniel’s son-in-law). Was Samuel one of Daniel’s sons? The will specified the care of Daniel’s “weak-minded” daughter Elizabeth, who never married, as well as the education of the five youngest children. It also provided for his wife Elizabeth, referred to as “Mother” in the will. It implied that the dowry for the older girls was a bed, a cow, and a sheep. His wife Elizabeth Conrad and George Shank were to be the administrators. There is no clue in the will where Daniel and Elizabeth were living at the time, and no mention of land.

“January 9 the year 1824. My wish is that my wife shall sell all that she don’t need for to pay the debts; and when the same is paid all shall remain in her hands so long as she is my widow. Elizabeth shall have her bed and cow and one sheep as the other girls and one hundred dollars shall remain at interest as long as she lives and the child that keeps her shall draw the interest for to buy Sunday clothes. My will is that the two little girls shall be put out to a virtuous place to be raised in the fear of God. And John has his choice to choose his trade now or in two years after my death if he don’t take up with loose company and then he must go directly to a trade. Jacob shall remain two or three years with Samuel with wages what he earns for schooling and clothes with good instruction if he has not a notion of going directly to a trade. Mother can keep the ?moll mare and her saddle and bridle if she will one cow, three sheep, one heifer, other household goods that she needs, one hog. All the rest big and little shall be sold at public vendue as soon as convenient. Daniel shall remain with his mother till he is schooled if she lives, or as long as she can keep him. And after Mother’s death each child shall have their share if anything remains. And Elizabeth’s hundred dollars shall that child inherit after her death with [whom?] she lives and dies with good attendance. This is the last will and testament in my life in earthly terms.”

Elizabeth outlived Daniel by almost twenty years, dying on May 7, 1853. They are buried together at Seven Stars Cemetery.¹³ He died at age 49; she died at age 77. According to W. Mills Davis, Daniel was a frail man, while Elizabeth was robust and stout, and blind before she died.

Children of Daniel and Elizabeth:¹⁴

Samuel William, b. 16 March 1796, d. 1866, m. Catherine Mattern, from a large German family. Samuel became a minister and moved his family to Indiana County, Pennsylvania. He and Catherine had ten children.

Margaret Jane, b. 3 June 1799, d. 10 April 1877, m. David Henderson in 1821. He was a successful farmer in Franklin Township and a shoemaker with a large business, employing men to work for him. He did work for the ironworks, got paid in iron, and took it over the mountains to Pittsburgh twice a year.¹⁵ He and Margaret had nine children, and also took in her sister Elizabeth after Daniel died.¹⁶He was a Democrat and a Methodist. A man of “genial disposition, social habits, and kindly nature”, he died in 1882.¹⁷

Elizabeth, “Betsy”, b. 1800, d. 1872, “weak-minded”, did not marry. She lived with her sister Margaret Henderson for at least part of her life.

Catherine, b. 1803, d. 1872, m. James Dickson. They lived at Eden Hill, Birmingham, Huntingdon County at first, later moved outside of Tyrone. He worked as a miller all his life. They had 11 children. James died in 1872 or 1873; Catherine died in 1893.¹⁸

Mary Ann, b. 1 January 1806, d. 1877, m. John Watson, an iron worker. She was short and slender, had dark eyes and dark hair, smoked a pipe. She was exceptionally kind and affectionate.¹⁹ They had ten children.²⁰

John, b. 11 March 1809, d. 1855, m. Mary Ann Stonebraker in 1831. They kept a store in Franklinville, selling shoes, dry goods, and groceries. John went to Philadelphia for his goods, bringing them back on a canal boat, “which was the only way of traveling with a heavy load in those days”.²¹ He and Mary Ann had colorful sons Fisk and Fletcher. ²² Mary Ann had her last child on May 31, 1853; the baby died the same day and Mary Ann did too. There were two doctors on her case, Doctors Irvin and Bates. Bates accused Irvin of murdering her and her body was exhumed a week after the funeral to search for traces of poison but nothing was found.²³John’s mother Elizabeth had died earlier that month. John died at McAlevy’s Fort, Jackson Township in 1855.

Jacob, b. 1813, d. 1844, m. Catherine Markle, buried at Franklinville. He was only 31 when he died.²⁴

Susan, m. George Dinsmore, moved to Sharpsburg, Allegheny County.

Nancy, d. 1897, m. William Hunt in 1837, moved to McAlevy’s Fort.²⁵ They had no children.

Daniel, b. July 1818, d. 1877, m. Mary Ann Lowe, had seven children, including Elizabeth who married Hunter LaPorte, son of John & Mary Ann. Daniel and Mary Ann lived at Eden Hill, where he was a farmer. He died in 1877. Mary Ann died in 1896 in Tyrone at the home of one of their daughters.²⁶