[1][3] During the Seminole War, Hull had become acquainted with Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, who had previously served as second-in-command to Zachary Taylor at Fort Crawford in the Wisconsin Territory.
[2] After his resignation from the United States Army, he relocated to Potosi, in Grant County, Wisconsin, where he participated in the lead mining industry and practiced law.
[2] He eventually sided with the Democratic Party in 1850, and was elected that year as District Attorney for Grant County, an office which he held from 1851 to 1852.
[1][2] As speaker, Hull enthusiastically supported the case of Governor William A. Barstow in the controversy over the 1855 election, and was determined to lead the Assembly in defiance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
At that time, Milwaukee businessman Byron Kilbourn engaged in mass bribery of the Governor and important members of the legislature to obtain tracts of the railroad grant.
At first, Hull threatened to expose the bribery scheme, marching into the capitol with a list of the officials that he claimed had been bribed, but later dropped his objections and voted with Kilbourn's sympathizers.
Hull was a descendant of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the 2nd colonial governor of French Louisiana.
After his term as speaker, Hull relocated to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he continued his law practice.