Charles Gerard CONN, Congress, IN (1844-1931)

CONN, Charles Gerard, a Representative from Indiana; born in Phelps, Ontario County, N.Y., January 29, 1844; moved with his parents to Elkhart, Ind., in 1851; attended the common schools; enlisted in the Union Army May 18, 1861, and served as a private in the band of Company B, Fifteenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry; discharged September 10, 1862; reenlisted in Company G, First Michigan Sharpshooters, November 18, 1862; was wounded and taken prisoner, being released from Columbia (S.C.) prison camp at the close of hostilities; engaged in the grocery and bakery business and, in 1877, in the manufacture of band instruments at Elkhart, Ind.; mayor of Elkhart 1880-1883; member of the State house of representatives in 1889; established the Elkhart Daily Truth in 1890; was owner of the Washington (D.C.) Times during part of his congressional term; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-third Congress (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1895); was not a candidate for renomination in 1894; resumed the manufacture of band instruments at Elkhart, Ind.; in 1916 retired and moved to Los Angeles, Calif., where he died on January 5, 1931; interment in Grace Lawn Cemetery, Elkhart, Ind.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present