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EARLY SETTLERS OF SANGAMON COUNTY - 1876
By John Carroll Power

These biographies were submitted by a researcher and evidently abstracted from the 1876 History of Sangamon County, IL. Errors could occur, so one should always verify the correctness by obtaining copies of vitals and performing all necessary research to document what is contained herein.



CONKLING, JAMES C., was born Oct. 13, 1816, in New York City. At the age of thirteen he entered the Academy at Morristown, N. J., and prepared for college. He entered Princeton in 1833, and graduated in 1835. He studied law in Morristown, N. J., about three years, and came to Springfield, Ill., arriving in Nov., 1838, and was admitted to the bar the following winter. James C. Conkling and Mercy A. Levering were married Sept. 21, 1841, in Baltimore, Md. She was the daughter of Judge Aaron R. Levering, of Georgetown, D. C., and was born in that city in Nov., 1817. Mr. and Mrs. Conkling had five children--

CLINTON L., born Oct. 16, 1843, in Springfield, was educated at Yale college, New Haven, Conn., and graduated there in 1864. He entered into partnership with his father in 1866, as J. C. & C. L. Conkling, in the practice of law. He was married March 24, 1867, to Georgiana Barrell, a native of Brooklyn, N. Y. They have two children, GEORGIA and KATE, and reside in Springfield.

CHARLES, born in Springfield, resides with his parents.

JAMES, born Jan. 4, 1850, in Springfield, Ill., was married March 23, 1870, in Covington, Ky., to Fannie A. Lowry, who was born in Springfield, March 23, 1849. They have two children living, MAY and FANNIE. He is a member of the firm of Conkling, Slemmons, & Co., Springfield, Ill.

ANNIE V., born July 2, 1853, was married Nov. 25, 1875, to Nathan S. Wood. He is a banker in Lafayette, Ind., where they now reside.

ALICE resides with her parents.

Hon. James C. Conkling was elected Mayor of Sptingfield in 1845, being the sixth in that office. He was elected representative for Sangamon county in the State legislature in 1852, and again in 1866, when he drafted the original bill for the new State house, and was active in its passage. He is a member of the National Lincoln Monument Association, which has just erected a monument to the memory of Abraham Lincoln. He is the head of the firm of Conkling, Slemmons & Co. James C. Conkling, more than any other capitalist of Springfield, uses his wealth in extensive building enterprises, and for the encouragement of manufactures.



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