Person Page - 325

     JUSTUS D. HOOSER, Platteville; eldest son of Jacob Hooser, Sr., was the third white child born in Platteville, March 12, 1832, on the farm where his father now resides. His early life was spent in this town. In 1850, he went to California, where he spent seven years in the gold mines. On his return in 1858, he settled on 76 acres of his present farm, to which he afterward added 100 acres. He married Mrs. Harriet Clark. Her parents were early settlers in Smelser, where her father built his stone house by moonlight, wheeling the material from a distance of half a mile. He was a stone-mason by trade, and was busily employed each and every day in building the houses of his neighbors, so that his own work must be done "after business hours." Mrs. Hooser married in England George E. Clark, who died in Grass Valley, Cal. His only son is James M. Clark. Mr. and Mrs. Hooser have five children - Joseph, Butler, Elizabeth, Jacob W. and Justus D., all born on the Platteville homestead.

     Mrs. Hooser married in England George E. Clark, who died in Grass Valley, Cal. His only son is James M. Clark. Mr. and Mrs. Hooser have five children - Joseph, Butler, Elizabeth, Jacob W. and Justus D., all born on the Platteville homestead. Harriet Chadwick was a in 1841 at silk weaver.

     In 1898 at Wisconsin Jacob Hooser, Jr., and Butler Hooser, his nephew, were charged with attempting to poison the young family of the second wife of Jacob Hooser, so that the descendants of the first wife would be heirs to the Hooser estate.