fur trader, merchant, judge, territorial legislator, b. Peru, N.Y. He was a sutler's clerk at various army posts during the War of 1812. In 1816, he came to Wisconsin and entered the fur trade in Prairie du Chien; in 1817 he was licensed as a trader for Jacob Franks. After living briefly among the Sioux Indians, he settled permanently in Prairie du Chien in 1819, and served one year as trader for the American Fur Company. Through his acquaintance with Judge J. D. Doty (q.v.), he was encouraged to study law, and was admitted to the bar in 1824. During the same year, he was appointed prosecuting attorney and postmaster. In 1826 he built the first frame house in Prairie du Chien, a wing of which served as a retail store. Lockwood was appointed associate justice of Crawford County in 1830, and was elected to the territorial legislature in 1836. He was part owner of the Wisconsin Mineral and Transportation Company, which operated a shot tower at Helena, and was a director of the First State Bank of Prairie du Chien. Colls. State Hist. Soc. Wis., 2 (1856), 3 (1857), 10 (1888), 11 (1888), 20 (1911); P. L. Scanlan, Prairie du Chien ([Menasha, Wis.] 1937); J. R. Berryman, ed., Bench and Bar of Wis. (2 vols., Chicago, 1898); WPA MS.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the James H. Lockwood Reminiscences for details.

View an 1817 letter of Lockwood's at Wisconsin Historical Collections.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]