Conrad Eymer, a highly esteemed citizen of Bon Homme County, South Dakota, has been closely involved in its history and development since his arrival in 1869. Born in Germany in 1842, he emigrated to the United States at the age of eleven. Settling in South Dakota, he transformed wild land into a thriving farm through hard work and determination. Eymer became a successful farmer and stock raiser, owning two hundred and forty tillable acres. A dedicated and respected member of the community, he also served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Eymer’s contributions as a citizen and soldier have left a lasting impact.
CONRAD EYMER.— A resident of South Dakota since 1869 and one of the oldest, best known, and most highly esteemed citizens of Bon Homme County, with the history and development of which his life has been very closely identified, it is eminently fitting in this connection that due mention be made of the successful farmer and public-spirited man of affairs whose name introduces this article. Conrad Eymer is a native of Homberg, Hesse Cassel, Germany, where his birth occurred on August 3, 1842. His father, Jacob Eymer, also born in Hesse Cassel, was a confectioner by trade and followed that line of work all his life, having been an expert in the manufacturing of candies, as well as a man of intelligence and excellent repute. He lived an industrious and useful life and died in the land of his birth in the year 1849. Mrs. Eymer, whose maiden name was Hasenplug, survived her husband many years and was called to the other world in 1893 after reaching a ripe old age. To this couple, four children were born, the oldest of whom is Kate, wife of Timothy Heineman, a contractor and builder of Covington, Kentucky; Lizzie, the second daughter, lives in Covington also; Conrad is the third in order of birth and the youngest of the family; a daughter by the name of Sophia married Luke C. Walker and lives in Lower Brule Agency, South Dakota.
Conrad Eymer remained in the land of his birth until about eleven years of age when he accompanied his mother to the United States, and for several weeks thereafter lived in Baltimore, Maryland. Leaving that city, he went to Covington, Kentucky, where he resided until 1869, devoting his attention in the meanwhile to mechanical work, making a specialty of carpentry, which he learned in early life. In the latter year, he yielded to a desire of long standing by coming west and in due time arrived in what is now Cleveland Township, Bon Homme County, South Dakota, where he preempted and then homesteaded a quarter section of land, which he at once proceeded to convert into a home. The land was wild, and it required a great deal of hard work to reduce it to cultivation and make the other necessary improvements, but with an energy that knew no lagging and a determination that hesitated at no difficulty, he persevered in his efforts until he had one of the best-developed farms in his section of the country, besides adding to its area by subsequent purchases. Mr. Eymer now owns two hundred and forty acres of fine land, all of which is tillable, and as a farmer and stock raiser, his success has been marked and his progress steady and substantial. He markets every year a large number of cattle and hogs, which, with the products of the farm, bring him a liberal income, and he is today one of the thrifty, well-to-do men of his township and county, as well as a leading citizen of the community in which he resides. Mr. Eymer is a Republican, but not a very active politician, and he has never aspired for office nor to any kind of public station. He has always been an honest, hard-working, law-abiding citizen, content with the quiet life of the farm, but ready and willing to lend his influence and support to all enterprises and progressive measures for the advancement of the country and the welfare of the people. In addition to his long and honorable career in civil life, he has a military record also, having served in the late Rebellion as a member of Company B, Fifty-third Kentucky Mounted Infantry, which did valiant service for the Union in some of the noted campaigns and a number of the bloody battles of that great struggle. He enlisted in 1863 and shared with his comrades all the vicissitudes of its varied experience until the close of the war, proving under all circumstances a brave soldier whose loyalty to his adopted country was as strong and enduring as if he had been born and bred on American soil.
Mr. Eymer was married in the year 1867 to Miss Kate Deiss of Wurtemberg, Germany, who accompanied her parents to America when six years of age and grew to womanhood in Covington, Kentucky. Eleven children have been born of this union, namely: Albert, a farmer living at Tyndall, this state; Charles, who lives with his parents; Carrie, wife of Charles Bixby, of Bon Homme County; William married Anna Paddock and resides in Cleveland Township, where he is engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock raising; Kate is the wife of Oscar Snowden and lives in Lyman County, South Dakota; Walter is deceased; the younger members of the family, whose names are Sophia, Timothy, Arthur, Mabel, and Pearl, are still inmates of the parental home. Religiously, the subject and his wife subscribe to the Methodist Episcopal creed and are consistent and respected members of the local church with which they are identified.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.