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#26, Richard "Dirk" Conrads is the son of Conrad Dirks and Unknown.

Born 21 Dec 1805 at Moorhausen, Ostfriesland. Died 13 Apr 1894 at Hastings, Adams Co., NE.

The "Maternal Family Background" by a grandson, David Marti, relates the following information:

"(Dirk and his wife) were of peasant stock, and both worked for the same boor (landlord), he in the fields and she in the dairy and the home. Their language was a dialect known as Low German or Plattdeutsch. Grandfather Conrad had been in the German army under its compulsory military service. On a New Year's Eve, he and a few companions went from home to home to greet the families with a volley of gunshots. In one of these volleys one of his eyes was injured; later he lost the sight of that eye and eventually lost the sight of the other eye. Because of his blindness it was my task as a youngster to help him light his long German pipe and otherwise to serve him.

"The Conrad family came to the United States in 1857, settling (initially in Peoria, IL according to Anita Pachol, and later) in Woodford County (a few miles to the northeast) on a farm with their eight children. (A biographical sketch by Dorothy Ross says they later moved from Woodford County, later Tazewell County, and then Iroquois County, IL.) Twenty-two years later (in 1879), Grandfather and Grandmother came to live with us at Bellwood, NE. At the time of his death they had been married 61 years. I remember being among those who stood at his bedside as he passed away on April 9, 1894 in his 89th year.

He was buried in the Bellwood Cemetery. Grandmother continued her home with us until we moved to Hastings, NE in 1896; then she lived with her son Henry on a farm at Hastings, where she died in 1897, aged 86. She lies in the rural cemetery near Hanson, about ten miles from Hastings.

"Neither of (them) ever learned to speak English. As a small child, I was for some time so constantly in charge of my grandmother that I could speak only Low German, and had to re-learn my forgotten English."

For most of his adult life Dirk was totally blind. It is said that his mobility was limited. In those days, families were served by outhouses and it is said that a string was connected from the house to the outhouse to assist him in moving back and forth.

Dirk was 52 and his wife was 46 when they came to America. By that time they had eight children, the oldest of whom in 1857 was Gesche, 23, and the youngest of whom was Harmke (Rose), a year old. Six of their children accompanied them: Frank, Teda, Henry, Maggie, Ippe and Rose. Gesche remained behind; she married Berend Mennenga the same month her parents immigrated to America. Their eighth child was Trientje (Katie) born in 1850 of whom nothing is known.

Since Dirk was blind and unable to support himself and his family, it seems likely that the main breadwinners in the family were his wife and their oldest daughter, Gesche, and Frank, by then 19. They undoubtedly felt that the family had more opportunities in America.

A staunch Democrat and member of the Congregational Church, he passed away in 1894 at the age of 88.

He married Ihmt (Emma) Frerichs on 13 Apr 1833..