WILL H. CARLETON, county judge of Griggs county, is a gentleman of excellent characteristics, and is highly esteemed throughout that section. He is one of the pioneer settlers of Cooperstown, and has been identified with its financial and social growth, and is deservedly popular as a public spirited citizen.
Mr. Carleton was born on a farm in St. Clair county, Michigan, December 16, 1853, and was the only son in a family of three children born to Moses F. and Mary (Latham) Carleton. His father was an attorney by profession and was a prominent man in St. Clair county. He served two years in the Fourth Michigan Infantry during the Civil war. The mother of our subject was a native of New York.
Our subject was the eldest in the family of children, and after completing his studies he served as deputy county clerk in his native county for several years, and afterward began reading law in the office of Avery Brothers, at Port Huron, Michigan. He returned to the farm in the late 1870’s, and remained two years, and in 1882 went to Griggs county, North Dakota. He filed on land soon after his arrival there and became one of the pioneer settlers of the countv.
Our subject was married, in St. Clair county, Michigan, during the late 1870s, to Miss Eliza J. Davis, a native of that county, and a daughter of William H. Davis. Mrs. Carleton's father was a prominent farmer of that county. Mr. Carleton IS a man of exceptional ability, and enjoys the confidence of the people. He has served as clerk of the village since its organization, and he served two years as district attorney of the county, and was appointed judge of Griggs county in 1899. He is prominent in the Modern Woodmen of America lodge, and is the clerk of the local camp. Politically Mr. Carleton is a Republican.
Source: Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota 1900 Page 307