MAGAZINE OF AMERICAN HISTORY

VOL. XX

AUGUST, 1888

No. 2

W

ROSCOE CONKLING

HIS HOME IN UTICA

THEN the newspapers conveyed to the American public the tid ings that Roscoe Conkling was confined to his house by painful illness, and a few days later it was flashed across the wires that his sickness was rapidly assuming serious proportions, never did the nation gather more anxiously around the bedside of a private citizen, or await with greater eagerness further information. Political differences, party animosities and animated criticism lost their bitterness, while profound sympathy for the sufferer and desire that he might live became universal. That the republic should watch with anxious solicitude those who administer its affairs and to whom it has committed vast responsibilities, is natural; but when one has laid down his public trusts, and found his way back to the comparative seclusion of private life, at this hour to become the subject of extended interest is phenomenal. Such, however, was the truth concerning the illness and the closing hours of the subject of this brief article.

Roscoe Conkling was born in Albany, October 30, 1829. He came of English ancestry. John Conkling, of Nottinghamshire, emigrated to this country and settled at Salem, Massachusetts; subsequently he removed to Long Island. Five generations later Benjamin Conkling became the father of Alfred, the father of Roscoe. Strong in mind, and passionately devoted to the profession of the law, Alfred Conkling rose to honor, and his affable manners gave him extended influence. He entered Union College in 1806; was graduated from the same in 1810, and in 1847 received from his alma mater the honorary title of LL.D. Soon after his admission to the bar he was appointed district-attorney of Montgomery County, New York; and by reason of his acknowledged abilities, was shortly afterward nominated and elected to represent this same district in the seventeenth Congress. At the close of his congressional term, President John Quincy Adams appointed him 'judge of the United States

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district court for the northern district of New York, a position which he filled with great satisfaction until selected by President Fillmore as minister to the republic of Mexico. In politics Judge Conkling belonged to the school of Henry Clay, being a devout admirer of his principles and an earnest supporter of his policy. Fondness for literary pursuits led him to the revision and re-publication of several important works on law, among which are to be included a "Treatise on the Organization and Jurisdiction of the Supreme, Circuit, and District Courts of the United States;" two volumes entitled "Admiralty Jurisdiction; also the "Powers of the Executive Department of the United States; the "Young Citizen's Manual," and "Conkling's Treatise;" this last, a volume of reference to be found in every well-furnished legal library. He married Eliza Cockburn, born in Ulster County, New York, the daughter of James Cockburn, of Scotland, who, after a few years' residence in his native land went to the Bermudas, finally emigrating to America and settling in Kingston, New York, where he died a few weeks before the birth of this daughter.

The youngest of Judge Conkling's six children was Roscoe, whose uncommon name was given him through his father's admiration for the sterling character of the lamented William Roscoe, barrister, of England. The early school days of Roscoe were spent at Albany, attending the academy of that city, where he obtained his first desire for knowledge, and from the principal of that honored institution imbibed his love for the classics which, amid the busier moments of his later life, became his companions for consultation and review. On Judge Conkling's removal to Auburn his son followed him; but as that then humble village did not afford the desired facilities for the learning which the boy's ambition craved, Judge Conkling became his tutor. On the removal of the family to Utica, in the seventeenth year of Roscoe's age, an opportunity of entering the law office of Spencer & Kernan was eagerly embraced. Under the auspices of these distinguished jurists he diligently and patiently pursued his legal studies until admitted to the bar in 1850.

At this period Roscoe Conkling is described by those who knew him well as an overgrown, auburn-haired young man, impulsive in his manner, inclined to be self-willed, loyal to all who honored him with their confidence, fond of study, and while cherishing a growing love for his profession, taking great pleasure also in reading Shakespeare, Milton, and other classic authors of the Elizabethan era. Six months after his admission to the bar, by reason of the resignation of the previous incumbent, he received the appointment of district-attorney for Oneida county, New York;