Jane Elizabeth Conklin (, Dexter; July 7, 1831 – 19 December 1914) was an American poet and religious writer of the

long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' is a term for the 125-year period beginning with the onset of the French Revolution in 1789 and ending with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It was coined by Russian writer Ilya Ehrenburg and British Marxist hi ...

from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. For three years, she served as president of the

Woman's Relief Corps The Woman's Relief Corps (WRC) is a charitable organization in the United States, originally founded as the official women's auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) in 1883. The organization was designed to assist the GAR and p ...

of the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy ( U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, I ...

. She enjoyed a reputation as an

elocutionist Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelli ...

; and was the author of three volumes of poetry. She was born and died in

Utica, New York Utica () is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 U.S. Census. Located on the Mohawk River at the foot ...

Biography

Jane Elizabeth Dexter was born in Utica, New York. Her great-grandfather, Gregor (or George) Grant), chieftain of

Clan Grant Clan Grant is a Highland Scottish clan. History Origins One theory is that the ancestors of the chiefs of Clan Grant came to Scotland with the Normans to England where the name is found soon after the conquest of that country, although some h ...

, from Abernethy, Scotland, came to the United States in 1774. He joined the Continental Army and served during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...

. Dexter's mother was the daughter of William W. Williams, an architect of

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Ci ...

. Conklin's father was born in

Paris, New York Paris is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The town is in the southeast part of the county and is south of Utica. The population was 4,411 at the 2010 census. The town was named after an early benefactor, Colonel Isaac Paris. Hist ...

, his parents having removed to that town from

Mansfield, Connecticut Mansfield is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 25,892 at the 2020 census. Pequot and Mohegan people lived in this region for centuries before the arrival of English settler-immigrants in the late 17th cen ...

in the latter part of the 18th century. Conklin received her education in the Utica Female Academy and in Mrs. Brinkerhof's School for Young Ladies in Albany. Her first composition was written in verse. When she was 14 years old, her poems were first published, and after that time, she wrote continuously. While none of Conklin's poems were strictly

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...

s, many of them were sung in religious meetings. She was, for many years, a contributor to the Utica ''Gospel Messenger''. She also wrote prose and poetry for a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

weekly, and for several local papers. In 1884, she published a book of poems, which was favorably received. In 1897, she was preparing a second volume of poems, ultimately publishing three books of poetry in total. Conklin was also remembered as an elocutionist. In December, 1865, she married Cramer H. Conklin, a veteran of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, and they subsequently lived in Binghamton, New York. Conklin took great interest in the American Civil War and in the defenders of the Republic. When the

post to which her husband belonged formed a Relief Corps of wives and daughters, she was one of the first to sign a call for a charter. Shortly after the Corps was organized, she was elected its president, and for three years, she held that office. Jane Elizabeth Conklin died at her home in Utica on December 19, 1914.

Selected works

*1884, ''Poems of Jane E.D. Conklin'']
Text

References

Attribution

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Bibliography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conklin, Jane Elizabeth Dexter 1831 births 1914 deaths 19th-century American journalists 19th-century American women journalists 19th-century American poets Writers from Utica, New York American religious writers American women religious writers Poets from New York (state) Journalists from New York (state) American women non-fiction writers Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century American lecturers