Isaac McConihe was born on August 22, 1787, in Merrimack, New Hampshire, to John McConihe. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1812 and began studying law in Troy, New York, later that year. He earned admission to the New York bar in 1815 and opened his own legal practice. He married Sarah Sophia in 1826, and they had at least ten children: Thomas Jefferson, born around 1827; Sarah, born around 1828; William, born around 1832; John, born around 1834; Samuel, born around 1836; Thornton, born around 1839; Philander, born around 1840; Isaac, born around 1840; Mary, born around 1845; and Alonzo, born around 1850.

 

In 1828, McConihe became a judge of the court of common pleas. He became a county treasurer in 1831 and spent about ten years as a postmaster under Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. By 1850, he owned $40,000 of real estate. He served as a bank director, a railroad director, and the president of the Troy Lyceum of Natural History. He was a trustee of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Troy Orphan Asylum. He died on November 1, 1867.

SOURCES