View source for Roscoe P. Conkling

{{Short description|American judge}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|image = Roscoe Powers Conkling in 1913 at age 24.jpg
|caption = Conkling in 1913 at age 24
|office = [[List of judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri|Judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri]]
|term_start = January 1, 1947
|term_end = October 28, 1954
|preceded = [[Ernest S. Gantt]]
|succeeded = [[Henry J. Westhues]]
|birth_name = Roscoe Powers Conkling
|birth_date = {{birth date|1889|05|03}}
|birth_place = [[Carrollton, Missouri|Carrollton]], [[Missouri]], U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1954|10|28|1889|05|03}}
|death_place = [[Jefferson City, Missouri|Jefferson City]], Missouri, U.S.
|spouse = {{marriage|Mildred Scott|1914}}
|alma_mater = [[University of Missouri]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
|allegiance = {{flag|United States|1912}}
|branch = [[United States Army]]
|rank = [[Private (rank)|Private]]
|battles = [[World War I]]
}}
'''Roscoe Powers Conkling''' (May 3, 1889 &ndash; October 28, 1954) was a justice of the [[Missouri Supreme Court]] from 1947 to 1954,<ref>{{cite web|title=Missouri History: Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri 1820-2011|url=http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/history/historicallistings/judges.asp|publisher=Missouri Secretary of State's Office|access-date=18 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Former Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri|url=http://www.courts.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=299|website=Your Missouri Courts|publisher=Supreme Court of Missouri|access-date=18 February 2016}}</ref> including a period as chief justice.<ref name=obit/>
==Biography==
Conkling was born on May 3, 1889, in [[Carrollton, Missouri]], to Virgil Marcellus Conkling (1865-1912) and Alpha Ann Powers (1866-1951). He attended school there and, from 1905, in [[Kansas City, Missouri]]. He graduated in Law from the [[University of Missouri]] in 1912 and began practicing law that year in Kansas City. After army service in the Field Artillery during World War I he returned to legal practice and moved to [[St Joseph, Missouri|St Joseph]] in 1924. He became prosecuting attorney for [[Jackson County, Missouri|Jackson County]] and special commissioner of the Missouri Supreme Court. He also served as a member of the State Board of Bar Examiners (1926–30), and as president of the [[Buchanan County, Missouri|Buchanan County]] Bar Association.
He was appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court under the states non-partisan court plan on January 1, 1947, during the first term of Governor [[Phil M. Donnelly]]. He was re-elected to the court on November 2, 1948, for a 12-year term, and had recently completed his turn as chief justice of the court when he died.<ref name=obit/><ref>{{cite news |title=Roscoe Powers Conkling Dies |url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/110982876 |newspaper=[[Evening Press]] |date=October 28, 1954 |access-date=2016-03-20 }}</ref> He was awarded an honorary degree from [[William Jewell College]] in 1954.
Conkling married Mildred Scott in 1914, and they had two daughters. He had a [[heart attack]] and died on his way to St. Mary's Hospital on October 28, 1954, in [[Jefferson City, Missouri]].<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Judge Roscoe Conkling |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B06EFDD113FE33BBC4151DFB667838F649EDE |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=October 29, 1954 |access-date=2015-09-18 }}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
* [https://www.newspapers.com/image/15375588 "Heart Attack Fatal to Judge Conkling of State Supreme Court"], The Chillicothe Constitution Tribune, October 28, 1954.
* "R.P. Conkling, Supreme Court Justice, Dies", Jefferson City Post-Tribune, October 28, 1954.
{{refend}}
<!--Roscoe Powers Conkling
Death:  28 Oct 1954 - Jefferson City, Andrew, Missouri, United States-->
==External links==
*{{Find a Grave|110982876}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conkling, Roscoe P.}}
[[Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri]]
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:1954 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Carrollton, Missouri]]
[[Category:University of Missouri School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:Politicians from Kansas City, Missouri]]
[[Category:20th-century American judges]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Kansas City, Missouri]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]