John Wilford Blackstone Jr. (December 22, 1835October 22, 1911)"John Wilford Blackstone", Minnesota Death Records, 1866-1816 was an American farmer, lawyer, judge, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served two years in the Wisconsin Senate and one year in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Lafayette County. He also served eight years as county judge and two years as district attorney for Lafayette County.
Blackstone was among the first generation of American children born in the area that is now the state of Wisconsin. His father, John Wilford Blackstone Sr., came to the territory in 1828; he was one of the first lawyers residing there, and served in the Wisconsin Territory legislature.
Biography Born in White Oak Springs (then part of the Michigan Territory) Blackstone read law with John K. Williams and was admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin in 1861. He was elected County Judge in Lafayette County that year, commencing his term in January 1862. He served two terms before losing re-election in 1868. In 1873, he returned to office as District Attorney.
He served in the Wisconsin State Assembly in the 1879 session and in the Wisconsin State Senate for the 1880 and 1881 sessions. He also worked as an agent of the Bureau of Pensions for three years. Later in life, he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where his daughter, Roccey, resided. He died there in 1911.
Personal life and family Blackstone is a direct descendant of William Blaxton (Blackstone), one of the first colonists of the Plymouth Colony, and the first English resident at Boston (1623) and Rhode Island (1635). The name "Blackstone" appears on many landmarks of New England due to his noteworthy ancestor.
His father was John Wilford Blackstone Sr. one of the early pioneers of Lafayette County, who served in the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature and was a judge for Iowa County during the time it was organized under the Michigan Territory.The Blackstone Family
John W. Blackstone Jr. married Ellen E. Hardy, of Platteville, Wisconsin, on June 20, 1862. They had at least four children: Roccey, who married and moved to Minneapolis Jessie, who became principal of the Prescott School in Anaconda, Montana John III, who became editor and publisher of the Southwestern Local in Shullsburg Ralph, who became a freight conductor on the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad
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