Editing Roscoe Conkling (section)

==Early life==
===Family===
[[File:Alfred Conkling crop.jpg|thumb|left|Conkling's father [[Alfred Conkling|Alfred]] was a United States Representative and Ambassador to Mexico.]]
Roscoe Conkling was born on October 30, 1829, in [[Albany, New York]] to [[Alfred Conkling]], a U.S. Representative and federal judge, and his wife Eliza Cockburn, cousin of the late Lord Chief-Justice [[Sir Alexander Cockburn]] of England.<ref>{{Cite news| url =http://www.nndb.com/people/241/000050091/ |title=Roscoe Conkling |publisher=[[NNDB]] |access-date = October 13, 2014}}</ref> His father's ancestors emigrated to the North America around 1635 and settled in [[Salem, Massachusetts]] before moving to [[Suffolk County, New York]].{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|pp=2–8}} Conkling's maternal grandfather James Cockburn was Scottish by birth, but emigrated to the Bahamas and later to the [[Mohawk Valley]], where he married Margaret Frey, the daughter of a feudal lord.

Conkling was the youngest of seven children, four sons and three daughters.{{sfn|Jordan|1971|p=4}} He had two older brothers, Frederick and Aurelian. A third brother also named Roscoe died before this article's subject was born. Both Roscoes were named for the British author [[William Roscoe]], whom Eliza Conkling read during her pregnancy.{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|pp=2–8}}

Conkling's mother was said to have a "talent for repartee and brilliant talk" which her son inherited.{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|p=360}}

===Childhood===
At the suggestion of [[William H. Seward]], the Conkling family moved to [[Auburn, New York]], via the [[Erie Canal]] in 1839. At his new home, Conkling enjoyed horseback riding, which became a lifelong pursuit. He did not take to academic study, but had a retentive memory.{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|pp=11–14}}

In 1842, Roscoe was enrolled in the Mount Washington Collegiate Institute in [[New York City]]. While in New York, he also studied oratory with his elder brother Frederick. They often practiced their speaking together.{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|pp=11–14}}

After a year at the Mount Washington Institute, Conkling entered the Auburn Academy and remained there for three years.{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|pp=11–14}} Even as a schoolboy, Conkling's intimidating appearance and intellect demanded attention. A childhood friend said young Roscoe "was as large and massive in his mind as he was in his frame, and accomplished in his studies precisely what he did in his social life — a mastery and command which his companions yielded to him as due."{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|pp=11–14}}

Conkling first became interested in politics during his time at Auburn. Since his father was a leading member of the upstate [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]], Conkling became acquainted with some of the most prominent men of the era, such as Presidents [[Martin Van Buren]] and [[John Quincy Adams]], Governor [[Enos Throop]], Supreme Court Justice [[Smith Thompson]], [[James Kent (jurist)|James Kent]], and [[Thurlow Weed]].{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|pp=11–14}} Fellow Auburn resident [[William Henry Seward]] was a friend of Conkling's father and soon of Conkling as well.{{sfn|Jordan|1971|p=5}}

===Law and local politics===
In 1846, seventeen year-old Conkling moved to [[Utica, New York|Utica]] to study law in the offices of [[Joshua A. Spencer]] and [[Francis Kernan]], two of the leading lawyers in the state.{{sfn|Jordan|1971|p=6}} He integrated himself into Utica society and spoke publicly on a variety of issues, especially in support of human rights and the abolition of slavery. At eighteen, he spoke at various venues in Central New York in sympathy for the sufferers of the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] in Ireland. He displayed deep abhorrence for slavery, which he described as "[[man's inhumanity to man]]," and referred to himself as a "Seward Whig," stumping the county for Taylor and Fillmore in 1848.{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|pp=17–21}}{{sfn|Jordan|1971|p=8}}

On one occasion, he is said to have transcribed a [[Henry Clay]] speech from memory with such accuracy that Clay himself remarked on its quality. He also practiced his oratory by reciting passages from the Bible, Shakespeare, and British Whigs including [[Thomas Babington Macaulay]], [[Edmund Burke]], and [[Charles James Fox]].{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|p=363}} In 1849, Conkling gained his first exposure to political campaigning when he was elected as a delegate to his [[New York State Assembly]] district's Whig nominating convention, then to the state judicial nominating convention as a supporter of Joshua Spencer for the [[New York Court of Appeals]].{{sfn|Jordan|1971|p=8}}

Conkling was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] in 1850. Almost immediately, [[Governor of New York|Governor]] [[Hamilton Fish]] appointed him as interim district attorney of [[Oneida County, New York|Oneida County]]. He was still only twenty-one, and set about prosecuting cases without the aid of more senior co-counsel. He was nominated for re-election that fall but was defeated along with the rest of the Whig ticket.<ref>Henry Scott Wilson, "Distinguished American Lawyers: With Their Struggles and Triumphs in the Forum," (New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1891), p. 190.</ref>{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|pp=17–21}} Opposition mainly centered on Conkling's youth.{{sfn|Jordan|1971|pp=11–13}}
[[File:Young Roscoe Conkling.jpg|thumb|right|[[Daguerreotype]] of a young Roscoe Conkling, {{circa|1855}}]]
In 1852, Conkling opened a legal partnership with former Mayor of Utica Thomas R. Walker; the partnership continued until 1855.{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|pp=23–24}} He became famous throughout central New York after his defense of Sylvester Hadcock for forgery; Joshua Spencer was the prosecutor, but Conkling won acquittal by proving Hadcock's illiteracy.{{sfn|Jordan|1971|pp=11–13}} In 1854, he won a case for slander against a priest who had accused a young woman of "want of chastity."{{sfn|Jordan|1971|pp=11–13}} In 1855, he partnered with his former classmate Montgomery Throop; their partnership continued until 1862.{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|p=54}} He became one of the highest-paid attorneys in the region, often charging over $100 per trial.{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|pp=58–59}}

Through 1853, Conkling remained an orthodox [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]]. In [[1852 United States presidential election|1852]], he stumped New York state for General [[Winfield Scott]], denouncing [[Franklin Pierce]] as a British tool committed to upholding slavery and free trade to fuel the cotton mills of England.{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|pp=28–30}} In 1853, Conkling was a leading candidate for Attorney General of New York; he lost the Whig nomination to [[Ogden Hoffman]] on the third ballot.{{sfn|Jordan|1971|pp=11–13}} As the Whig Party [[Whig Party (United States)#Collapse, 1853–1856|rapidly disintegrated]], Conkling took an active part in the formation of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] and came to consider himself an "original Republican."{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|p=47}}{{sfn|Jordan|1971|pp=11–13}} In 1856, he spoke throughout Oneida and Herkimer counties for [[John C. Frémont]] and [[William L. Dayton]].{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|p=57}}

===Mayor of Utica (1858–59)===
In 1858, Republicans sought a candidate for Mayor of Utica, considered a slightly Democratic city.{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|p=61}} The party convention nominated Conkling on the first ballot. After a five-day campaign, Conkling defeated Democrat Charles S. Wilson on March 2, 1858, and took office on March 9.{{sfn|Jordan|1971|pp=16–19}}

Although he did not run for re-election, Conkling remained mayor until his resignation on November 18, 1859 because the March 1859 election to choose his successor resulted in a tie.{{sfn|Jordan|1971|pp=16–19}}{{sfn|A.R. Conkling|p=71}}