Roscoe Conkling (October 30, 1829-April 18, 1888) was a
politician from New York who served both as a member of the
United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. He
was the leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party
(or GOP). He was born in Albany, New York; his father, Alfred
Conkling, was a U.S. Representative and Federal judge and his
brother, Frederick Augustus Conkling, was also a U.S.
Representative. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in
1850. He began a practice in Utica, New York. He served as the
district attorney for Oneida County in 1850; mayor of Utica in
1858; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-
seventh Congresses (March 4, 1859-March 3, 1863); chairman,
Committee on District of Columbia (Thirty-seventh Congress);
unsuccessful candidate in 1862 for reelection; elected to the
Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses and served from March 4,
1865, until he resigned to become Senator, effective March 4,
1867; elected in 1867 as a Republican to the Uni