Alfred Conkling

Alfred Conkling (October 12, 1789 – February 5, 1874) was a United States representative from New York, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York and United States Minister to Mexico.

Early life

Conkling was born on October 12, 1789, in Amagansett, New York. He was the son of Benjamin Conkling and Esther Hand.

He graduated from Union College in 1810 and read law in 1812. Following his departure from Congress, he resumed private practice in Albany, New York, from 1823 to 1825.

Margaret Cockburn Conkling (1814–1890), who became an accomplished author, with works such as The American Gentleman's Guide To Politeness and Fashion, 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. Frederick Augustus Conkling (1816–1891), a United States representative from New York. 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. He married Harriet Adriana Schermerhorn (1815–1886), a daughter of Commissioner John F. Schermerhorn. Eliza Conkling (1820–1868), who married Reverend Samuel Hanson Coxe, the son of abolitionist minister, author, and educator Samuel Hanson Cox. Roscoe Conkling (1829–1888), a United States Representative and United States Senator from New York.

Conkling died on February 5, 1874, in Utica. He was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica.

Descendants and legacy 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; 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.

A photograph of Judge Conkling hangs in the courtroom at the United States District Court in Utica, New York.