My Old Ohio Home

Andrew Conrad,
1922

This website includes a picture of the 1922 second grade class at Holy Name Parish on Broadway on the southeast side of Cleveland. My mother was in that class and identified most of the children in the picture. She identified the sixth young man from our left in the front row as Bernard Conrad.  She also identified the third young lady from our right in the back row as Catherine Conrad. There was a Andrew Bernard and Catherine Conrad living in the area who are most likely these two children.

Andrew B Conrad

Andrew B Conrad was born January 5, 1912 in Ohio, the first child of Andrew B Conrad and Margaret Schmitt. The family was living on Horton Road, Garfield Heights, in 1920. There were eventually four children in this family: Andrew Bernard, Catherine, Margaret, and Frank.

Andrew married Mary A Kristoff about 1941. I couldn't determine if Andrew and Mary L (Kristoff) Conrad had children or not, nor where they are buried. Andrew was living in Maple Heights when he died in 1976. Mary died in Summit County, Ohio, in 1997.

Catherine Conrad

Catherine Conrad,
1922

Catherine married Howard Cerba on August 26, 1937, in Cleveland. On the 1940 Census they were living in Newburgh Heights Village.  Catherine died April 2, 1976, in Cleveland. There was a son mentioned in her death notice.

Andrew Conrad Sr

Andrew and Catherine's father was the son of Silas Augustine Conrad and Susan Donahue. Susan in turn was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Ellen (Bolewine) Donahue of Pine Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Some posts on the rootsweb.com message boards say that Thomas' father Hugh Donahue was from County Tyrone.

Edited May 2016 to add: A descendant of Hugh Donahue through Thomas' son Jacob Francis contacted me with quite a bit of information, including a photocopy of Hugh Donahue's declaration of intention to become a citizen, naming his original home as County Tyrone. There is an image of it with the Donahue information in the Pennsylvania Families tree on this site.

Silas Conrad was included in a couple trees at ancestry.com. One that looked reliable said that his grandfather was John Conrad, born October 1, 1796, in Funkstown, Maryland. It was the Wagner Family tree at http://person.ancestry.com/tree/27957315/person/26442887163/facts.

Margaret Schmitt

Andrew's mother, Margaret Schmitt, was born in Shafton, North Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of John Schmitt and Barabara Klein. Johann and Barbara arrived in the United States on March 28, 1882, with their oldest two sons, Paul and Jacob. They had four more children all born in the Shafton/Irwin area. Barbara was widowed and living in North Versailles Township, Allegheny County by 1900, but I haven't found any death information for her husband Johann.

The records for their first two sons include birth locations in Germany. Jacob's World War II draft registration said he was born in Nalbach, Germany. Actually the record said "Nolbaugh" but I think that reflects the influence of the Pennsylvania Scots using their hard "gh" for the German "ch", as in Steinbaugh = Steinbach.

Jacob's older brother Paul's petition for naturalization said he was born in "Bilsteck" Germany. There is a Bildstock in Saarbrucken, Saarland, Germany, about a 1/2 hour ride from Nalbach. Interestingly I found an account about a World War II skirmish in the area of "Bilstock" so this might be the Americanization of the German town's name.

At any rate, I would look in the Saarland for this Schmitt and Klein family.

Conclusion

There is a lot more detail about the Conrads, Donahues and Schmitts in the Family Trees > Pennsylvania Families section of this site. If you are a relative or descendant of Andrew or Catherine Conrad you are welcome to download the class picture and pass it on.