Alfred Conkling was born in Amagansett, New York, on 12 October 1789. After receiving a baccalaureate degree from Union College in 1810, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1812. While practicing law at Canajoharie, he became the county prosecutor for Montgomery County (1818-21) and was elected to the Seventeenth Congress (1821-23). He relocated with his family to Albany about 1824. At the urging of his personal friend, William H. Seward, Judge Conkling settled his family at Melrose, an impressive home just outside the village limits of Auburn; the name of Melrose Road in the Town of Owasco is a reminder of the politically prominent family's numerous connections to Cayuga County. Conkling served as a federal judge for the District Court of the Northern District of New York (1825-52) and was appointed by President Millard Fillmore as United States Minister to Mexico (1852-53). Thereafter, Judge Conkling practiced law at Omaha until 1861, when he returned to New York State, residing successively at Rochester, Geneseo and, by 1872, Utica, where he engaged in literary pursuits. He was married to Eliza Cockburn, and their children included Aurelian Conkling, mayor of Auburn; Frederick Augustus Conkling, Member of Congress; Roscoe Conkling, United States Senator; and author Margaret Conkling, the wife of Albert Steele. Conkling died in Utica on 5 February 1874 and was interred in Forest Hill cemetery there.
