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Conrad Nicholson Hilton, Sr. (December 25, 1887–January 3, 1979)
was an American hotelier and founder of the Hilton Hotel chain. He was also the
great grandfather of Paris Hilton.
Conrad Nicholson Hilton was born in Socorro County, New Mexico, to Augustus
Halvorson “Gus” Hilton (August 21, 1854–January 19, 1919), a Norwegian-German; and
Mary Genevieve Laufersweiler (December 3, 1861–August 26, 1947), a
German-American.
Conrad's father Gus was the son of Halvor Nilsen Hilton and Karoline Hansdatter
“Kari” Holum. Gus was born on the Hilton family farm near Kløfta in Ullensaker,
Norway, the only place in Europe, besides Germany, where the Hilton family still
have relatives living. Gus emigrated to the United States in 1870. Conrad's mother
was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, the daughter of a German-born merchant, Conrad
Laufersweiler and his wife Caroline Wasem. Conrad's parents were married on
February 12, 1885 in Fort Dodge. Conrad's siblings were:
Felice A. Hilton (December 6, 1885–February 12, 1968)
Eva C. Hilton (December 29, 1889–1979)
Carl H. Hilton (January 1892–1957)
Julia Hilton (1895–1897)
Rosemary J. Hilton (June 20, 1898–November 27, 1995)
August H. "Boy" Hilton (1901–1929)
Helen A. Hilton (January 30, 1906–February 22, 2003)
Conrad was educated at the New Mexico Military Institute, at St. Michael's College
(now the College of Santa Fe), and at the New Mexico School of Mines (now New
Mexico Tech). In his early twenties, he was a representative in the first
legislature of the newly-formed State of New Mexico.
Shortly after the United States entered World War I in 1917, Conrad Hilton enlisted
in the U.S. Army and was sent to Officers' Training Command, Presidio of San
Francisco. Second Lieutenant Hilton arrived in France, February 14, 1918. His unit
the 304th Labor Battalion, saw limited combat. February 11, 1919, Conrad Hilton was
discharged at Camp Dix, New Jersey (now Fort Dix). While Conrad was in the army,
his father Gus was killed in a car accident.
Conrad Hilton built a store in Socorro County, New Mexico, but he later moved to
Texas. He entered the hotel business by buying the Mobley Hotel in Cisco, Texas, in
1919. The first high rise hotel he built was the El Paso Hilton (now the Plaza
Hotel (El Paso)), which opened on November 20, 1930. He formed the Hilton Hotels
Corporation in 1946. The company expanded into credit cards, car rentals, and other
travel services.
During the Great Depression Hilton was nearly forced into bankruptcy and lost
several of his hotels. He was retained as a manager and eventually bought them
back.
Hilton had three wives, Mary Adelaide Barron (married 1925, divorced 1934), actress
Zsa Zsa Gabor (married 1942, divorced 1946) and Mary Frances Kelly (married 1976
through his death in 1979).
He and Barron had three sons:
Conrad Nicholson "Nicky" Hilton, Jr. (1926–1969) (Elizabeth Taylor's first
husband.)
William Barron Hilton (born in 1927)
Eric Michael Hilton (born in 1932)
He and Zsa Zsa Gabor had one daughter, Constance Francesca Hilton (born in 1947),
who is the only child born to any of the famous Gabor sisters.
Conrad Hilton died on January 3, 1979, in Santa Monica, California, at age 91 from
natural causes. He is interred at Calvary Hill Cemetery, in Dallas, Texas.
His estate founded the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. He left US$250,000 to
each of his surviving siblings and US$10,000 to each of his nieces and nephews.
Most of his assets were willed to the Roman Catholic Church and charities. However,
Conrad's son, Barron, contested the will and won in 1988. The net worth of Barron
and his descendants then jumped to over US$335 million.
Conrad Hilton's autobiography, Be My Guest, was published in 1957 by Prentice
Hall.
He is the great-grandfather of Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton. There are currently
two members of the Hilton family named Conrad. One is Paris' younger brother,
Conrad Hughes Hilton. The other is Conrad Nicholson Hilton III, son of Conrad
Nicholson Hilton, Jr.
The Loyola Marymount Business School is named after Mr. Hilton, as is The
University of Houston's college of hotel and restaurant management.
Quotations
"Success seems to be connected to action. Successful people keep moving. They make
mistakes, but they don't quit."
Source : Some of the information on
this page came from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU
Documentation License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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Conrad
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