Bio of CONKLIN, James Franklin (b.1852), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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JAMES FRANKLIN CONKLIN - Vol III, pg 375-376
James Franklin Conklin is a prominent factor in business circles of Minneapolis
as the president of the Conklin-Zonne-Loomis Company, which he organized in 1893
and which has since developed into one of the largest rental and real estate
firms in the city. He is likewise the secretary and treasurer of the Minneapolis
Syndicate Building Corporation, with which he has been connected for forty
years, a fact which indicates his long and active identification with business
interests here. His birth occurred in Newburgh, New York, on the 14th of August,
1852, his parents being James O. and Rebecca (Purdy) Conklin, and his early
education was acquired in the public schools of his native town, while
subsequently he continued his studies in the Newburgh Institute. It was in 1876,
when a young man of twenty-four years, that he entered the wholesale grocery
establishment of the Conklin-Womboldt Company at Jacksonville, Florida, there
remaining until 1879. In the following year he came to Minneapolis as assistant
manager of the old Academy of Music and later acted as manager of the Grand
Opera House until 1894, taking a prominent part in dramatic affairs during the
early period of his residence here. He was the manager of the Auditorium at the
time it was opened to the public. In 1893, however, he turned his attention to
the real estate business, organizing the firm of J. F. Conklin & Company, which
was afterward changed to Conklin, Zonne & Company, and was developed into one of
the most extensive enterprises of the kind not only in Minne­apolis but in the
Northwest. The business is now conducted under the name of Conklin-Zonne-Loomis
Company, with Mr. Conklin as president. In 1894 Mr. Conklin was also made
secretary and general manager of the Arcade Investment Company, owning buildings
in both St. Paul and Minneapolis, while subsequently he became secretary and
treasurer of the Globe buildings in both St. Paul and Minneapolis and later
assumed the duties of vice president and treasurer of the Guaranty Loan building
in this city. For the past forty years he has been identified with the
Minneapolis Syndicate Building Corporation, of which he is now serving as
secretary and treasurer. His interests are thus extensive and of a most
important character, placing him among the leading realtors of his adopted city.
On the llth of September, 1878, in Marlboro, New York, Mr. Conklin was united in
marriage to Miss Lizzie A. Merritt, a daughter of Edwin A. Merritt of that place
and a representative of an old and prominent family of the Empire state. Mr. and
Mrs. Conklin have become the parents of two sons and two daughters: Margaretta
B., who is now the wife of Bertrand E. Stimson of Minneapolis; Clara Ilsamine;
James Franklin, Jr., who died as the result of an automobile accident in 1911;
and Edwin Herrick, who is associated with his father in business. The summer
residence of the family is situated on Lake Minnetonka and their winter home is
at Daytona, Florida. Mr. Conklin gives his political allegiance to the
republican party, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in
the Westminster Presbyterian church. He became one of the organizers and charter
members of the Minneapolis- Civic & Commerce Association, also belongs to the
Minneapolis Club and for several years has been president of the Minneapolis
Real Estate Board. He has led an active and useful life, utilizing every
opportunity to advance, and his present success is entirely attributable to his
own labors, his close application and his laudable ambition. He is a man of high
personal standing, of marked business integrity and ability, and in all matters
of citizenship he stands for progress and improvement.