Dade County FlArchives Biographies.....CONKLIN, JESSE I. 1867 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Nancy Rayburn Naev@earthlink.net May 13, 2008, 5:58 pm

Author: The History of Florida:  Past & Present, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1923,  Vol. II pg.171

	CONKLIN, JESSE I., of Miami, the fine capital city and metropolis of 
Dade County, is an engineer and contractor who has been identified with large 
and important construction contracts, including government works along the 
Mississippi and other rivers, in Louisiana.
	Mr. CONKLIN was born in the City of Syracuse, New York, in 1867, and 
when he was four years of age his parents established their home near Jackson, 
Michigan, where he was reared to adult age and was afforded the advantages of 
the public schools.  In 1896 he was graduated in the engineering department of 
the great University of Michigan, with the degree of Civil Engineer.  His 
first professional work was in connection with the construction of the 
government locks of the important ship canal at Sault Ste. Marie on the upper 
peninsula of Michigan.  He continued his services in this connection about 
eight years.  The experience which he there gained was fortified by further 
practical engineering work along the same line, with the result that he is 
widely known in engineering circles as an expert and authority in the 
construction of canals and locks for navigation purposes.  It was after 
leaving Michigan that he was identified with government construction work in 
Louisiana, as noted above, and this service covered a period of a few years.  
At the solicitation of the engineering department of the State of Florida Mr. 
CONKLIN came to this state in 1911, to supervise the construction of the locks 
in the Fort Lauderdale canal and other canals in the southern part of the 
state, from Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic coast.  He has since found it 
expedient and a matter of satisfaction to maintain his home in Florida, and 
since 1913 he has resided and has had his professional and business 
headquarters in the City of Miami.  As a construction engineer and contractor 
he has completed a number of the largest engineering and construction projects 
at Miami, Miami Beach, and other points in southern Florida.  Among the most 
noteworthy of these have been the Miami Beach projects headed by CARL FISHER.  
For the Fisher interests Mr. CONKLIN built all of the sea-wall at Miami Beach-
extending for a total of about eleven miles and involving a large amount of 
bulkheading.  He built also the Collins bridge across Biscayne Bay to Miami 
Beach and likewise the foundation for the Flamingo Hotel at that fine resort.  
For the Fisher and associated interests Mr. CONKLIN did all of the bulk 
heading and foundation work in the developing of the islands in this bay.  
Some of his more recent constructions have been the building of Islands No. 1 
and No. 2, for the Biscayne Bay Improvement Company.  In the past few years, 
in fact, his specialty has been the building of sea walls and bulkhead works 
on a large scale.
	Mr. CONKLIN and his wife are prominent and influential members of the 
First Methodist Episcopal Church (The White Temple) of Miami, he being 
treasurer of its board of trustees and having previously served about ten 
years as teacher of the Young Men’s Bible Class in its Sunday school.  In 
June, 1922, he was appointed a member of the board of education of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States of America at a conclave held 
in Indianapolis, Indiana.
	Mr. CONKLIN married Miss LUCY ADELE MERRILL of Kalamazoo, Michigan, 
and they have three children, MARIAN is a student in the School of Osteopathy 
at Kirksville, Missouri; DORIS was graduated in Albion College, at Albion, 
Michigan, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and is now at the parental 
home; and FLORENCE is a student in the Miami high school.


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