[1] Conkling received a recess appointment from President John Quincy Adams on August 27, 1825, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York vacated by Judge Roger Skinner.

[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 14, 1825, and received his commission the same day.

Together, they were the parents of five children, including:[5] Conkling died on February 5, 1874, in Utica.

[4] Conkling's grandson Alfred Conkling Coxe Sr. also served as United States District Judge in the Northern District of New York, and later a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit;[5] Coxe's own son (Conkling's great-grandson) Alfred Conkling Coxe Jr. was a Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

[5] A photograph of Judge Conkling hangs in the courtroom at the United States District Court in Utica, New York.