Alfred Conkling

Conkling was born on October 12, 1789, in Amagansett, New York.^[1][2] He was the son of Benjamin Conkling and Esther Hand.^[3]

He graduated from Union College in 1810 and read law in 1812.^[1]

He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Johnstown, New York, from 1812 to 1813.^[1] He continued private practice in Canajoharie, New York, from 1813 to 1819.^[1] He was district attorney for Montgomery County, New York, from 1819 to 1821.^[1]

Conkling was elected as a Democratic-Republican from New York's 14th congressional district to the United States House of Representatives of the 17th United States Congress, serving from March 4, 1821, to March 3, 1823.^[4] Following his departure from Congress, he resumed private practice in Albany, New York, from 1823 to 1825.^[1]

Conkling received a recess appointment from President John Quincy Adams on August 27, 1825, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York vacated by Judge Roger Skinner.^[1] He was nominated to the same position by President Adams on December 13, 1825.^[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 14, 1825, and received his commission the same day.^[1] While on the bench, he moved from Albany to Auburn, New York, in 1839.^[4] There were several attempts to impeach him, but they failed. His service terminated on August 25, 1852, due to his resignation.^[1]

Conkling was United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico for the United States Department of State from August 6, 1852, to August 17, 1853.^[1] He resumed private practice in Omaha, Nebraska, from 1853 to 1861.^[1] He was a writer in Rochester and Geneseo, New York, from 1861 to 1872.^[1] He was a writer in Utica, New York, from 1872 to 1874.^[1]

On May 5, 1812, Conkling was married to Elizabeth "Eliza" Cockburn (1791–1851). Together, they were the parents of five children, including:^[5]

• Margaret Cockburn Conkling (1814–1890), who became an accomplished author, with works such as The American Gentleman's Guide To Politeness and Fashion,^[6] Memoirs of the Mother and Wife of Washington, Isabel; or, Trials of the Heart and a translation of Florian's History of the Moors of Spain.^[7][8]
• Frederick Augustus Conkling (1816–1891), a United States representative from New York.^[9]
• Aurelian Conkling (1819–1861), who studied law and served as the Clerk of Court for the Northern District of New York in Buffalo until his death in May 1860.^{[citation needed]} He married Harriet Adriana Schermerhorn (1815–1886), a daughter of Commissioner John F. Schermerhorn.^[10]
• Eliza Conkling (1820–1868), who married Reverend Samuel Hanson Coxe, the son of abolitionist minister, author, and educator Samuel Hanson Cox.^{[citation needed]}
• Roscoe Conkling (1829–1888), a United States Representative and United States Senator from New York.^[3]

Conkling died on February 5, 1874, in Utica.^[1] He was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica.^[4]

Conkling's grandson Alfred Conkling Coxe Sr. also served as United States District Judge in the Northern District of New York, and later a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit;^[5] Coxe's own son (Conkling's great-grandson) Alfred Conkling Coxe Jr. was a Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.^[5]

A photograph of Judge Conkling hangs in the courtroom at the United States District Court in Utica, New York.^{[citation needed]}

• Seymour-Conkling family

• United States Congress. "Alfred Conkling (id: C000679)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Alfred Conkling at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Conkling, Alfred" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.