Samuel S. Lockhart, judge of the Grant County Court, is a respected citizen of Milbank and a leading member of the bar. Born in Scotland in 1850, he immigrated to America with his family and settled in Wisconsin. Lockhart pursued a career in law, serving as a clerk of the circuit court before establishing himself as a prominent attorney in Grant County. He held various legal positions, including district attorney and state’s attorney, and was elected judge of the county court. With a successful legal career, ownership of valuable property, and involvement in fraternal organizations, Lockhart is a highly esteemed figure in his community.
Samuel S. Lockhart, judge of the Grant County Court, is one of the representative citizens of Milbank and a leading member of the bar whose course has been such as to retain unqualified confidence and regard wherever he is known. Judge Lockhart is a native of the fair land of hills and heather, having been born in Tarbolton, Ayrshire, Scotland, on the 20th of November, 1850, being a son of John and Agnes (Gray) Lockhart, both of whom were representatives of a staunch Scottish stock. John Lockhart was identified with agricultural pursuits in his native land until 1852 when he immigrated with his family to America and located in Williamsburg, New York, but in 1854 he came to the West and settled in Caledonia Township, Columbia County, Wisconsin, where he has ever since maintained his home. He devoted the major portion of his active career to farming, becoming one of the successful and respected citizens of the Badger State, where he is now living practically retired. His wife was summoned into eternal rest on the 6th of March, 1900, at the age of seventy-five years. They were the parents of seven sons and three daughters, of whom one son and two daughters are deceased.
Samuel S. Lockhart, who was the eldest of the ten children, was reared to manhood on the farm in Wisconsin, attending the district schools of Caledonia and later completing a course in the high school at Portage. He taught for five years in the public schools and then began to read law in the office of James B. Taylor, of Portage. In the fall of 1878, he was elected clerk of the circuit court, in which capacity he served four years, meanwhile continuing his study of the law. He was admitted to the bar of Wisconsin, and in the spring of 1883, he came to Milbank. He soon established himself in practice so that he has the distinction of being one of the pioneer members of the bar of Grant County, where he has met with distinctive success in his chosen profession, in which he has gained unmistakable precedence. In 1885-6, he served as district attorney for this county, and in 1894 was elected state’s attorney, serving two years, while during the years 1893-4 he was city attorney of Milbank. In 1890, he was appointed supervisor of statistics, taking data relative to the indebtedness of the state in connection with the federal census, and in 1900, he was elected judge of the county court, having been chosen his own successor in the fall of 1902. The estimate placed upon his services on the bench was indicated by the fact that he was re-elected without opposition, no other candidate being entered for the contest. For a decade, the judge was an active member of the board of education, voluntarily resigning the office in the spring of 1903.
He is the owner of valuable property in Milbank and also has a finely improved farm of one hundred sixty acres, eight miles southeast. He has attained the Knight Templar degree in the Masonic fraternity and is the present Worshipful Master of Milbank Lodge, No. 20, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He is also a member of the Knights of the Maccabees, and is presently Sergeant of the Grand Camp of the Order. In politics, the judge is a Republican.
On the 29th of March, 1879, Judge Lockhart was united in matrimony to Miss Harriet L. Marvin of Randolph, Wisconsin. She being a native of Columbia County, that state, and a daughter of George G. and Harriet J. (Stultz) Marvin, the former of whom was born in Connecticut and the latter in New York. Mr. Marvin was a member of the Wisconsin Legislature in 1871. Judge and Mrs. Lockhart have five children, namely: Harriet M., Agnes G., John G., Marvin, and Margaret Janet.