Thomas Nelson Conrad
Thomas Nelson Conrad (August 1, 1837 – January 5, 1905) of Fairfax Court House, Virginia was the third president of Virginia Tech (then Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College).  He played an active role in influencing Blacksburg as the location of choice for the new college.  Prior to his presidency, he taught at Preston and Olin Institute in 1871.

Conrad received his bachelor's degree from Dickinson College.  He fought for the Confederate States during the Civil War.

In 1890, Conrad resigned the college and accepted a position with the Census Office in Washington D.C.

Civil War
At the outbreak of the War, Conrad attended the Georgetown Institute in Georgetown, District of Columbia and openly expressed his sympathy for the Confederacy.  A few days after commencement, he was arrested and placed in the Old Capitol Prison in June 1861.

Conrad was given a letter of recommendation from General Stuart to President Jefferson Davis to spy for the Confederate Secret Service.  He met Davis, who endorsed the letter and referred him to other members of the Confederate government.  Conrad received gold from Judah Benjamin and his “name placed on the rolls of the secret service bureau”.  He then saw Secretary of War Seddon for “papers and outfit”.  Davis invited Conrad to his executive mansion to hear his plans.

Captain Conrad went to Washington with his Dickinson roommate and Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity brother Daniel Mountjoy Cloud and M. B. “Tippie” Ruggles, son of General Daniel Ruggles as couriers.  His slave William also accompanied them

Conrad set up his covert intelligence gathering operation in a large home in the heart of Washington D.C..  His wartime exploits included among other things, hatching a plot to assassinate the Commanding General of the United States Army, Winfield Scott, that was vetoed by the Confederate government who feared that the elderly and infirm Scott would be replaced by someone more fit for command; sneaking into the War Office during lunch hour to lift copies of documents describing General McClellan's battle plans for the Peninsula Campaign, a large-scale offensive by the Union Army to capture the Confederate capitol at Richmond from the desk of a friend who was a double agent; and conspiring to kidnap U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. 

In September 1864, Conrad and a team went to Washington in an attempt to kidnap President Abraham Lincoln.  The members of the team were “Bull” Frizzell (who had been in the Old Capitol Prison with him), Cloud, and slave William.  The plan was abandoned because Lincoln was well protected.  Conrad denied that the Confederate government knew of his plot except the military secretary of General Braxton Bragg.  However, Seddon wrote an order for John S. Mosby and Lieutenant Cawood to “aid and facilitate the movements of Capt. Conrad.”

Conrad’s courier Ruggles assisted John Wilkes Booth by giving him a ride on his horse shortly before Booth was killed.  Conrad was also a frequent visitor to Mary Surratt's tavern.

Conrad was arrested by a landing party of the Union vessel Jacob Bell on the night of April 16, 1865. He was put aboard a train bound for a Union prisoner of war camp but managed to escape by jumping from the moving train after the soldiers guarding him fell asleep.  

In May 1887 Conrad wrote several articles about his activities as a spy for a Philadelphia newspaper. He later reworked these into the 1892 autobiography A Confederate Spy: A Story of the Civil War, which he later revised into the 1904 work The Rebel Scout: A Thrilling History of Scouting Life in the Southern Army.

Tenure at VAMC

There were many changes at VAMC under Conrad.  The college switched from semesters to the quarter system which remained in place until the late 1980s. The college's new librarian spent $2,229.96 entirely on books of fiction and poetry and a museum was opened. For the first time ever, the school’s farm became financially successful.