I approached Madison Square Park in New York City from the South East side, where Madison Avenue hits East 23rd Street in Manhattan. There are several Civil War monuments here, including the very famous statue of Admiral David Farragut, but I am in search of a politician who died near here.
Roscoe Conkling was one of the first Republican political bosses in the United States. He was a U.S. Representative and a Senator.
On March 12, 1888, New York was in the midst of a blizzard so large that even when I was a boy, if you said there was a lot of snow falling, old folks would say “It ain’t like ’88.” The blizzard was so bad that afterward the city decided to have the trains run underground so that transportation did not stop for weeks as it did in 1888. That day, Conkling went to work, unlike most other New Yorkers, and he decided to walk from work to his abode. Another bad idea.
Along that walk, he collapsed and lay under the snow in Union Square Park for more than twenty minutes while he struggled to get out from the drift. He died on April 18, 1888. His Republican allies wanted to put up a statue to him in Union Square, but the city said that he was of questionable character and it did not want his statue in one of its most prominent places. Instead, they were allowed to place a statue in Madison Square Park, where Madison Square Garden used to be.
As I enter the park, which is more beautiful than Union Square ten blocks away, you can see Roscoe Conkling after the first turn of the path.
Roscoe Conkling was born in Albany on October 30, 1829. His father was a Congressman and his mother was well-connected. William Seward, future governor, advised the family to move to Auburn in the Finger Lakes, where Seward had his home. As a teenager, Roscoe met Thurlow Weed, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren and a host of other mid-century political leaders. At 17 he moved to Utica to study law. As a young man, he was a “Seward Whig” and he spoke out often against slavery.
The 1893 statue itself is by the notable sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward. His work is in New York City and Washington and other metropolises. His most famous work is of Washington on Federal Hall in New York City. The statue shows Conkling delivering a speech in the United States Senate, as per the request of Conkling’s wife. Here is another of John Quincy Adams Ward’s statues.
When Chief Justice Salmon Chase died in 1873, President Grant turned to Conkling to be the new chief justice, Grant wrote to Conkling; “When the chief justiceship became vacant I necessarily looked with anxiety to some one whose appointment would be recognized as entirely fitting and acceptable to the country at large…My own preference went to you at once.” Conkling turned the job offer down!
In 1882, Conkling’s protege Chester Arthur nominated Conkling for the Supreme Court and the Senate approved him. Conkling turned the job down again.
Conkling was the Boss of Bosses in New York State during the Grant Administration. Although he was from Utica along the Erie Canal in the vast Upstate region, his power came from the Customs House in New York City. The commissioner who oversaw it was a Conkling man. Nearly a thousand political appointees worked there and they “donated” part of their pay to Conkling’s political machine to keep their jobs. Chester Arthur was one of the Customs House commissioners. At election times, the Republicans could mobilize these customs employees to do their bidding at the polls, not just in New York City but all over the state.
Conkling represented New York in the Senate during Reconstruction. During the Grant Administration, he led those Republicans who stood by Ulysses S. Grant, even after he was out of office. His faction was called the Stalwarts.
He was not so stalwart in his other relations. National headlines told the story of Conkling’s affair with Chief Justice Chase’s married daughter, Kate Chase Sprague. One day former-Senator William Sprague arrived at the vacation home and threatened to shoot Conkling when he found him in flagrante delicto.
During the Garfield Administration he got into such a dispute with James Garfield and Maine Republican Senator James Blaine that he quit the Senate, but then changed his mind and sought to be reappointed. Unfortunately for Conkling, James Garfield was assassinated by a man who said he supported Conkling’s Republican Stalwart faction and that he carried out the killing to insure that Vice President Chester Arthur would be installed as the next president! New York State’s legislature turned down Conkling’s request and he was finished as an elected official.
In December 1893, the 1,200 pound statue was hoisted onto its granite pedestal. The family asked that their be no ceremony. The statue is a fine likeness. While Conkling was said to be 6 foot three inches, the statue is eight foot tall!
Now the statue is not the only memorial to Conkling. If you ever drive through the Catskills you may find yourself dining at the Roscoe Diner in Roscoe, New York. Well guess what, they both take their names from Roscoe Conkling, which is fairly insane.
Enjoy your pancakes.
All color photos were taken by Pat Young. To see more sites Pat visited CLICK HERE for Google Earth view.
Sources:
President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier by C.W. Goodyear
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Thank you so much, Mr Young. I always enjoy your articles: well written, interesting, and informative. You make me wish I could accompany you on your treks
Thanks. I get to share them with you.