The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1885-04-11
Roscoe COnkIing's Sister.
A Lady Who Had the Peculiar Character
istics of the Family.
Correspondence Philadelphia Times


Miss Mary Conkling, the sister of
Hon. Roscoe Conkling, whose death
recently occurred at Rochester, pos
sessed in a marked degree the charac-
teristics of the Conkling family, which
were SO clearly defined by her father,
Judge Conkling, and her illustrious
brother, Roscoe. She was a brilliant
conversationalist, but was much better
talker than listener, because she pos
sessed remarkably fastidious tastes and
would not allow herself to hear conver-
sation upon topics that in any way con-
hicted with her elevated notion of pro-
priety. Her language was always care
fully chosen from the choicest words
and her high moral sense cropped out
in every discussion to which she was
party. More than one of her Roches-
ter friends have, however, felt the keen.
edge of her sarcasm, which, like that of
her brother Roscoe, was always digni-
fed and couched in language that made
it cut deeper the longer it was thought
over. She was always remarkably cool
and dispassionate, even when engaged
in conversations with people who ad
vanced opinions in opposition to hers.
At such times she would descend from
the lofty plain of her argument long
enough to make single remark, which,
like sugar coated pill, seemed at
first to be very harmless, but which,
under analysis, was found to possess
the very sharpest of sarcasm. In her
personal habits she to remarkable ex-
tent emphasized her fastidiousness and
vanity.
An instance showing how particular
she was occurred while she was at the
City Hospital. She wore a wig and
false teeth, and she would never con-
sent, even when very i'll and weak, to
allow her physician to enter her room
until she had adjusted these and peeped
in the mirror to satisfy herself that she
was presentable. During her last ill
ness the same spirit ruled her to such an
extent that she would not even allow
her nurse to bathe her. When she was
unable to leave her bed she would have
the preparations all made and then dis
miss her nurse, while she, alone and un-
aided, performed such ablutions as her
strength would permit. Although the
wig she wore was so perfectly made that
but few could detect it from her own
hair, she had a new one made some
time before her decease and exacted
promise from her hair-dresser that she
would see that the new wig was used
when the undertaken placed her in the
casket. The most striking instance of
her extreme sense of etiquette occurred
but few months before her death. AT
the house of her most intimate friend
in the city she saw book she wished
to read and asked if she could take it to
her room. Permission was given and
the book was handed her to take away.
For several weeks she did not call on
her friend, who could not imagine what
she had done to wound Miss Conkling's
feelings. From third lady she subSe-
quently learned that Miss Conkling's
reason for not calling was that the book
was handed to her without an outer
covering and that she supposed from
that her presence was not wanted.
The lady had no such idea and was sur
prised to hear that Miss Conkling so
considered if.