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1. Esther (Easter) Malinda ACKLEY1 was born about 1812 in New York.2,3,4 Susie Martin-Rott has ca 1816 NY She died on 25 Oct
1893 in Frontier , Nebraska.5
grave records has death year as 1890 She was buried in Arbor Cemetery, Stockville,
Frontier, Nebraska.4 info:
Ronald S Wendell of Cedar Rapids,
IA~ Esther kept most of her belongings in a knapsack and dressed like
a beggar woman. She could be seen going down the road to visit one of her many
children. She is believed to have died in or near Stockeille, NE, where some
of her children lived Throughout all research, he was the only one to give this
description of his grandmother
STATE OF IOWA VS. ESTHER CONKLIN, AMINADAB CONKLIN, ELIJAH CONKLIN
Indictment for Murder
A True Bill. A. D. Palmer, Foreman of the Grand Jury.
Witnesses: Esther Malinda Conklin, William Conklin, Ira Edwards, Jesse Said,
James H. Said , Ann Wallace.
Presented by the foreman of the grand jury in presence of said grand jury in
open court, an d filed by me in open court, in presence of said grand jury this
11th day of July, 1857. I M .Brakey, Clerk.
State of Iowa, county of Jackson, ss:
I the District court of said county at the special term thereof, begun and holden
on the firs t Monday in July in the year of our Lord one thousand, eight hundred
and fifty-seven.
The grand jurors within and for the county of Jackson and State of Iowa being
the first legal ly convoked, empaneled and sworn in open court to inquire into
the indictable offenses commit ted within the body of the county of Jackson,
aforesaid in the name and by the authority of t he State of Iowa upon their oaths
present:
That Esther Conklin, Aminadab Conklin and Elijah Conklin, late of the county
of Jackson afore said, on the first day of October in the year of our Lord, one
thousand eight hundred and fif ty-six, at and in the county of Jackson aforesaid,
with force and arms in and upon one Willia m Conklin, in the peace of God and
said state, then and there being feloniously, willfully, a nd with their malice
aforethought, did make an assault and that the said Esther Conklin, wit h a certain
knife of the value of ten cents which she the said Esther Conklin, in her right
h and then and there, had held the throat of him, the said William Conklin, feloniously,
willfu lly and malice aforethought, did strike, stab and cut and that the said
Esther Conklin with t he knife aforesaid, with
the striking, stabbing, cutting, aforesaid, did then and there give to him, the
said Willia m Conklin, in and upon the said throat of him, the said William Conklin,
one mortal wound, o f the length of two inches and the depth of four inches,
of which said mortal wound, he, th e said William Conklin at and in the county
aforesaid, instantly died. That Aminadab and Eli jah Conklin, of the county of
Jackson, aforesaid, on the day and year last aforesaid, at th e county aforesaid,
feloniously, willfully, and of their malice aforethought were present aid ing
and abetting the said Esther Conklin the felony aforesaid to do and commit. And
so juror s aforesaid, do say that the Esther Conklin, Aminadab Conklin, and Elijah
Conklin in the man ner and form aforesaid, then there feloniously and of their
malice aforethought did kill an d murder, contrary to form statute in such cases
made and provided and against the peace an d dignity of the State of Iowa. R.
S. Hadley, Special Prosecuting Attorney of Jackson county , Iowa.
I herby certify the foregoing to be true copy of the original indictment on fie
in my office . I. M. Brakey, Clerk.
From History of Jackson County [IA] (Ellis, 1910)
In 1856 there was living on the banks and near the mouth of Lytle's Creek, In
Farmers Creek township, a family by the name of Conklin, consisting of William
Conklin, his wife and a large family of children, several of them grown up. Conklin
was a rough man and had the reputation of being a hard drinker. Mrs. Conklin
was a large muscular woman of amazonian type and the progeny of the couple with
two exceptions were a hard lot.
On or about the 1st day of Octoner, 1856, the neigborhood was thrown into consternation
and excitement by the report that Conklin had been murdered by his wife, assisted
by his sons, Aminadab and Elijah. The accused parties were arrested and indicted
by the grand jury for the crime of murder. We will insert a copy herein of the
indictment to show how such instrumnts were drawn fifty years ago."
The witnsess with one exception were members of the Conklin family, or related
to the Conklins, and their evidence made it appear that the old lady was acting
in self- defense when she struck the fatal blow. It was claimed by the Conklins
that the old man attempted to assault the old lady with a butcher knife, but
that she wrested the knife from him and struck him in the neck, inflicting aaa
mortal wound. The verdict of the jury was as follows: We, the jurors find the
defendant not guilty as charged in the indictment.
The old lady and some of the younger boys were residing at Farmers Creek township
about thirty years ago, but they never prospered; the stigma of the murder of
the old man clung to them, and they were generally regarded with distrust. The
boys were engaged in several escapades which cost the county a good many dollars,
and it was a good job for old Jackson when they shook her dust from their feet.
William Conklin, Jr., was well respected by his neighbors, as was Phoebe, who
married Thomas Said, and lived on the old Conklin farm until recently. It was
said that little Tom Conklin who could not talk very plain at that time, was
questioned about the killing of his father, and he said "Minadab held dad
by the hair while mem cut his throat."
The witnesses with one exception were members of the Conklin family, or related
to the Conkli ns, and their evidence made it appear the old lady was acting in
self-defense when she struck the fatal blow. It was claimed by the Conklins that
the old man attempted to assault the old lady with a butcher knife, but that
she wrested the knife from him and struck him in the neck, inflicting a mortal
wound. The verdict of the jury was as follows:
We, the jurors, find the defendant not guilty as charged in the indictment. S.
Burleson, Milton Godard, George Hay, N. T. Wynkoop, D. W. Garlett, H. Noble,
B. L. Stucky, H. Thompson, Da niel Potter, Enoch Smith, John Gilmore, V. Harrington
With the acquittal of Esther Conklin, the indictments against Aminadab and Elijah
were quashed.
The old lady and some of the younger boys were residing at Farmers Creek township
about thirty year ago, but they never prospered; the stigma of the murder of
the old man clung to them , and they were generally regarded with distrust. The
boys were engaged in several escapade s which cost the county o good many dollars,
and it was a good job for old Jackson when they shook her dust from their feet.
William Conklin Jr., was well respected by his neighbors , as was Phoebe, who
married Thomas Said and lived on the old Conklin farm until recently. It was
said that little Tom Conklin who could not talk very plain at that time, was
being questioned about the killing of his father, and he said "Minadab held
dad by the hair while mam cut his throat."
Esther had been appointed adminisiratrix of William's estate
with J C. Webb, Manville Edwards and J E. Hildreth,
sureties. During special term 8-11-1857 J C. Webb and Manville
Edwards applied to the court to have Esther appear to show cause why she should
not be discharged from said trust. At the November term it was reported that
Esther had left the state. During the December term, Esther provided full account
and requested that she be discharged as administratrix. J C. Webb was then appointed
administrator of the estate.
Esther was guardian of the infant heirs of William Conklin. In Januarv, 1858,
she petitioned the court and was granted a dollar per day for keeping, clothing
and schooling the children The admistrator of the estate was ordered to pay the
sum monthly
Once more Esther was forced in court, this time to fight for her children. In
April of 1858 her son-inlaw, Thomas Sade, filed a petition for the removal of
Esther as the guardian of her minor children. The outcome of this case is not
known, but 1860 the children were living with William and Esther Gideon in Otter
Creek Twp.
7-1~1860 Otter Creek, Jackson Co., IA William Gideon, 63, 1797, NY; Esther Gideon,
46, 1814, OH; Moses Conklin, 1,8, 1842, OH; Esther Conklin, 16, 1844, OH; John
Conklin, 14, 1846, IA; Thomas Conklin, 11, 1849, IA; Julia Conklin, 6, 1854,
IA; Nancy Conklin, 4, 1856, IA.
August of 1870 William a Esther were back in Farmers Creek with
John, Thomas, Julia andNancy at home. This was probably on the land that esther
purchasedfrom Henry Romanop in 1867.
1870 Farmers Creek, P.O. Farmers Creek, Jackson Co. IA William Gideon, 66, farm
laborer, 1805, OH, 600/400; Esther Gideon, 50, keep house, 1820, OH; John Conkling
23, 1847, IL., Thomas Conkling, 20, 1850, IL; Julia Conkling, 17,
1853, IL; Nancy Conkling, 4, 1856, IL
Esther and William Gideon left Jackson County for Edgar, Clay Co., NE about 1872.
William Gideon died 11-1-1875 in Springfield, IA. (Jones or Linn Co., IA) Esther
remained in Clay Co. for at least 6 years. Elijah, Moses,Thomas, Julia, Nancy
and John all arrived with their families to take up residence with their mother.
By 1880 Thomas and his wife Melvina had moved to custer Co., NE approximately
120 miles northwest of Edgar.
Esther formed a special kinship with Amas J Haskins her son-inlaw.
(Nancy's second husband)
1880 NE Soundex Census 6-16-1880
Household #135
Esther Gideon, widow, ae 65, b.NY, parents NYNY, keeping house
Marietta Stadler grddau, ae 8, b IA, parents b IA IA; Jason
Haskins, son-inlaw, age 28, b. IA, parents OHOH
By June 1885, Esther arrived in Frontier Co, NE, less than 90
miles east of the Colorado-Nebraska border, settling
in Curtis Pct. with daughter Nancy and family. Elijah, Moses and
Julia along with their families had, also
continued their journey as well all settling in Curtis Pct.
By September 1885 esther had made her home in Stockville, NE, the
county seat 0n 8-1-1887 she purchased 40 acres of US. Government land
11-22-1888 Esther was very ill Moses wrote to William that she
had been ill for about two weeks and that he and
their good neighbors were taking turns staying up with her and
that "mom wished that he and Mariah were there to
see her. Esther did recover and as soon as her health permitted,
she sent a letter to her son Bill as recorded by
Moses. "Stockville, Frontier Co., Neb. 1 Dec. 1888-Dear Son and
Daughter it is with pleasure I seat myself--? to
pen you a few lines to let you know how I am quite sick but a
little better than I was when Moses wrote to you but I
still hold my bed yet this is 22 days that I been in my bed but I
know I will get better again well Bill I must tell you
that Mary sent me fifty dollars from California to come out there
when and if I get better I think I will go out there
for my health and if i get better will return in the Spring again
you and Mariah had better come out and see me
yours truly your mother Easter Gideon write soon.
While Frontier Co. remained Esther's home until her death, it was
not the end of the journey west In the spring of
1889 she traveled to CA with her (ex?) son-in-law, Jason Haskins.
While she was gone there was an attempt to foreclose on her property in Frontier
Co. In December of the same year Esther visited South Dakota and she
wanted to return to CA. Apparently Bill wrote to Mahala in CA
telling her of Esther's wishes Mahala responded
7-16-1890 telling that she believed Esther was better off in NE
than she would have been in Lassen Co., not only
because of her health and the absence of physicians in the
mountains. Mahala was concerned about Esthers's
mental well being as well because Esther needed her children
around her.
We know from a letter from Thomas Sade that Esther died about
10-25-1890. On 11-12-1890 Thomas wrote from
Iron Hills, IA, "To W J Conklin and Friends. Your letter bearing
date of Oct 25 came to hand today-But did not
rejoice when you said Mother Gideon was dead.. 'It is likely
that Esther is buried in the Stockville Cemetery in the
lot which she owned There is no stone. In
fact, the other marker on her lot is that of Sanford
Conklin, Chucky's (?) son who died 1-17-1903.
Esther (Easter) Malinda ACKLEY and William James CONKLIN Jr were married about
1828 in Monroe , Ohio.2,6 William James CONKLIN Jr7 (son of William James CONKLIN and
Mary HEATH) was born in Jun 1808 in Dryden, Tompkins , New York.6 He died on 13 Nov 1856 in Farmers Creek, Jackson , Iowa.6 came to Iowa from Ohio in 1848
and setteled in Brandon Township, Jackson Co. Iowa Esther (Easter) Malinda ACKLEY
and William James CONKLIN Jr had the following children:
Esther
(Easter) Malinda ACKLEY and Ira GREEN were married on 23 Sep 1857 in Dubuque,
Dubuque , Iowa.6 Ira
GREEN died about 1858 in Iowa.6,8 Esther (Easter) Malinda ACKLEY
and William GIDEON were married on 21 Jan 1858 in Dubuque , Iowa.3,6 William
GIDEON (son of Peter GIDEON and Mary Catherine ERNST) was born on 14 Jan
1796 in Harpers Ferry, Jefferson, West Virginia.3,6 He was living
in 1860 in Otter Creek, Jackson , Iowa.6
He died on 1 Nov 1875 in Springville, Linn, Iowa.3,6 He served
in the military War of 1812.6 |