Jack Conrad (1834-1897) ( My great, great grandfather}
Jack Conrad, Civil
War soldier and voice and survivor of the Thibodaux Massacre, was born a slave
in 1834 to Mary Conrad, who was 21 at the time of his birth. Jack Conrad, his
mother and his three-year-old brother, Telesmao were sold for $1000 by Jean
Baptiste Rodriquez of St. John the Baptist Parish, to Jacque Caillouett of the
Caillouett Plantation in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Jean Baptiste Rodriquez used the
name Conrad for his business ventures, but we still don’t have any solid information
that he fathered Jack and his brother.
Jack Conrad lived all his life on the Caillouett
Plantation. In 1862 when the Union Troops marched through Thibodaux and told
the slaves they were free, Jack followed them along with other slaves to New Orleans.
Once in New Orleans Jack joined the Union Army. The freemen of color and
colored volunteers were called the Corps de Afrique and this title was changed
to the US 84th Colored Infantry He became Pvt. Jack Conrad of the 84th
US Colored Infantry Company E. He enlisted on November 24, 1862 and was
discharged on November 29, 1865.
While a soldier in the Civil War, Jack fought
in the Battle of Port Hudson in Jackson, Louisiana. His officers were. Captain
Miller. 1st Lt. Naive and 2nd Lt. Harry. His sergeant was
Mr. Robinson and he was succeeded by Lewis Edwards. Jack also fought in several
other Civil War Battles. He fought in the largest battle in Pointe Coupee
Parish. This was the site of the union soldier encampment and the battle was
fought near the Sterling Plantation. The Confederate won the battle of Morganza
and captured over 400 union soldiers only a few Negro regiments escaped. Jack
was part of those who escaped because then he went up to North Louisianan and
became part of the Red River Campaign, from there, he wrote he was sent to Monroe,
Louisiana where the Miliken’s Bend Battle was fought .Jack was briefly
transferred to the 87th US Colored Infantry, but was transferred
back to the 84th US Colored Infantry before being sent back to New
Orleans.
John White and George Reese, two soldiers
who served in the 84th with him said he had a cough while in the
service and was hospitalized at one time in the service. George Reese said he
remembers the cough started when they were at Port Hudson. After the war, Jack
Conrad returned to Thibodaux, Louisianan and to the Caillouett Plantation. Once
back on the plantation, he married a former slave who he knew on the Plantation.
Her name was Mary Weldon. They got married and had three children, Clara, born
in 1866, Grant born in 1868 and Manfred born in 1872.
Jack Conrad remained
on the Caillouett Plantation until around 1886 when he started working for a
Captain Whitehead at the Abbey Plantation. On this plantation, he was not a
field hand, but ran an engine for Captain Whitehead. He was paid a wage instead of the script that
was used on the Plantation. During this time, he moved his family from the
Caillouett Plantation to a rented house in “Back of town’ Thibodaux. This was a
very dangerous time for Black people across the
the nation. Economic problems and the newly developed unions caused disarray everywhere. In Thibodaux, the Knights of Labor- a union of sort-- headed by Junius Bailey was gaining members. Jack was not a member, but his son , Grant, who had been a field hand since he was 12 was said to be a member. On the day of the Thibodaux Massacre, Jack had gotten up early and walked 4 miles to the Abbey Plantation, but he was feeling ill and asked to leave work early; he walked back home and laid down.
The city of Thibodaux at this time was a hot bed of chaos and confusion. Many Black worker had left their plantations and set up refuge in the city. Atone point the National Guards were called. However, this day, the vigilantes came into the Black section of Thibodaux and started shooting unarmed Black men and women. They moved from house to house calling out the men in the house. When they got to Jack's house, Mary was in the yard, they told her if there were any men in the house to call them out. Jack, his 19 year old son, Grant and his brother-in-law, Marcelin Weldon came out the house when they heard the commotion. Jack was shot first, Grant was shot and killed, Marcelin was shot and killed. Jack crawled under the house ,he was shot four time and pretended to be dead. As the white men moved through
out the neighborhood killing more and more Black people, someone pulled Jack
from under the house and called a doctor.
Jack survived because he had a story to tell. He was brought back to the Caillouett Plantation and a doctor tended to his wounds. He was shot in the left arm, the right forearm , the chest and the collar bone. He recovered through the care of Mary his wife. But death took Mary suddenly on March 2, 1889. She was buried on the plantation ground. At that time the son of the original owner talked to Jack and asked him if he knew who shot him. Jack told him he could identify them and name them. One of the shooter was his boss from the Abbey Plantation , Captain Whitehead.
The Caillouett who owned the plantation at the time told Jack he should leave Thibodaux.
Jack had to leave Thibodaux for his own
safety. He moved to New Orleans and reunited with some of his army buddies. He later
remarried a woman name Mary Davis.
In 1893, a law was passed to give a
pension to veterans who could not work due to no fault of their own. Jack
applied and was granted a pension due to the wounds in incurred during the
Thibodaux Massacre. But this story is told in details in Jack Conrad's pension file from the United States National Archives.
Jack died at age 64 on February 15, 1897 in New Orleans. He died of Tubecolois and he is buried in St. Vincent DePaul Cemetery on Louisa Street in New Orleans. We are very proud of our family hero because he was a Civil War soldier; he fought on the Union side and he is the voice and survivor f the Thibodaux Massacre.
