William F. Conger

William Frame Conger (March 5, 1844 – November 17, 1918) was an American businessman and Republican politician from the state of Wisconsin. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate, representing Sauk and western Columbia counties in the 1895 and 1897 sessions.

Biography William F. Conger was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, in March 1844, and was raised and educated in the public schools in Bloomfield and New York City.

At age 18, he enlisted for service in the Union Army during the American Civil War and was enrolled in the 7th New York Infantry Regiment. He served until the end of his term, in 1864, and then moved to the state of Wisconsin. He remained only briefly before re-enlisting with a Wisconsin regiment, and was enrolled as a sergeant in the 42nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. He remained with the 42nd Wisconsin Infantry until the end of the war and was acting sergeant major of the regiment for part of his service.

Back in Wisconsin, he worked as a clerk in Prairie du Sac until 1871, when he went into business as a wool dealer, which remained his primary occupation for the rest of his life. He was then a delegate to the 1892 Republican National Convention, which re-nominated Benjamin Harrison. A lawsuit ensued, in which Wisconsin circuit judge Robert G. Siebecker ruled that both candidates were entitled to appear on the ballot. With the court unable to resolve the dispute, a new convention was called for the delegates to choose a consensus nominee. Conger and Turner, however, remained determined to deny the nomination to one another. After a contentious debate and 100 ballots, the delegates eventually chose a compromise candidate—William G. Bissell—as their nominee.

After leaving office, he received an appointment as Rural Free Delivery inspector from the United States Postal Service, and was then promoted to superintendent for the southern division, working from the division headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, for five years until resigning in 1906.

After retiring from federal employment, he returned to Prairie du Sac. He became totally blind a year later, in 1907, after he mistakenly drank a flask of wood alcohol, which he had mistaken as medicine. The anecdote about his blinding was widely reported around the state.

He subsequently moved to Pasadena, California, where he died in the fall of 1918.

Personal life and family Conger married twice. His first wife was Helen Garvin, with whom he had at least two sons. After her death in 1899, he married Caroline "Carrie" Petway of Tennessee.

Electoral history Wisconsin Assembly (1890)

Wisconsin Senate (1894)