Joseph McCormick

Joseph McCormick (April 18, 1787 – August 26, 1875) was an American farmer, pioneer, and Democratic politician. He was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives and the Wisconsin State Assembly. During his term in the Wisconsin Assembly, he was the oldest serving legislator in the country. Earlier in his life, he served as a United States Army officer in the War of 1812.

Biography Joseph McCormick was born in April 1787 in Wyoming, Pennsylvania. When he was two years old, he moved with his parents to Steuben County, New York, where he was raised and educated. He apprenticed as a river boat pilot, and began running lumber on the Cohocton, Chemung, and Susquehanna rivers all the way to Chesapeake Bay.

At the outbreak of the War of 1812, he volunteered for service in the United States Army and was enrolled as a captain of infantry. He participated in many of the battles of the Niagara Frontier, including the Siege of Fort Erie. He was subsequently promoted to major and resigned his position in 1816, after the end of the war.