Ebenezer Conklin and his wife Sarah Aletta Clowes had five children, four of whom survived to adulthood. Sarah, the eldest, and Nathaniel Augustus, the third child, are represented in this collection. Sarah married George Bedell, the son of William Bedell. Sarah and George Bedell had two children, one of whom may be Elbert Bedell. William Bedell appears to have been Conklin's business partner for a time--there are several mentions in the records of a "Bedell and Conklin Company"--but the nature of this business is unclear. William Bedell was the chief proprietor of a straw and feed company; there are several receipts from his store included in the collection. While Ebenezer Conklin is represented in this collection primarily as a landlord and property owner, he was also an employee or associate of the Peter Cooper glue factory and millworks. Nathaniel Augustus Conklin, known as "Gus," served in the Civil War and later came to reside at 175 Ainslie Street. The two letters to his father included in this collection make some mention of his own business affairs. Harriet Louisa Conklin, the second of the Conklin children, is represented in this collection only by the presence of her school bills, and possibly by a letter from Gus addressed to a "sister."
(Sources: 173rd New York State Volunteer Infantry: Letters of Nathaniel Augustus Conklin. http://173rdnysvi.org/letters.htm. accessed 24 July 2007; Brooklyn Genealogy Information Pages. http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/ accessed 24 July 2007.)
From the guide to the Conklin and Bedell families papers, 1839-1917, (Brooklyn Historical Society)
