1811-1882
Joseph Mullin served in 1864. Born near Dromore, County Down, Ireland, Aug. 6, 1811. Entered Union Academy at Bellville, Elderburgh, Jefferson County, in 1828. Union College graduate, 1833. Principal of Union Academy. Admitted to practice, 1837, after serving as principal in two academies. Examiner in chancery, circa 1841-1843. District attorney, Jefferson County, 1843-1849. Representative (Whig) to Congress, 19th Judicial District, 1847-1849. President of village of Watertown, 1853, 1854. Elected to state supreme court, fifth judicial district, 1857, reelected twice. Appointed first presiding justice, General Term, Fourth Department, on its 1870 reorganization, and again in 1873. Honorary degrees from Union and Hamilton Colleges. Died May 17, 1882; internment at Brookside Cemetery, Watertown, N.Y. See 66 Alb LJ 345 (1904-1905); Obituary, The New York Times, May 18, 1882; http://bioguide.congress.gov. Portrait is at Appellate Division, Fourth Department.
This biography appears in The Judges of the New York Court of Appeals: A Biographical History, ed. Hon. Albert M. Rosenblatt (New York: Fordham University Press, 2007). It has not been updated since publication.