Ithamar Conkey

Ithamar D. Conkey (1815–1867) was an American church musician, singer, organist, choir director, and composer. Born in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, he worked for a time as a wool merchant while also developing a career in church music. He served as organist at Central Baptist Church in Norwich, Connecticut, where his best-known tune, RATHBUN, originated in the late 1840s and was published in Henry W. Greatorex's Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes in 1851.

Conkey moved to New York City in 1850 and worked as a bass soloist in prominent church choirs, including Calvary Episcopal Church and Grace Church. From 1861 he served as bass soloist and choir director at Madison Avenue Baptist Church, remaining active there until his death in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1867. Surviving biographical sources document his service in both Baptist and Episcopal settings but do not establish a single personal denominational identity with enough certainty to assign one. His lasting place in hymnody rests chiefly on RATHBUN, a tune that became widely associated with nineteenth- and twentieth-century congregational singing.