Joseph Horace Shull (August 17, 1848August 9, 1944) was an American lawyer, physician and politician from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

who served as a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

for

Pennsylvania's 26th congressional district Pennsylvania's 26th congressional district was one of Pennsylvania's districts of the United States House of Representatives. List of representatives References * * Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present ...

from 1903 to 1905. He also served as a member of the

Pennsylvania Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered eve ...

for the 22nd district from 1886 to 1891.

Early life and education

Shull was born at

Martins Creek, Pennsylvania Martins Creek is a census-designated place in Lower Mt. Bethel Township, Pennsylvania. It is located along Martins Creek. Its population was 664 as of the 2020 U.S. census. Martins Creek is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which h ...

to Elias and Margaret Eakin Shull. He attended the public schools and

Blair Academy Blair Academy is a coeducational, boarding and day school for students in high school. The school serves students from ninth through twelfth grades as well as a small post-graduate class. The school's campus is located on a campus in Blairst ...

Blairstown, New Jersey Blairstown is a township in Warren County, New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Blairstown's population was 5,704. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 5,967 Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General La ...

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river that joins the Delaware Ri ...

. He graduated from the

University of New York There is no real institution in the United States that bears the exact name University of New York. However, it is possible that such a reference may be used for one of the following: In New York State * New York University, a private research ...

and in 1873 from the

Bellevue Hospital Medical College NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island School o ...

, both in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. He taught in the public schools of Pennsylvania for four years. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1879 and commenced practice in

Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania Stroudsburg is a borough in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. It lies within the Poconos region, approximately five miles (8 km) from the Delaware Water Gap at the confluence of the Brodhead, McMichaels and Pocono Creeks in Northeastern Pennsy ...

Career

He was the first president of the Monroe County bar association and worked as editor of the ''Monroe Democrat'' from 1881 to 1886. He was a member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered eve ...

for the 22nd district from 1886 to 1891. Shull was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-eighth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1904. He resumed the practice of law and medicine, and worked as president of the

Delaware Valley railroad company Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. He served as a contract surgeon during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. On May 22, 1944, he (95 years old) and his son, Judge Samuel Shull, were admitted to the bar of the United States Supreme Court. Though neither argued before the court, he is believed to be the oldest person admitted to that bar.

Death

Shull died in Stroudsburg in August 1944 and was interred at Stroudsburg Cemetery.

Footnotes

References

Retrieved on 2008-02-10
Joseph Horace Shull
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations ...

, - 1848 births 1944 deaths 19th-century American educators 19th-century American newspaper editors 19th-century American politicians 20th-century American physicians 20th-century American politicians American military personnel of World War I 20th-century American railroad executives Blair Academy alumni Burials in Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Editors of Pennsylvania newspapers Educators from Pennsylvania New York University alumni New York University Grossman School of Medicine alumni Pennsylvania lawyers Pennsylvania Railroad people Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators Politicians from Northampton County, Pennsylvania People from Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania Physicians from Pennsylvania {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub