Joseph McNulty on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Joseph McNulty (1840 or 1841 - 1909) was an
Cutler, W.G. ''History of the State of Kansas'', "Biographical Sketches." Four of McNulty's brothers were also early settlers of Rooks County. Originally named Stocktown, as the McNulty brothers and many of the County's other early settlers were cattle dealers, the municipality is today known as Stockton, Kansas and is the
Joseph McNulty was elected to the
Blackmar, F. W. ''Kansas, A Cyclopedia of State History'' (Vol. 2 of 2) © 1912 Chicago: Standard Publishing Company, p. 605 and he was seated as a member of its thirteenth annual or 1873 session. Joseph McNulty's younger brother Francis McNulty (Kansas politician), Francis McNulty, also a lawyer, served as Rook County's representative in the Kansas House of Representatives in 1875. In 1874, Kansas Governor Thomas A. Osborn had appointed Joseph McNulty Sheriff of Rooks County to fill a vacancy until an elected sheriff could take office in 1875, and in the fall, McNulty was elected to the full 2-year term as sheriff.
History in Rooks County, sections "Early Settlers" and "Organization and County Officers" Kansas was still quite lawless when McNulty served as sheriff. According to Blackmar's ''Kansas Cyclopedia'' on 7 June 1875, two men camped outside of Stockton and offered 35 ponies for sale. While one of the men rode into Stockton for supplies, Sheriff Joseph McNulty accompanied by an instigating Sheriff Alexander Ramsey of neighboring Ellis County, Kansas rode up heavily armed on the remaining man and announced that the ponies were stolen and ordered him to surrender. The suspected horse thief instead jumped behind his horse and drew his gun. Both Sheriff Ramsey and the suspected thief fired their pin guns simultaneously, killing each other. The other suspected horse thief was hunted and shot in the jaw but escaped. The ponies were recovered. Just some year earlier Sheriff Ramsey had wounded and captured Henry Born (1849-1921), "Dutch Henry", the most notorious "horse thief on the prairie frontier" after "an exciting chase". Sheriff Alexander Ramsey (1847-1875), who like Wild Bill Hickok shortly before him, had been first a city marshal of notorious
''59th Congress 2nd Session House Documents'' Vol. 112 (1910) Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, p. 1024, "McNulty, Joseph … to increase invalid pension of McNulty, Jan. 14, 1907." (Google digitized)
American pioneer
American pioneers were European American and African American settlers who migrated westward from the Thirteen Colonies and later United States to settle in and develop areas of North America that had previously been inhabited or used by Nati ...
and Old West "lawman", who served in the Kansas Legislature
The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state senators. ...
in 1873. He was the first member of the Kansas Legislature seated from Rooks County, Kansas.
Early life and settlement of Rooks County, reading the law
McNulty was born in Canada on March 3, 1841. From the age of fourteen, he farmed and worked as a blacksmith. He was the first person to settle in Rooks County, homesteading the first piece of land there (Section 13, T. 7, R. 18) under the Homestead Act in June, 1871, and he was an incorporator of that county's first town site of Stocktown township. McNulty subsequently read the law and commenced practice in town as a lawyer.Cutler, W.G. ''History of the State of Kansas'', "Biographical Sketches." Four of McNulty's brothers were also early settlers of Rooks County. Originally named Stocktown, as the McNulty brothers and many of the County's other early settlers were cattle dealers, the municipality is today known as Stockton, Kansas and is the
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of Rooks County.
Career as legislator and lawman
Joseph McNulty was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives
The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craftin ...
on December 31, 1872,Blackmar, F. W. ''Kansas, A Cyclopedia of State History'' (Vol. 2 of 2) © 1912 Chicago: Standard Publishing Company, p. 605 and he was seated as a member of its thirteenth annual or 1873 session. Joseph McNulty's younger brother Francis McNulty (Kansas politician), Francis McNulty, also a lawyer, served as Rook County's representative in the Kansas House of Representatives in 1875. In 1874, Kansas Governor Thomas A. Osborn had appointed Joseph McNulty Sheriff of Rooks County to fill a vacancy until an elected sheriff could take office in 1875, and in the fall, McNulty was elected to the full 2-year term as sheriff.
History in Rooks County, sections "Early Settlers" and "Organization and County Officers" Kansas was still quite lawless when McNulty served as sheriff. According to Blackmar's ''Kansas Cyclopedia'' on 7 June 1875, two men camped outside of Stockton and offered 35 ponies for sale. While one of the men rode into Stockton for supplies, Sheriff Joseph McNulty accompanied by an instigating Sheriff Alexander Ramsey of neighboring Ellis County, Kansas rode up heavily armed on the remaining man and announced that the ponies were stolen and ordered him to surrender. The suspected horse thief instead jumped behind his horse and drew his gun. Both Sheriff Ramsey and the suspected thief fired their pin guns simultaneously, killing each other. The other suspected horse thief was hunted and shot in the jaw but escaped. The ponies were recovered. Just some year earlier Sheriff Ramsey had wounded and captured Henry Born (1849-1921), "Dutch Henry", the most notorious "horse thief on the prairie frontier" after "an exciting chase". Sheriff Alexander Ramsey (1847-1875), who like Wild Bill Hickok shortly before him, had been first a city marshal of notorious
Hays City, Kansas
Hays is a city in and the county seat of Ellis County, Kansas, United States. The largest city in northwestern Kansas, it is the economic and cultural center of the region. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 21,116. It is ...
, in Ellis County and later sheriff of the county, had prior killed a total nine men while discharging his duties. He had "broke up" several bands of horse thieves about Hays City, gaining a local reputation.
Joseph McNulty was later permanently disabled (source says "crippled") when his horse fell over on him. McNulty, who had served with the Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
to the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant during the U.S. Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, survived at least partially in his final years on an army "invalid" pension, which he received under the 1890 federal Disability Pension Act. His specific pension was increased by an Act of the U.S. Congress, effective January 14, 1907.''59th Congress 2nd Session House Documents'' Vol. 112 (1910) Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, p. 1024, "McNulty, Joseph … to increase invalid pension of McNulty, Jan. 14, 1907." (Google digitized)
See also
List of Old West lawmenReferences