[2][3] His ancestors had fled religious persecution in France and traveled to Germany, and his grandfather Jacob Paul emigrated across the Atlantic Ocean in 1775, when he was just seventeen, then enlisted in the Revolutionary Army and served as a drummer boy at the Battle of Bunker Hill and later as a soldier with the rank of private.

However, before the spring term finished, Virginia had seceded from the Union, and John Paul volunteered to fight for his native state, as described below.

Although all agree he served until the final days of the war, accounts differ as to his term with the Salem Artillery and the subsequent cavalry unit.

[2] In 1877, voters from Rockingham and nearby counties elected Paul to the Senate of Virginia (a part-time position which allowed him to continue his legal practice) and re-elected him in 1879, at which time he aligned with the Readjuster Party.

Charles T. O'Ferrall, who practiced law in Rockingham County before his political career, called Paul "one of the ablest prosecuting attorneys I have ever known".

Although Paul outpolled fellow Readjusters Riddleberger, Henry C. Allen of Shenandoah County and Moffett months before the election, Rev.

[4][10] However, this led to formal organization of the Readjuster party, and two years later Paul defeated Judge Henry C. Allen (who ran as a Democrat).

He presented credentials as a member-elect to the 48th United States Congress and served from March 4, 1883, until September 5, 1883, despite another ongoing legal contest.