Joseph M. Carey was born in Delaware but is best known for his contributions to the early history of Wyoming. He arrived as a young man, appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to be the first United States Attorney in the Wyoming Territory. It was 1869 and the population amounted to less than ten thousand people.
Carey had the duty to prosecute those charged with crimes against the government. He was only twenty-four years old. A short three years later, President Grant promoted him to Associate Justice of the Wyoming Territory Supreme Court. Carey went on to become the 14th Mayor of Cheyenne, where he supervised the completion of the city’s water and sewage systems.
But his career was just getting started. He later served as a Congressman representing the Wyoming Territory, Wyoming’s first U.S. Senator and the 8th Governor of the state. An active supporter of women’s suffrage, he corresponded with Susan B. Anthony.
See the Joseph M. Carey Family papers at UW’s American Heritage Center to learn more about his role in Wyoming’s early history.
For more information, visit the American Heritage Center site.