Alfred Conkling (October 12, 1789 – February 5, 1874) was a United States representative from New York, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York and United States Minister to Mexico.

Conkling was born on October 12, 1789, in Amagansett, New York.^[1][2] He was the son of Benjamin Conkling and Esther Hand.^[3]

He graduated from Union College in 1810 and read law in 1812.^[1]

He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Johnstown, New York, from 1812 to 1813.^[1] He continued private practice in Canajoharie, New York, from 1813 to 1819.^[1] He was district attorney for Montgomery County, New York, from 1819 to 1821.^[1]

On May 5, 1812, Conkling was married to Elizabeth "Eliza" Cockburn (1791–1851). Together, they were the parents of five children, including:^[5]

• Margaret Cockburn Conkling (1814–1890), who became an accomplished author, with works such as The American Gentleman's Guide To Politeness and Fashion,^[6] Memoirs of the Mother and Wife of Washington, Isabel; or, Trials of the Heart and a translation of Florian's History of the Moors of Spain.^[7][8]
• Frederick Augustus Conkling (1816–1891), a United States representative from New York.^[9]
• Aurelian Conkling (1819–1861), who studied law and served as the Clerk of Court for the Northern District of New York in Buffalo until his death in May 1860.^{[citation needed]} He married Harriet Adriana Schermerhorn (1815–1886), a daughter of Commissioner John F. Schermerhorn.^[10]
• Eliza Conkling (1820–1868), who married Reverend Samuel Hanson Coxe, the son of abolitionist minister, author, and educator Samuel Hanson Cox.^{[citation needed]}
• Roscoe Conkling (1829–1888), a United States Representative and United States Senator from New York.^[3]

Conkling died on February 5, 1874, in Utica.^[1] He was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica.^[4]

• Seymour-Conkling family