James Paull

James Paull (July 16, 1818 – May 11, 1875) was a lawyer, politician and judge in Wheeling in what became West Virginia during his lifetime. Before the American Civil War, Paull represented Ohio County in the Virginia General Assembly as a Whig, then attended the First Wheeling Convention, which led to the area's secession from Virginia and creation of the state of West Virginia. During his final years, Paull served as a judge of the West Virginia Court of Appeals, having won election as a Democrat, from January 1, 1873, until his death on May 11, 1875.

Early and family life He was born in Belmont, Ohio, to Col. George Paull (1784-1830) (a veteran of the War of 1812) and his wife Elizabeth (1790-1827), whose ancestors were among the early settlers of Western Pennsylvania. The family moved across the Ohio River to the growing town of Wheeling when this James was a boy. He had an older brother, Rev. Alfred Paull (1815-1872) (who until 1863 served as pastor of Wheeling's 4th Presbyterian Church) and a younger brother Archibald Woods Paul (1822-1844). His paternal grandfather, Col. James Paull (1760-1841), had fought in the American Revolutionary War, including under William Crawford in his disastrous Crawford expedition and defeat on June 5, 1782, on the Sandusky River plains.

Paull was "thoroughly educated in boyhood", He married twice. His first wife, Jane A. Fry (1824-1860), was the daughter of Virginia Judge Joseph L. Fry, and great-granddaughter of Col. Joshua Fry, an English civil engineer, professor at the College of William and Mary and commissioner of the British Crown, whose death during an expedition in 1754 led to the first military command of George Washington. They had three sons: Archibald W. Paull, Joseph F. Paull, and Alfred Paull. Jane died March 9, 1860. On March 19, 1861, Paull married Eliza J. Ott and they had three sons and two daughters: James Paull, Elizabeth, Harry W. Paull, Samuel O. Paull, and Margaret Susan.

During the American Civil War, the state of West Virginia was accepted into the Union after its secession from Virginia pursuant to several conventions in Wheeling, as well as a popular vote in the affected counties (to accept a new Constitution which forbad slavery, among other differences from the Virginia Constitution). James Paull was one of many prominent Unionist Virginians who gathered on May 13, 1861, in the first Wheeling Convention which prepared for the region's secession from Virginia. However, the new state's creation was not fully resolved until litigation in the United States Supreme Court after the war ended.

After adoption of the West Virginia Constitution of 1872, Paull became one of four men elected as judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (all ran as a Democrats and joined Charles P.T. Moore; none of the Republican judges under the state Constitution of 1863 won re-election). Elected to an eight-year term, Paull "devoted himself wholly to the law", but "the labors of the Supreme Court judgeship proved injurious to his health", and he died in office after serving for just over two years. He experienced bronchitis and other health issues for several years before his death, and died at his residence in Wellsburg at the age of 57. He was survived by his second wife and children (his sons becoming prominent businessmen in the Wheeling region), and was buried at the Stone Church Cemetery in Elm Grove in Ohio County. His grandson James Paull Jr. continued the family's political involvement and served in the West Virginia Senate, including as its Speaker from 1943 to 1945. Thomas C. Green of Jefferson County; succeeded Judge Paull on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in December 1875.