CONKLING, ROSCOE. 



237 



COXRLIXG, ROSCOE, an American statesman, 

 born in Albany, N. Y., Oct. 30, 1829 ; died in 

 New York city, April 18, 188S. His father, 

 Alfred (1789-1874), was a member of Congress 

 from 1821 to 1823, judge of the United States 

 District Court for the Northern District of 

 Now York from 1825 to 1852, and minister to 

 Mexico from 1852 to 1853. After receiving an 

 academic education, Roscoe studied law under 

 his father, and in 1846 entered the office of 

 Spencer & Kernan in Utica. In 1850, on the 

 resignation of the District Attorney of Oneida 

 County, he was appointed by the Governor for 

 the remainder of the term. In the same year 

 he was admitted to the bar, and in 1858 elected 

 Mayor of Utica. At the end of his term there 

 wa? a tie between the two candidates for elec- 

 tion, in consequence of which Mr. Conkling 

 continued in the office another term. He was 

 elected to Congress in 1858 as a Republican, 

 and re-elected in 18(50. He was again a can- 

 didate in 1862, but was defeated by Francis 

 Kernan; but in 1864 he was once more op- 

 posed to Mr. Kernan, and was elected. He 

 was returned for Congress a fourth time in 

 1866, but did not take his seat for that term, 

 having been chosen United States Senator in 

 January, 1867, an office which he held con- 

 tinuously till 1881. His term of service in the 

 two houses, therefore,' covered the most criti- 

 cal period in the recent history of this country 

 the exciting years just before and during the 

 civil war. and the reconstruction period imme- 

 diately following. His first work in the House 

 was as a member of the Committee on the 

 District of Columbia, of which he afterward 

 became chairman. He was also a member of 

 the Committee of Wavs and Means and of the 

 special Reconstruction Committee of Fifteen. 

 His first important speech was in favor of the 

 fourteenth amendment to the national Consti- 

 tution. He early took an assured position in 

 the House, made many vigorous speeches, and 

 showed the qualifications for leadership that 

 appeared so prominently in his later career. 

 He was an active supporter of the policy of 

 Lincoln's administration in the conduct of the 



war, attacked the generalship of McClellan, 

 and opposed Spaulding's legal-tender act. Aft- 

 er the war he took an active part iu the legis- 

 lation connected with the reconstruction of the 

 Southern States, was opposed to President 

 Johnson's policy, and helped to pass the Civil 

 Rights Bill over his veto. In the Senate he 

 was a member of the Judiciary Committee 

 from the first, was connected with nearly all 

 the leading committees, and chairman of those 

 on commerce and revision of the laws. During 

 the administration of President Grant, Mr. 

 Conkling had much to do with shaping the 

 policy of the Government toward the Southern 

 States. He was a zealous supporter of the 

 President, and soon became the recognized 

 leader of that section of the party which fa- 

 vored his renomination. In the National Re- 

 publican Convention of 1876 Mr. Conkling was 

 the candidate favored for the nomination by 

 the majority of the New York delegation, and 

 received ninety-three votes; but, in conse- 

 quence of the opposition of the minority under 

 the leadership of George William Curtis, the 

 New York ballot was transferred to Mr. Hayes. 

 In the proceedings growing out of the disputed 

 election that followed, Mr. Conkling took a 

 leading part. He was a member of the com- 

 mittee that framed the Electoral-Commission 



KOSCOE CONKLING. 



bill, and advocated it in an able speech in the 

 Senate, taking the ground that the question of 

 the commission's jurisdiction should be left to 

 that body itself. His absence from the Senate 

 when the vote was taken on the Louisiana de- 

 cision of the commission, was caused by his 

 absence from the city. In 1880 Senator Conk- 

 ling strongly advocated the election of Gen. 

 Grant for a third term. About this time the 

 division of the Republican party into two fac- 

 tions, popularly called " Stalwarts '' and ' Half- 

 breeds," became more marked, and their oppo- 

 sition more pronounced. Mr. Conkling and 



