Charles and Mary Elizabeth

Charles Conrad

Charles Conrad, who was called Charlie by his mother, was born to Charles Ferdinand Conrad and his wife Sarah Adams Bitely Conrad on 20 November 1831.

His mother and sister Elizabeth were baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints in 1843. His father, who was a justice of the peace and known as an upstanding member of the community but not the kindest of fathers, was also baptized, but had no devotion to the gospel.

Eventually, Charles F. and Sarah went their separate ways. In 1862, Sarah went to Utah with another single lady. Bothered on the train by drunken men, Sarah arranged her shawl pin at an angle to poke anyone who got too close. A few stabs of that pin, and the men left the two women alone. (So if you are a bit spunky, lady cousins, you come by it honestly!)

A couple of years later, in 1864, Charlie went to Utah with two brothers, a brother-in-law, and an uncle, to visit Sarah. Charlie ended up staying.

At 33, Charlie was single, about 5' 8" tall, weighing about 150 lbs, with blue eyes and brown hair. (Ida and Art kept a record of the vital statistics of the family.) Charlie went to church with his mother, and saw there "a child--attractive, brown eyes, curly dark hair and winsome smile--and vowed that he would wait until she grew to womanhood at which time he would marry her. When this young lady reached seventeen years and ten months, they were married the 10 November 1873 in the Salt Lake Endowment House." (as related by Grant Tell Muhlestein)

The young lady he saw, Mary Elizabeth Holdaway, was the daughter of Shedrach and Lucinda Haws (Cindy) Holdaway, who had both joined the LDS church in about 1843, and had moved to Utah, where Mary Elizabeth was born on 12 September 1856.

Mary Elizabeth Holdaway Conrad

I don't know about you, but it boggles my mind just a little bit that he was 33 and she was 8 when he saw her and decided to marry her! But, he vowed to wait for her, and he did. No other woman turned his head. He was baptized a member of her LDS faith on 19 August 1866, two years after coming to Utah, and then he waited for her to grow up.  That he, at 42 would want to marry a 17 year old I can understand. It is harder for me to accept that she, at 17, would willingly marry an old guy like him!

Charles had built a sturdy home for Mary, of double brick construction, at the corner of 7th East and 8th North in Provo. He owned a lot of land there, and there were naturally growing cottonwood trees, and black walnut trees, and other fruit trees which Mary Elizabeth enjoyed grafting. They had both beef and dairy cattle, and Mary liked to grow flowers as well as all kinds of vegetables and fruits such as watermelon and canteloupe. She was an excellent cook and seamstress. He was a self-made veterinarian and often cared for sick animals.

Conrad home. This photo of Arnold Conrad in front of his grandparents' home (his birthplace) taken in August 1978. The home is still standing, but all the trees and lawns are gone. It has been a paintball place, the Awful Waffle, and is now a taco stand.

Charles was 25 years older than Mary was. He lived for 25 years before she was born; she lived for 25 years after he died. He died of heart failure on 7 February 1910. Upon his death, she penned these words:

In Memory of My Dear Husband

I will liken the the life of our departed dear-one
To the rays of the warm, radiant, glorious sun
Rising at morn to cheer, comfort and bless,
Sinking at evening to sweet, quiet rest,
His appearance at morn brought joy to the earth,
All are more happy who know of his worth.
He was the sun of our home, kind deeds were the rays
Which lighted our pathway in sorrow's dark days;
Gone from us forever and ever? o, nay!
He will rise in more splendor to light a new day.

Left responsible for the house and lands, Mary Elizabeth settled inheritances upon her sons, most of whom wished to immigrate to Canada, and her daughter Eva. The town land was divided between the oldest and youngest daughters.  Mary Elizabeth died of cancer on 11 December 1935.