The Conrath family migrated from their home
in Germany to America in the 1800's and settled in
southern Minnesota to start a farm in the Mankato
area.
In the very early 1900's, Frank Conrath and his
four brothers came to Wisconsin and after a brief
venture in a wood stove business in Gray Town,
Wis., they came to what is now Conrath, Wis. The
five brothers had a logging camp and sawmill on
the site of the village in 1904. It was a primitive
area then with no roads, and only the Wisconsin
Central railroad as transportation to this area. The
Wisconsin Central was then later merged with the
Soo Line, which continues as the main north and
south railroad in this area.
Frank Conrath was accompanied to Wis. by his
wife Ida, and his son Anthony (Tony), who was my
father. Tony was 9 years old when they settled
here for the logging operation.
The site of the logging camp and sawmill was
later incorporated into the village called
"Conrath," as immigrants and other settlers came
here to farm. The village soon had stores, a bank,
and school to serve the new settlers in the area.
Like all small villages in Wis., it is losing its
business importance in favor of larger communities
since the faster pace after World War 1I.
Tony Conrath married Theresa Sigmund in Oct.
1918 while he was serving in the U.S. Army in
World War I. Theresa Conrath resided in several
logging communities in Wis. and was residing in
Ladysmith Wis. when she met my father. I was
born January 19, 1920.
After an absence of six years from 1926 to 1932,
when the Conrath family moved to California and
then to Kenosha, Wis., we returned to live in Con-
rath in April 1932. The old Conrath home, which
was built in 1912, is still the residence of Mrs.
Theresa Conrath, who is now 85 years of age. Tony
Conrath died on January 11, 1975.
1, Maurice A. Conrath, am preparing this fami-
ly history from a book "Conrath Remembers"
which was written by my father about the history
of the village. I have just returned to live in the old
family home in May 1982, after an absence of 32
years. I was a professional soldier in the U.S. Ar-
my for over 20 years and served three wars. After
military retirement, I worked in Milwaukee for 15
years. My wife, Hildegard, whom I married in
Germany in 1955, died in Milwaukee in 1970. As
there were no children, I am the last member of
the family bearing the Conrath name. However,
there are four children of the former Beth Con-
rath, but their last name is Kahut. The boys, (three
of them,) live in Milwaukee, and the daughter lives
in California. Beth, my second cousin, was the
daughter of Charles Conrath, one of the brothers
who had the logging and sawmill operation here in
1904. The history of the other three brothers is
unknown to me. Beth died in October 1978.

By Maurice A. Conrath
From Contributor: Cathy T. (49938013)