A Brief History of the Conn Company (1874-present)*

by Margaret Downie Banks, Ph.D.
Senior Curator of Musical Instruments
National Music Museum
Vermillion, South Dakota

© Copyright 1997-2009 by The National Music Museum.
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*Excerpted and updated from Elkhart's Brass Roots: An Exhibition to Commemorate the 150th Anniversary of C. G. Conn's Birth and the 120th Anniversary of the Conn Company by Margaret Downie Banks (Vermillion, South Dakota: The Shrine to Music Museum, 1994).

Col. Conn's Journalistic and Political Pursuits (1889-1897)

With both the Elkhart and Worcester facilities running smoothly and obviously bringing in a handsome profit, Col. Conn enjoyed several years in pursuit of two of his other passions--journalism and politics. He founded the Elkhart Truth (1889), purchased the troubled Washington [D.C.] Times (1895), and served terms in both the Indiana state legislature (1889) and the U.S. Congress (1893-95). Turning down the opportunity to run for a second term in Congress, Col. Conn returned to Elkhart in 1897 to resume a more active role in the operation and development of his musical instrument company.

Detail of a bust of Charles Gerard Conn by Ulric Stonewall Jackson Dunbar (1862-1927), December 1896. Plaster cast made from a life mask. Gift to the National Music Museum from Charles Gerard Conn, Sr., Louise Conn, and Charles Gerard Conn, Jr., 1991. Photograph by Simon R. H. Spicer.   © 1997-2009 by The National Music Museum.

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