The Roscoe Conkling House is a historic house at 3 Rutger Park in
Utica, New York
Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...
, United States. A
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
, it was the home of
Roscoe Conkling
Roscoe Conkling (October 30, 1829April 18, 1888) was an American lawyer and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who represented New York (state), New York in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Se ...
(1829–1888), a powerful and controversial politician. He is responsible, perhaps, for the angry, political atmosphere that led to the assassination of U.S. President
James Garfield
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...
.
Early political career
Roscoe Conkling's political career began as mayor of Utica in 1858, and rose through terms as U.S. Congressman 1859-1863 and 1865–1867. Finally he was U.S. Senator from New York 1868–1881. In 1870 he became
boss
Boss may refer to:
Occupations
* Supervisor, often referred to as boss
* Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier
* Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization
* Fire boss, a ...
of New York's Republican
political machine
In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hig ...
. Conkling was mentor to
Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. He previously served as the 20th vice president under President James A ...
, and was instrumental in getting him appointed collector of the port of New York in 1871. In 1872 Conkling was offered the position of
Chief Justice of the
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
by Grant, but he refused.
A party divided
When
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor ...
became president in 1877, Conkling violently opposed him on the issue of civil service reform. In 1880, Conkling, as part of the
"Stalwart" faction of the Republican Party, supported Grant's bid for a third term. The split in the Republican Party was so divisive that the 1880
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...
took 36 ballots to nominate James A. Garfield. The fact that Chester Arthur then accepted the nomination for vice-president infuriated Conkling. In May, 1881, Conkling and the other U.S. Senator from New York resigned from the Senate in protest of Garfield's political appointments. They expected to be immediately re-elected to the Senate by the New York State legislature, but this did not happen. Instead, they returned to New York to campaign for re-election. In the highly charged atmosphere while the New York legislature was deadlocked on this issue, crazed "Stalwart" supporter
Charles J. Guiteau
Charles Julius Guiteau ( ; September 8, 1841June 30, 1882) was an American man who assassinated James A. Garfield, president of the United States, on July 2, 1881. Guiteau falsely believed he had played a major role in Garfield's election vic ...
assassinated President Garfield. The resulting public outcry effectively ended Conkling's political career. Although Chester Arthur became president, he kept Conkling at a safe political distance. Arthur did offer him a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court in 1882, but again Conkling refused.
The House
The Roscoe Conkling House was designed by
Philip Hooker
Philip Hooker (October 28, 1766 – January 31, 1836) was an American architect from Albany, New York known for Hyde Hall, the facade of the Hamilton College Chapel, The Albany Academy, Albany City Hall, and the original New York State Capitol bu ...
in the Greek Revival style. It was begun between 1820 and 1824, and completed in 1830 by the Miller family. The house may also be known as the Miller-Conkling-Kernan House. Roscoe Conkling bought the house in 1863 and lived there until his death in 1888. The hip roofed brick house is covered with grey stucco scored to look like rock. The house was purchased from Conkling's family in 1894 by Nicholas Kernan. After this time, the two story East (left) wing was added, as well as the current porch, dormer and chimney tops.
The house was declared a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1975.
[ and ]
The house and its park are part of the
Rutger-Steuben Park Historic District. In 2005, the house was listed for sale.
Utica NY 3 Rutger Park, within Preservation On-line listings
/ref> It could be bought separately or together with another house at 1 Rutger Park that was designed by Andrew Jackson Davis
Andrew Jackson Davis (August 11, 1826January 13, 1910) was an American Spiritualist, born in Blooming Grove, New York.
Early years
Davis had little education. In 1843 he heard lectures in Poughkeepsie on animal magnetism, the precursor of hypn ...
.
As of 2010, both the Conkling House (3 Rutger Park) and 1 Rutger Park are owned by the Landmarks Society of Greater Utica, "which is slowly renovating the buildings with the goal of turning them into mansion-museums."
Julia Seymour Conkling, wife of Senator Roscoe Conkling, served as the very first Chapter Regent of the Oneida Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, which was formed on June 19, 1893. The first meeting took place in Julia’s home at 3 Rutger Park in Utica, New York.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conkling, Roscoe, House
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
National Historic Landmarks in New York (state)
Houses completed in 1829
Houses in Oneida County, New York
National Register of Historic Places in Oneida County, New York
Conkling family