Joseph Maull (September 6, 1781 – May 3, 1846) was an American physician and politician from Lewes, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a veteran of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, and a member of the Federalist Party, then later the Whig Party, who served in the

Delaware General Assembly The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 representatives. It meets at Legisl ...

and as

Governor of Delaware A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Early life and family

Maull was born at Pilottown, near

Lewes, Delaware Lewes ( ) is an incorporated city on the Delaware Bay in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population is 2,747. Along with neighboring Rehoboth Beach, Lewes is one of the principal cities of Delawar ...

, son of John and Mary Marsh Maull. His father was a shipwright who ran arms from the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. He died, so the story goes, when a ship's mast fell on him. During the

, Joseph Maull had an uncle, Nathaniel, who piloted ships for the American Committee of Safety, and another, James, who scouted the

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is bordered inland ...

for the British. Maull, himself, served in the 3rd Brigade of Delaware Militia, defending Lewes during the

. Maull studied medicine under Dr. John Wolfe of Lewes and spent the rest of his life as a practicing physician from his home in

Milton, Delaware Milton is a town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States, on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is located on the Broadkill River, which empties into Delaware Bay. The population was 2,576 at the 2010 census, an increase of 55.5% over the previous dec ...

. He married Penelope Shields in 1802 and they had two children, Susan and George. After her death, he married Sarah Davis Watson in 1820, and they had no children. They were members of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Lewes.

Political career

Maull served in the state senate for 21 years, from the 1816 session through the 1824 session, again from the 1827 session through the 1830 session and finally from the 1839/40 session through the 1845/46 session. As he was Speaker during the last session, he became

upon the death of Governor Thomas Stockton on March 2, 1846, serving until his own death on May 3, 1846. He was the seventh

to die in office. Maull began his career as a Federalist, and joined the Whig Party with the party realignment of the 1830s. When he was governor he was opposed to the foreign policy of

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...

, including the

annexation of Texas The Texas annexation was the 1845 annexation of the Republic of Texas into the United States. Texas was admitted to the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845. The Republic of Texas declared independence from the Republic of Mexico ...

Death and legacy

Maull died at Lewes and is buried there at the St. Peter's Episcopal Churchyard. The Maull House was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1970, with a boundary increase in 1978.

Almanac

Elections were held the first Tuesday in October and members of the

took office on the first Tuesday of January. State senators had a three-year term. Since 1831, elections have been held on the first Tuesday after November 1 and state senators have had a four-year term. The governor takes office the third Tuesday in January, and has a four-year term.

References

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Images

Hall of Governors Portrait Gallery
''Portrait courtesy of Historical and Cultural Affairs, Dover''

External links

Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States
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Places with more information

Delaware Historical Society The Delaware Historical Society began in 1864 as an effort to preserve documents from the Civil War. Since then, it has expanded into a statewide historical institution with several buildings, including Old Town Hall and the Delaware History Muse ...

website
505 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801; (302) 655-7161 *

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

Library website
181 South College Avenue, Newark, Delaware 19717; (302) 831-2965 {{DEFAULTSORT:Maull, Joseph 1781 births 1846 deaths People from Lewes, Delaware Physicians from Delaware Delaware Federalists Delaware Whigs Delaware state senators Governors of Delaware Burials in Sussex County, Delaware Whig Party state governors of the United States 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American Episcopalians