Encountering Huldreich Zwingli, humanist and Swiss reformer, he joined the protestant religion. In 1523, after having ripped out and destroyed a large crucifix, he was banished and took refuge in Baden. He was arrested, condemned to deaty, and decapitated on the town square in March, 1524. The was thus the first martyr of the Swiss protestant reformation.
Baptised as Hans Konrad, but he took the name Jean Conrad during his adult life, spent mostly in Paris. During the Terreur in France, 1793, he traveled to the United States, and stayed there about three years, though this version of events conflicts with his reported marriage in London in 1793. His interest in Swiss and French business ventures in America is mentioned in many sources. Reference not yet examined: M. G�rard, Messieurs Hottinguer, banquiers � Paris (1968).
Middle initial could be T., as given in transcribed cemetery record, or P., as given in transcribed marriage record. The 1870 census has George and Mary Houston living with the family, presumably William's parents.
