Biography of Jay Conklin, Hamlin Township, Eaton County, Michigan Copyright © 1999 by Julia Coldren-Walker. This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives. ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ Past and Present of Eaton County, MI Page 247-248 Eaton Co. Gene. Soc. Call No. 611.1 JAY CONKLIN is a native of Hamlin township, a member of one of the honored pioneer families of Eaton county and is a representative farmer and stock-grower of the township in which he was born, the date of his nativity having been May 6, 1845. He is a son of Allen and Sarah A. (Walton) Conklin. Allen Conklin was born in Allegany county, New York, June 25, 1820, and he was a mere child at the time of his parents' removal to the state of Ohio, where he was reared to manhood, receiving such educational advantages as were afforded in the pioneer schools. In the summer of 1843 he came to Eaton county, Michigan, where he traded a team of horses for forty acres of wild land in Hamlin township, the same constituting a portion of the fine homestead upon which he passed the greater portion of his life thereafter. He cleared his original tract, putting forth exceptional energy and being prospered in his efforts, so that he was enabled to add to his landed possession from time to time, having been the owner of a fine estate of four hundred acres at the time of his death, on his old homestead, April 27, 1905, two months prior to his eighty-fifth birthday anniversary. He wielded much influence in the community in the pioneer days and afterward and his aid and influence were always given in support of measures and enterprises for the general good. He assisted in the building of the first bridge across the Grand river at the county line and otherwise aided in the forwarding of public improvements. He was a man who held to the highest ideals of personal integrity and honor, and commanded the unqualified esteem of all who knew him. He assisted in the organization of the Republican party, in the historic meeting "under the oaks" in Jackson, Michigan, and ever afterward continued a supporter of its principles. In 1844 Mr. Conklin was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Ann Walton, who was his faithful and constant companion for nearly sixty years, her death occurring September 28, 1901. They became the parents of six children, namely: Jay, who is the immediate subject of this sketch; Chauncey, who is a successful farmer of Onondaga township; Lee, who resides in the city of Eaton Rapids; Mead, who died in infancy; Mrs. Josephine Simmons, who resides in California; and Mrs. Agatha Green, who resides on the old Conklin homestead in Hamlin township, this county. Mr. Conklin was a valued member of the lodge of Free & Accepted Masons in Eaton Rapids, having identified himself therewith in 1863. Jay Conklin, eldest of the children of the honored pioneer, Allen Conklin, has passed his entire life thus far in Hamlin township, save for two years, during which he resided in Leoni township,. Jackson county. He was educated in the local schools and early became familiar with the various details involved in the work and management of the home farm. He began his independent career as a farmer on a place of forty acres lying to the rear of his present fine farm, on which he has maintained his home for a quarter of a century. His present farmstead is under most effective cultivation, improved with modern buildings and comprises one hundred and six and two-third acres. He is a stanch supporter of the Republican party by has invariably refused to become a candidate for political office, though he has served as a member of the board of review of his township. On Christmas day of the year 1867, Mr. Conklin was united in marriage to Miss Marian L. Palmer, who died October 31, 1882. They became the parents of eight children, concerning whom is entered the following brief record: Clarence, born October 30, 1868, resides in Eaton Rapids; Jay, Jr., born September 18, 1869, and now resides in the state of Washington' Floyd, born March 8, 1871, is engaged in farming in Hamlin township; Sarah A., born April 23, 1873, is the wife of Dr. Frank C. Arnold, a leading dentist of Eaton Rapids; Allen, born September 1, 1875, resides in the state of Minnesota; Edith May, born May 29, 1878, is the wife of Chauncey Hines, of Grand Rapids; Daniel, born August 31, 1880, resides in Eaton Rapids, and Harry born September 3, 1881, remains at the paternal home. In 1886 Mr. Conklin wedded Miss Arvilla Wright, who was born in the state of New York, in 1854, being the daughter of James Madison Wright. No children have been born of this union. Mrs. Conklin is a member of the Baptist church in Eaton Rapids. dz