Roscoe Conkling

Roscoe Conkling

Signature of Roscoe Conkling

Roscoe Conkling (born October 30, 1829 in Albany , New York , † April 18, 1888 in New York City ) was an American lawyer and politician . Between 1859 and 1863 and between 1865 and 1867 he represented the state of New York in the US House of Representatives and between 1867 and 1881 in the US Senate . Congressman Alfred Conkling was his father and Congressman Frederick A. Conkling was his brother.

Career

Roscoe Conkling was born in Albany County during the tenure of President Andrew Jackson . The family moved to Auburn in 1839 . He pursued an academic career. Conkling studied law . After receiving his license to practice law in 1850, he began practicing in Utica . That same year, he became a District Attorney in Oneida County . He was Mayor of Utica in 1858, succeeding Alrick Hubbell . Politically, he belonged to the Republican Party .

In the congressional election of 1858 for the 36th Congress he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the 20th  electoral district of New York , where he succeeded Orsamus B. Matteson on March 4, 1859 . He was re-elected once. In his renewed candidacy in 1862 he suffered a defeat and then left the Congress on March 3, 1863 . In the 37th Congress he chaired the Committee on District of Columbia . Civil war also broke out at the beginning of his second term . In 1864 he ran in the 21st electoral district of New York for the 39th Congress . After a successful election, he succeeded Francis Kernan on March 4, 1865 . He was re-elected once, but resigned from his seat in the US House of Representatives at the beginning of his second term on March 4, 1867. In addition, the civil war ended during his time in Congress.

Conkling was elected US Senator in 1867 and re-elected in 1873 and 1879. He took up his new post on March 4, 1867 and held this until his resignation on May 16, 1881, which was in protest against the appointment of William H. Robertson to the Collector of the Port of New York . He suffered a defeat in his renewed candidacy for the US Senate to fill the vacancy created by his resignation. During his time in Congress as a US Senator, he chaired the Committee on Revision of the Laws of the United States ( 40th to 43rd Congress ), the Committee on Commerce ( 44th , 45th and 47th Congress ) and the Committee on Engrossed Bills ( 46th and 47th Congresses).

After his time in Congress, he resumed his practice as a lawyer in New York City. In 1882 he turned down a nomination for the United States Supreme Court . He died on April 18, 1888 in New York City. His body was then interred in Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica.

Web links

• Roscoe Conkling in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Roscoe Conkling in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Mr. Lincoln and New York: Roscoe Conkling