Joseph Maull Carey (January 19, 1845February 5, 1924) was an American lawyer, rancher, judge, and politician, who was active in

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

local, state, and federal politics. In the 1860s, Carey practiced law in the eastern United States and participated in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

politics. In 1869, he was appointed by President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

as the

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

in the

Wyoming Territory The Territory of Wyoming was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 25, 1868, until July 10, 1890, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne was the territorial capital. The ...

and later to the

Wyoming Supreme Court The Wyoming Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices. Each Justice is appointed by the Governor of Wyoming from a list of three nominees submitted by the ...

. After serving as the 14th Mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming, he was elected to serve as Wyoming's delegate to the United States House of Representatives, where he introduced legislation admitting Wyoming as a state. Upon Wyoming's statehood, he was selected to serve as the state's first senator alongside

Francis E. Warren Francis Emroy Warren (June 20, 1844November 24, 1929) was an American politician of the Republican Party best known for his years in the United States Senate representing Wyoming and being the first Governor of Wyoming. A soldier in the Union ...

. In 1910, he left the Republican Party and was elected as Governor of Wyoming with the Democratic nomination. He retired from politics after leaving the governorship in 1914. He is to date the last mayor of Cheyenne to be elected governor.

Early life

Joseph Maull Carey was born on January 19, 1845, in Milton, Delaware, to Robert Hood Carey and Susan Pitt Davis. He attended the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute until he was a sophomore in 1865. He studied law in the offices of B. F. Temple, W. L. Dennis, and Henry Flanders before graduating with a

bachelor of laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1867. On September 27, 1877, he married Louisa David and later had two children with her.

Career

Politics

During the

1866 Events January * January 1 ** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee. ** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine '' The Liberator'' is published. * January 6 – Ottoman troops clash ...

and

1869 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election Events January * January 3 – Abdur Rahman Khan is defeated at Tinah Khan, and exiled from Afghanistan. * January 5 – Scotland's second oldest professional Soccer, football team, Kilmarnock F.C., is founded. * January 20 – E ...

s, Carey supported and gave speeches in favor of Governor John W. Geary. He cast his first vote in 1866 and was later asked by the chairman of the Republican Party of New Jersey to give speeches in multiple New Jersey towns. On April 3, 1869, Carey was nominated by President

as the first

in the

and arrived on May 8. On December 14, 1871, he was nominated as an associate justice of the

by Grant, confirmed by the Senate on January 18, 1872, and served until 1876. During the second session of the United States Centennial Commission, Carey was selected to represent the Wyoming Territory and served on the Committee on Nomination of Secretaries of Departments. Carey abstained when the commission voted on whether or not to allow the Centennial Exposition to remain open on Sundays. In 1876, he was selected to serve as the Wyoming Territory's National Republican committeeman on the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

and remained in the position until 1897.

Mayor

In 1880, Carey was elected as mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming while he was out of state by running on a public works improvement platform. He was reelected in 1881, and again without opposition in 1882. During his tenure as mayor, the city's water and sewage systems were completed, an opera house was built, and the Stock Growers National Bank was organized and selected Carey to serve as its first president. The Wyoming Development Company was founded in 1883 with the intention of bringing water to thousands of arid acres of land in the Wheatland Flats. In 1885, Carey was selected to lead the organization and built a reservoir using water from the

Laramie River The Laramie River is a tributary of the North Platte River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 21, 2011 in the U.S. states of Colorado and Wyomi ...

. Water from the reservoir was transferred throughout the flats through canals and ditches and successfully irrigated 50,000 acres of land, allowing the area to become inhabitable.

U.S. House of Representatives

On July 30, 1874, the

Wyoming Republican Party The Wyoming Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Wyoming. It is currently the dominant party in the state, and is one of the strongest affiliates of the national Republican Party. The party currently controls Wyoming's a ...

unanimously nominated Carey at its state convention to serve as the territory's delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the at-large congressional district, but was narrowly defeated by incumbent Democratic Delegate

William Randolph Steele William Randolph Steele (July 24, 1842 – November 30, 1901) was a Delegate from the Territory of Wyoming. Born in New York City, Steele received an academic education. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar and practiced. During the Civ ...

. On October 22, 1884, Carey was given the Republican nomination for the at-large congressional district after

declined the nomination. In the general election, he defeated Democratic nominee William H. Holliday. During the 1886 election, the

Wyoming Democratic Party The Wyoming Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in Wyoming, headquartered in Cheyenne. The party was strong during Wyoming's territorial days, but suffered a decline in its early statehood. It rose to prominence again from ...

did not nominate a candidate for the at-large congressional district and Carey received almost ninety percent of the popular vote with the remainder being split among Democratic write-in candidates. On October 8, 1888, he received the Republican nomination again and was reelected against Democratic nominee Caleb P. Organ. On May 18, 1887, he gave a speech at the dedication ceremony of the

Wyoming State Capitol The Wyoming State Capitol is located in the city of Cheyenne. Cheyenne is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Wyoming, also hosting the workspace for the governor, and his staff; Mark Gordon. Built between 1886 and 1890, the capitol is ...

building. When Territorial Governor William Hale died, Carey asked President

Chester A. Arthur Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was the 21st president of the United States, serving from 1881 to 1885. He was a Republican from New York who previously served as the 20th vice president under President James A. ...

to nominate Warren, as he was a resident of Wyoming, rather than select a non-resident. Warren was nominated and the rest of Wyoming's territorial governors until statehood were residents of Wyoming. President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

offered to appoint Carey to an important position in Wyoming, but he declined as he wanted to work towards Wyoming statehood. In 1889, Carey proposed legislation that would admit Wyoming as a state, but Congress did not act upon on his proposal. Although Carey's proposal was unsuccessful, Governor Warren still ordered an election for delegates to a constitutional convention to write a state constitution. On March 26, 1890, Carey introduced legislation to admit Wyoming as a state, passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 139 to 127 in favor, and passed the Senate with 29 to 18 in favor. The legislation was signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison on July 10, 1890. Although Wyoming had a population of less than 60,000 at the time of its statehood, Carey stated that it did not matter as several other states had been admitted with populations lower than Wyoming's.

United States Senate

Following Wyoming's statehood, the first state legislature held a session at the order of Governor Warren. On November 12, 1890, the state legislature voted on the appointment of its two senators to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. Carey defeated George W. Baxter while Warren defeated M. C. Brown, John McCormick, H. R. Mann, and Henry A. Coffeen. In 1895, he ran for reelection, but the state legislature unanimously voted in favor of Francis E. Warren due to Carey's opposition to the free silver movement.

Interlude

In 1894, he was named as honorary chancellor of

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

and was given an honorary LL. D. During the

1896 United States presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 1896. Former Governor William McKinley, the Republican nominee, defeated former Representative William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic nominee. The 1896 campaign, which took ...

he stated that Governor

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

would narrowly defeat

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...

. In 1897, a constitutional convention was held in Delaware where a letter from Carey in support of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

was read on February 16. On September 6, he and his brother, Davis Carey, were thrown from a carriage. Joseph Carey received cuts on his head while Davis was uninjured.

Governor

Election

In May 1910, Carey announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for the Wyoming gubernatorial election. In June, he and former state Treasurer William C. Irvine, who served as Carey's campaign manager, campaigned across Wyoming. On September 10, he announced that he would run as an independent in the gubernatorial election in order to break the Republican

political machine In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership c ...

that controlled Wyoming. On September 21, he defeated William L. Kuykendall for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee William E. Mullen and

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

nominee W. W. Paterson and won every county.

Tenure

On January 21, 1911, nine senators, six governors, and thirteen representatives from the Republican Progressive League signed a declaration of principles supporting progressive legislation. Carey was one of the signatories. On January 29, 1912, he endorsed former President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

for the Republican presidential nomination against incumbent President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

. On July 15, he issued a call for a Progressive state convention to select delegates to attend the

national convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...

of Roosevelt's Progressive Party. Although Wyoming had a member of Roosevelt's Progressive Party as its governor, in the presidential election, Roosevelt placed third behind Taft, who placed second, and Governor

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

, who won the state. In the House of Representatives election, Charles E. Winter, the Progressive Party's nominee for Wyoming's at-large congressional district, placed third behind Democratic nominee Thomas P. Fahey and incumbent Republican Representative

Frank Wheeler Mondell Frank Wheeler Mondell (November 6, 1860August 6, 1939) was a United States representative of Wyoming. Early life Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he was educated in the public schools. For many years he was engaged in farming, stock-raising, and r ...

. On January 20, 1913, fighting broke out in the

Wyoming House of Representatives The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming State Legislature. There are 62 Representatives in the House, representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts across the Wyoming, st ...

during the selection of the Speaker of the House. Carey was asked to restore order to the state house, but declined to intervene. During his tenure as governor, he pardoned sixty-three people and commuted the sentences of ninety-six people.

Later life

On October 14, 1916, Carey endorsed incumbent President Woodrow Wilson for reelection during the 1916 presidential election against Republican nominee

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American politician, academic, and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

. In 1917, he came out in support of the

prohibition of alcohol Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

in the United States. In 1918, his son, Robert D. Carey, won the gubernatorial election with the Republican nomination, making Joseph Carey the only governor of Wyoming to be the father of another governor of Wyoming. In January 1922, Joseph and Robert Carey traveled through the eastern United States. In January 1924, he suffered a stroke and later died on February 5. Following his death, he was honored by the Casper

Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. In 1987, the organization ...

branch alongside former President Woodrow Wilson. On February 8, all business in Wyoming was suspended and members of the state government, including Governor William B. Ross, eulogized Carey. On February 13, the Wyoming Supreme Court had resolutions written by Hugo Donzelman, Thomas Hunter, and Anthony C. Campbell eulogizing Carey placed into the record. In 1959, he was inducted into the

National Cowboy Hall of Fame The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and Native American art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Amer ...

Electoral history

References

External links

*
Carey Family Papers
at the

American Heritage Center The American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming's repository of manuscripts, rare books, and the university archives. Its collections focus on Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West (including politics, settlement, Native Americans, and W ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carey, Joseph M. 1845 births 1924 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Wyoming People from Milton, Delaware American people of English descent Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from Wyoming Territory Republican Party United States senators from Wyoming Governors of Wyoming Democratic Party governors of Wyoming Republican Party governors of Wyoming Wyoming Democrats Wyoming Republicans Progressive Party (1912) state governors of the United States Wyoming Progressives (1912) Mayors of Cheyenne, Wyoming Justices of the Wyoming Supreme Court United States attorneys for the District of Wyoming Pennsylvania Republicans Politicians from Laramie, Wyoming Ranchers from Wyoming Union College (New York) alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives