Elbridge Francis McConkey was born on July 29, 1840, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, to David and Sarah McConkey. His father was one of the wealthiest men in Chester County, and by 1860 the family owned $175,000 in property. Elbridge attended Williston Seminary in East Hampton, Massachusetts, before enrolling at Yale College in 1855. His classmates there remembered him as a “rather tall, athletic-appearing young man, of frank and engaging manners.” He remained at Yale until 1858, when he transferred to the University of Virginia. There, he studied Latin, Greek, history, literature, and natural philosophy. After a year at UVA, he enrolled at Harvard Law School, where he earned his LL.B. degree on June 17, 1861. 

Shortly after, McConkey enrolled as a private in Battery F of the 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery Regiment on July 8, 1861, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. McConkey was soon commissioned as a first lieutenant and appointed as an aide-de-camp to Brigadier General George Archibald McCall. McConkey served throughout Pennsylvania and Virginia. In December 1861, McCall ordered his forces to attack a nearby Confederate picket in Dranesville, Virginia. The general ordered McConkey to remain at headquarters to watch the telegraph and order forward the reserve forces if necessary. McCall praised McConkey, “who discharged this responsible duty entirely to my satisfaction.” After serving McCall with distinction, McConkey resigned on February 20, 1862, in order to accept an appointment in Company E of the 1st Pennsylvania Reserve Cavalry Regiment. He served in that company as a second lieutenant until he appeared to resign on May 30, 1862. However, McConkey’s son later claimed that his father was injured when a tree fell on him and his horse during a reconnaissance mission at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 12, 1862. Extant service records suggest McConkey’s highest rank achieved was first lieutenant, but post-war newspaper articles consistently refer to him as a major.

After his service, McConkey joined the bar in Chester County. He married Fanny W. Berghaus on November 18, 1863, and moved to her hometown of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Fanny and McConkey had four children: John, born in 1864; Charles B., born in 1867; Mary, born in 1869; and Sarah, born in 1875. In March 1866, he served as a delegate to Pennsylvania's Union Party Convention, which declared "unfaltering devotion to the Federal Union" and celebrated President Andrew Johnson's "patriotic devotion and fearless courage." McConkey joined the Republican Party, and in early 1868, local party leaders nominated him to become an election judge. By the mid-1870s, however, he became a Democrat, and he held several party leadership positions. He served as resident clerk of the state House of Representatives in 1875-1876 and became secretary of the Democratic State Committee and the Democratic State Convention. In 1880, he helped organize a reunion of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps veterans, and he served as the corresponding secretary for the State Agricultural Society for over twenty years. 

The citizens of Pennsylvania deeply admired McConkey, “who was one of the best known citizens of Harrisburg and had a very wide acquaintance throughout the State.” By 1887, McConkey was experiencing financial troubles, and Fanny suffered from a severe “mental infirmity.” Around 11:30 in the morning on May 30, 1887, McConkey committed suicide by hanging himself in his office at the State Agricultural Society. Local newspapers attributed his suicide to temporary insanity brought on by “domestic troubles.” Several years prior, McConkey’s brother had committed suicide as well. McConkey’s obituary prasied him as “a singularly bright man, following a high order of intelligence.” Fanny later successfully applied for a widow’s pension, which commenced on September, 14, 1908, at $12 per month. She continued receiving a pension until her death on January 6, 1917.

Image: Elbridge F. McConkey (courtesy The Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps Historical Society)

Document:

Obituary for Elbridge McConkey, May 31, 1887