Born in
Waldo, Ohio, Hull was a member of the
United Brethren Church in his teens. He joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1857, and became a prominent minister and debater for that denomination. In September 1863, Hull preached his last sermon as an Adventist
minister. Around this time, he turned most of energies towards the promotion of Spiritualism, specifically
Christian Spiritualism, which saw spirit communication as the culmination of Christianity. He gained prominence in the movement for a series of debates with ministers, the outcome of which was evident in that the spiritualists rather than the ministers had the transcripts published. Hull became identified largely with
Victoria Woodhull and the women's rights wing of the movement, which launched the
Equal Rights Party campaign in 1872. Later, he became a national leader of the
Greenback-Labor Party and various attempts to secure more rights for the farmers, the workers and women. Soon after, he divorced his wife, Elvira, and married fellow spiritualist Mattie Brown Sawyer. He ran for Congress in 1906 on the ticket of the
Socialist Party, and died in January 1907. ==References==