Walter B. Conklin

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="0a5d05a3.jpg"> <div> Orange County, New York</div> <div> American History and Genealogy Project</div> <div> Walter B. Conklin</div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="0a6d2123.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/orange/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/or"><U>Orange County AHGP/ALHN</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/"><U>New York AHGP/ALHN</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://ahgp.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://ahgp.org"><U>AHGP</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://alhn.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://alhn.org"><U>ALHN</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="623" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 762 WIDTH="617"><div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Tahoma" ><IMG SRC="06bd1330.jpg" border=0 width="209" height="307" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Old English Text MT" >H</FONT>E is known as the faithful Clerk of Session.  His memory is honored by his son, Restcom P., with a memorial window in the Presbyterian Church of Chester.</div> <div>      He was the son of Benjamin and Mehitable Conklin, born May 20th, 1820, in Conklin town, near Goshen.  His father and mother had both died before he was twelve years of age, and he went to live with his brother, Daniel Conklin, near Warwick, a man of great</div> <div> prominence in Chester in his day.  He attended the public school at Warwick, and worked on his brother's farm until old enough to do for himself.</div> <div>      Not having full use of one arm owing to an injury sustained when a mere boy, he thought best to seek for lighter work than that of the farm.  He engaged with John B. Randolph, the leading tailor of Warwick.  Having served his apprenticeship, he sought for a wider field in which to ply his trade.  New York offered the best opportunities to a young man and he located there, but the competition was very great.</div> <div>           While at work in New York he met a merchant from Amsterdam, N. Y., who persuaded him to go to that city and establish a business for himself.  Accordingly he went to Amsterdam, in 1838, and opened a merchant tailoring store, and for five years carried on quite a successful business.</div> <div>      It was here that he met his companion in life, Miss Lucretia Chamberlin, a most remarkable woman and Church worker, and was married in 1842.  He was at this time a young man of about twenty-two years of age, thoughtful, sincere, religious-seeking fellowship with the people of God.  He and his wife united with the Presbyterian Church of Amsterdam, under Dr. Goodale.   Strong inducements were held out to him to return to the vicinity of his old home, and seek to build up a business in Orange County.  In 1843 he came to Chester, and established a fine trade as a merchant tailor.</div> <div>      Six children were born in the house, two of whom still survive-Restcom P., who occupies the old homestead in Chester, and is one of the honored and successful men of the village; and Mrs. Jennie E. Brooks, who has a beautiful home at Washingtonville, N. Y.</div> <div>      He was elected an Elder in the Presbyterian Church in 1858, and two years later was made Clerk of the Session, which position he held constantly until the time of his death.  He had thus been closely associated with six Pastors, and knew many of the Ministers in the Presbyterian Church.  He was twice sent by the Church to the General Assembly, and represented the Presbytery and Session many times at Synod.  He had never aspired to political preferment, and was always satisfied to work for the good of his fellow men in the Church militant, that he might he the better fitted for the glorious call to the Church triumphant.  His death on July 25th, 1895, was a sad blow to his companion in life, and was deeply felt by all who knew him.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="pg38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Present Board of Deacons"><U>Next Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="pg1.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Table of Contents"><U>Table of Contents</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>