[1] Joseph McCormick was an alcoholic, and, when his father died in 1849, he left a large estate.

He left a life estate to Joseph, with the remainder to the two grandchildren then alive.

[1] McCormick was elected from Adams County to the second Ohio Constitutional Convention in 1850.

On May 5, 1851, he was appointed by Governor Reuben Wood as the second Ohio Attorney General, to replace Henry Stanbery, whose term had expired.

He served about seven months, until George E. Pugh, who was elected under the new constitution, assumed the office.