John Wilford Blackstone Jr.

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.[2][3]

He served in the Wisconsin State Assembly in the 1879 session and in the Wisconsin State Senate for the 1880 and 1881 sessions.[2] 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.

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.[2][3]

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.[2][4]

John W. Blackstone Jr. married Ellen E. Hardy, of Platteville, Wisconsin, on June 20, 1862. They had at least four children:[3]

• 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

• Judge John Wilford Blackstone, Jr at Find a Grave