Person:David Conkling (1)

David Conkling, fourth child of Joseph and Rebecca (Ross) Conkling was born on 8 June 1793 in either Westfeld or Elizabeth, Essex County, New Jersey. He married Freelove Martin on 8 June 1815, in Hamilton County, Ohio. David is listed on the 1817 Cincinnati tax list. The Cincinnati city directories of 1819 and 1825 state that David and his brother, Daniel were born in New Jersey and worked as brick makers and layers. In 1825, the city directory shows David's residence as West Market Street between Elm and Plum. Comparison of the 1817 tax list and the 1820 census suggests that a daughter may have died between 1818 and 1820. David was the administrator of the will of Merrick Martin of Hamilton County, Ohio. In 1831 David purchased land in Cincinnati on Fifth Street at Russell’s Alley (Later renamed Howe or Home Street). This land was sold by David’s heirs in 1855. On 17 January 1832 David and wife Freelove sold land at the corner of Fourth and Main Streets in Cincinnati. This was witnessed by Jerusha Hatch. The Hatch family may have been related to the Conklin family. A son of David and grandson of his brother Daniel both had the middle name of Hatch. David’s wife, Freelove was born on 13 December 1798, in New Jersey and died on 4 May 1841 in Cincinnati. She is probably the daughter of Merrick Martin. Merrick first married Rebecca Jacques, but names a wife, Sophia in his will. David died on 15 March 1841 in Cincinnati, Ohio. David's will requested that he be buried in the plot which he had purchased in the new Methodist cemetery. David and Freelove were reinterred in 1863 from the Methodist Cemetery on Catherine Street to Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. The burial reinternment was ordered by their son, William Hatch Conkling. David and Freelove and their daughters, Eliza Jane and Harriet Susanna are buried in a Conkling family plot at Spring Grove. A large monument marks the family plot. The gravestone states that David and Freelove are husband and wife and that they were both pioneers from New Jersey. David's will is located at the archives at the University of Cincinnati. His will of 12 March 1841 names grown sons Joseph and Merrick M. and refers to minor children. He names his brother Isaac Conkling and friend, John L. Talbot (husband of his sister, Phoebe) as trustees of his estate. David requests that they be guardians of his minor children if his wife remarried or died. He left a house on Western Row in Cincinnati to his son Joseph. To his son, Merrick, he left a lot and house on House Street which backed up to the property of his brother, Isaac. David’s obituary appears in the Western Christian Advocate, a Methodist newspaper. It states that he was the father of ten children. It seems that the obituary was not including Eliza Jane who had predeceased him. The 1840 census shows four sons and five daughters living at home. The 1840 Shaffer's Advertising Directory for Cincinnati lists Merrick, Joseph, and Mark Conkling as boarding with D. Conkling. Mark may have been a son of David, but he appears in no other records. After David’s daughter, Harriet Susanna died in 1855, several transactions occurred as the remainder of David’s estate was sold. Deeds appear in Hamilton County in late summer and early fall of 1855 and again in 1858 which show the settling of David’s estate and name several of his children along with their spouses and their residences. Henry M. Conklin acted as attorney in fact for one of these transactions. . Most of the land was sold to Wm. H. Conklin. Persons listed in deeds as David’s heirs were: Jeremiah C. Conklin, Merrick M. Conklin, David Conklin (wife Ann), Joseph Conklin (wife Josephine), Benj. C. and Eveline Horn (formerly Conklin), George B. and Jerusha H. Seig, Eben and Anna R. (Conklin) Weeks., A deed recorded on 15 September 1858 names Henry, Emeline, Jerusha and Hannah as heirs of David Conklin. Their spouses and current place of residence are also mentioned. David originally bought much of his land on 23 December 1816. The land was sold for about $17,800.

1.   Iamele, Sharon Schertz. Conklin cousins : the many children of Joseph & Mary (Cory) Conkling. (Worthington, Ohio: S.S. Iamele, c1999).