Will H. Carleson, 87, county judge for 41 years and last of the old guard of Griggs officeholders, was buried Wednesday following funeral rites in the Masonic Temple.
The pioneer farmer, lawyer and judge came to the end of the trail in quiet fashion at his home in this city Sunday afternoon. Though in declining health for some time as a result of his advanced age, his last illness was only a matter of days. Death was the result of pneumonia following an attack of bronchitis.
Born in Michigan, an early settler of territorial days, Carleton epitomized the saga of the conquest of Dakota by the westward movement of civilization, even as his ancestors followed the path of history for an old world to a new.
He was born in St. Clair, Michigan, on December 16, 1853, the son of Moses F. Carleton who later became an officer in the Grand Army of the Republic, and was a member of the family descended from England to settle in Massachusetts in 1638.
An only boy with two sisters, Will Carleton worked on his father's farm in his early years, later going into town to serve as deputy county clerk, a position similar to county auditor. There he learned the law, since all procedure there followed the common law practice. After his admittance to the bar, however, he was forced back to the farm because of ill health. Two years later he decided to go west. He was married to Miss Eliza Davis of St. Clair County, who passed away in 1904.
His arrival in Fargo, N. D., on March26, 1882, inaugurated a typica pioneer life. In Sanborn he was forced to tie up in a box car with three horses, two cows, some farming equipment and the family furniture because of snow. It was two weeks before he made this community. He immediately set about to acquire a quarter section of land by preemption. He settled on section four, Cooperstown Township, lived there six months to fulfill preemption requirements and filed on a homestead.
It was tough going in those days to make ends meet so Carleton, though living on the farm got himself additional work in Cooperstown. He was employed with several firms principally with the Gull River Lumber Company of which E. W. Blackwell was manager.
He was one of those who aided in the construction of courthouse, hauling rock and brick and cement. He witnessed the coming of the railroad, built by the Cooper Bros. from Sanborn.
His first attempt for public office here was a failure. He ran against Iver Jacobson, incumbent states attorney, and was defeated. Two years later he ran again and won,, but was subsequently defeated by David Bartlett, one time lieutenant governor of North Dakota, and went back to work for the lumber company.
County Judge C. H. Johnson died in 1899 and in May the county commissioners named Carleton to the post. He served in that capacity until his death and since 1904 had been unopposed in all elections.
In 1910 Mr. Carleton was married to Mrs. Daisy A. Shue, a school teacher and a native of England. He was a member of the local order of Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mrs. Carleton alone survives.
Stores and business places in Cooperstown were closed during the funeral Wednesday. Offices in the courthouse closed at noon and remained closed throughout the day in respect to the man who had tread their halls for more than 40 years.
Pallbearers were Edwin Bolkan, Otto Retzlaff, Fred Ashby, Henry Nelson, O. J. Thompson and Otto Pritz.
Published in the Griggs County Sentinel-Courier, Cooperstown, North Dakota, July 11, 1940.
The pioneer farmer, lawyer and judge came to the end of the trail in quiet fashion at his home in this city Sunday afternoon. Though in declining health for some time as a result of his advanced age, his last illness was only a matter of days. Death was the result of pneumonia following an attack of bronchitis.
Born in Michigan, an early settler of territorial days, Carleton epitomized the saga of the conquest of Dakota by the westward movement of civilization, even as his ancestors followed the path of history for an old world to a new.
He was born in St. Clair, Michigan, on December 16, 1853, the son of Moses F. Carleton who later became an officer in the Grand Army of the Republic, and was a member of the family descended from England to settle in Massachusetts in 1638.
An only boy with two sisters, Will Carleton worked on his father's farm in his early years, later going into town to serve as deputy county clerk, a position similar to county auditor. There he learned the law, since all procedure there followed the common law practice. After his admittance to the bar, however, he was forced back to the farm because of ill health. Two years later he decided to go west. He was married to Miss Eliza Davis of St. Clair County, who passed away in 1904.
His arrival in Fargo, N. D., on March26, 1882, inaugurated a typica pioneer life. In Sanborn he was forced to tie up in a box car with three horses, two cows, some farming equipment and the family furniture because of snow. It was two weeks before he made this community. He immediately set about to acquire a quarter section of land by preemption. He settled on section four, Cooperstown Township, lived there six months to fulfill preemption requirements and filed on a homestead.
It was tough going in those days to make ends meet so Carleton, though living on the farm got himself additional work in Cooperstown. He was employed with several firms principally with the Gull River Lumber Company of which E. W. Blackwell was manager.
He was one of those who aided in the construction of courthouse, hauling rock and brick and cement. He witnessed the coming of the railroad, built by the Cooper Bros. from Sanborn.
His first attempt for public office here was a failure. He ran against Iver Jacobson, incumbent states attorney, and was defeated. Two years later he ran again and won,, but was subsequently defeated by David Bartlett, one time lieutenant governor of North Dakota, and went back to work for the lumber company.
County Judge C. H. Johnson died in 1899 and in May the county commissioners named Carleton to the post. He served in that capacity until his death and since 1904 had been unopposed in all elections.
In 1910 Mr. Carleton was married to Mrs. Daisy A. Shue, a school teacher and a native of England. He was a member of the local order of Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mrs. Carleton alone survives.
Stores and business places in Cooperstown were closed during the funeral Wednesday. Offices in the courthouse closed at noon and remained closed throughout the day in respect to the man who had tread their halls for more than 40 years.
Pallbearers were Edwin Bolkan, Otto Retzlaff, Fred Ashby, Henry Nelson, O. J. Thompson and Otto Pritz.
Published in the Griggs County Sentinel-Courier, Cooperstown, North Dakota, July 11, 1940.
Will H. Carleson, 87, county judge for 41 years and last of the old guard of Griggs officeholders, was buried Wednesday following funeral rites in the Masonic Temple.
The pioneer farmer, lawyer and judge came to the end of the trail in quiet fashion at his home in this city Sunday afternoon. Though in declining health for some time as a result of his advanced age, his last illness was only a matter of days. Death was the result of pneumonia following an attack of bronchitis.
Born in Michigan, an early settler of territorial days, Carleton epitomized the saga of the conquest of Dakota by the westward movement of civilization, even as his ancestors followed the path of history for an old world to a new.
He was born in St. Clair, Michigan, on December 16, 1853, the son of Moses F. Carleton who later became an officer in the Grand Army of the Republic, and was a member of the family descended from England to settle in Massachusetts in 1638.
An only boy with two sisters, Will Carleton worked on his father's farm in his early years, later going into town to serve as deputy county clerk, a position similar to county auditor. There he learned the law, since all procedure there followed the common law practice. After his admittance to the bar, however, he was forced back to the farm because of ill health. Two years later he decided to go west. He was married to Miss Eliza Davis of St. Clair County, who passed away in 1904.
His arrival in Fargo, N. D., on March26, 1882, inaugurated a typica pioneer life. In Sanborn he was forced to tie up in a box car with three horses, two cows, some farming equipment and the family furniture because of snow. It was two weeks before he made this community. He immediately set about to acquire a quarter section of land by preemption. He settled on section four, Cooperstown Township, lived there six months to fulfill preemption requirements and filed on a homestead.
It was tough going in those days to make ends meet so Carleton, though living on the farm got himself additional work in Cooperstown. He was employed with several firms principally with the Gull River Lumber Company of which E. W. Blackwell was manager.
He was one of those who aided in the construction of courthouse, hauling rock and brick and cement. He witnessed the coming of the railroad, built by the Cooper Bros. from Sanborn.
His first attempt for public office here was a failure. He ran against Iver Jacobson, incumbent states attorney, and was defeated. Two years later he ran again and won,, but was subsequently defeated by David Bartlett, one time lieutenant governor of North Dakota, and went back to work for the lumber company.
County Judge C. H. Johnson died in 1899 and in May the county commissioners named Carleton to the post. He served in that capacity until his death and since 1904 had been unopposed in all elections.
In 1910 Mr. Carleton was married to Mrs. Daisy A. Shue, a school teacher and a native of England. He was a member of the local order of Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mrs. Carleton alone survives.
Stores and business places in Cooperstown were closed during the funeral Wednesday. Offices in the courthouse closed at noon and remained closed throughout the day in respect to the man who had tread their halls for more than 40 years.
Pallbearers were Edwin Bolkan, Otto Retzlaff, Fred Ashby, Henry Nelson, O. J. Thompson and Otto Pritz.
Published in the Griggs County Sentinel-Courier, Cooperstown, North Dakota, July 11, 1940.
The pioneer farmer, lawyer and judge came to the end of the trail in quiet fashion at his home in this city Sunday afternoon. Though in declining health for some time as a result of his advanced age, his last illness was only a matter of days. Death was the result of pneumonia following an attack of bronchitis.
Born in Michigan, an early settler of territorial days, Carleton epitomized the saga of the conquest of Dakota by the westward movement of civilization, even as his ancestors followed the path of history for an old world to a new.
He was born in St. Clair, Michigan, on December 16, 1853, the son of Moses F. Carleton who later became an officer in the Grand Army of the Republic, and was a member of the family descended from England to settle in Massachusetts in 1638.
An only boy with two sisters, Will Carleton worked on his father's farm in his early years, later going into town to serve as deputy county clerk, a position similar to county auditor. There he learned the law, since all procedure there followed the common law practice. After his admittance to the bar, however, he was forced back to the farm because of ill health. Two years later he decided to go west. He was married to Miss Eliza Davis of St. Clair County, who passed away in 1904.
His arrival in Fargo, N. D., on March26, 1882, inaugurated a typica pioneer life. In Sanborn he was forced to tie up in a box car with three horses, two cows, some farming equipment and the family furniture because of snow. It was two weeks before he made this community. He immediately set about to acquire a quarter section of land by preemption. He settled on section four, Cooperstown Township, lived there six months to fulfill preemption requirements and filed on a homestead.
It was tough going in those days to make ends meet so Carleton, though living on the farm got himself additional work in Cooperstown. He was employed with several firms principally with the Gull River Lumber Company of which E. W. Blackwell was manager.
He was one of those who aided in the construction of courthouse, hauling rock and brick and cement. He witnessed the coming of the railroad, built by the Cooper Bros. from Sanborn.
His first attempt for public office here was a failure. He ran against Iver Jacobson, incumbent states attorney, and was defeated. Two years later he ran again and won,, but was subsequently defeated by David Bartlett, one time lieutenant governor of North Dakota, and went back to work for the lumber company.
County Judge C. H. Johnson died in 1899 and in May the county commissioners named Carleton to the post. He served in that capacity until his death and since 1904 had been unopposed in all elections.
In 1910 Mr. Carleton was married to Mrs. Daisy A. Shue, a school teacher and a native of England. He was a member of the local order of Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mrs. Carleton alone survives.
Stores and business places in Cooperstown were closed during the funeral Wednesday. Offices in the courthouse closed at noon and remained closed throughout the day in respect to the man who had tread their halls for more than 40 years.
Pallbearers were Edwin Bolkan, Otto Retzlaff, Fred Ashby, Henry Nelson, O. J. Thompson and Otto Pritz.
Published in the Griggs County Sentinel-Courier, Cooperstown, North Dakota, July 11, 1940.
Gravesite Details
"Carlton" on the North Dakota State Death Index
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