Judge Henry S. Wooster San Miguel County, New Mexico

Judge Henry S. Wooster, justice of the peace at Las Vegas, comes of an ancestry which in its lineal and collateral branches through many generations has been distinctively American. He is a direct descendant of Daniel Wooster, who at an early day settled in Connecticut, having crossed the Atlantic from England. The judge was born in Tully, New York, April 20, 1820, and remained a resident of that state until 1840, when he went to Ohio, where he spent four years. The succeeding six years were passed in Wisconsin, and on the expiration of that period he went to California, remaining on the Pacific coast for ten years. He then returned to Beloit, Wisconsin, and on leaving that place came to Las Vegas, where he conducted the Wooster House for six years, making it a leading hostelry of this city. In January, 1891, he was elected police judge and justice of the peace and has since continuously filled both positions, his decisions being strictly fair and impartial. His early political support was given the Whig party, and since its dissolution he has been a stalwart Republican.

Judge Wooster was married in Wisconsin to Miss Nancy Pierce, a native of Jefferson County, New York, whence she went to the Badger State in early life. Her father, Joseph Pierce, was a farmer of Wisconsin and was a member of the convention which framed the state constitution. Unto Judge and Mrs. Wooster were born the following named: Clarence A., of Atlanta, Georgia; Bennett P., of Santa Rosa, New Mexico, and Mary, the wife of George E. Johnson, of Missouri Valley, Iowa. The wife and mother departed this life in February, 1888.

For nearly thirty years Judge Wooster was an active member of the Masonic fraternity and was also affiliated with the Odd Fellows. He has now passed the eighty-fifth milestone on life's journey, and is a most respected and venerable citizen of Las Vegas.

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Source: History of New Mexico, Its Resources and People, Volume II, Pacific States Publishing Co., 1907.

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