Joseph Chinn
Joseph W. Chinn | |
---|---|
Member of the Charles Leland | |
Member of the Virginia Senate from Lancaster, King George, Westmoreland, Northumberland, Richmond, Stafford and Prince William Counties | |
In office December 7, 1829 – 1832 | |
Preceded by | St. Leger L. Carter |
Succeeded by | William Basye |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 13th district | |
In office March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1833 | |
Preceded by | John Taliaferro |
Succeeded by | John M. Patton |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 10th district | |
In office March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835 | |
Preceded by | William F. Gordon |
Succeeded by | John Taliaferro |
Personal details | |
Born | Nuttsville, Virginia, US | November 16, 1798
Died | December 5, 1840 Wilna plantation, near Warsaw, Virginia, US | (aged 42)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Marianne Smith |
Relatives | Joseph W. Chinn (grandson) |
Profession | lawyer, politician |
Joseph William Chinn (November 16, 1798 – December 5, 1840) was a Virginia lawyer, plantation owner and politician who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly and in the United States House of Representatives.[1]
Early and family life
Born at "Epping Forest" near Nuttsville, Virginia, the home of his maternal grandfather Col. Joseph Ball (also a maternal grandfather to George Washington). His father, also Joseph Chinn, had married Elizabeth Griffin, one of Col. Ball's daughters, and represented Lancaster County in the Virginia House of Delegates alongside Henry Towles from 1792 until 1794, when he was elected to the Virginia Senate to represent the Northern Neck counties of Lancaster, Richmond and Northumberland.[2] His paternal grandfather, yet another Joseph Chinn, had served in Virginia's House of Burgesses, representing Lancaster County from 1748 until 1750 (like Col. Ball's grandfather of the same name), when he won election as Lancaster County's coroner and later served as its sheriff.[3]
This Joseph Chinn received a private education locally, then traveled to
He married Mary Ann Smith, daughter of Charles Smith of Morattico Hall, who bore a son, also Joseph William Chinn (1836-1908) who inherited the plantation and fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War, then became a lawyer and fathered Virginia Supreme Court justice Joseph W. Chinn (1866-1936).
Career
Admitted to the Virginia bar in 1821, this Joseph W. Chinn began his legal practice on Virginia's Northern Neck. He also owned land and eventually farmed using enslaved labor. In 1820, his plantation near Stafford, Virginia, included 10 persons and no slaves.[4] In 1830, his family in Lancaster County, Virginia included four white persons and 13 slaves.[5]
Chinn continued his families' political tradition. Lancaster County voters first elected him to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1826 and re-elected him once. Lancaster County voters also joined others from northern Virginia to elect Chinn to the Virginia Senate, where he served from 1829 until 1831, when he resigned because he had been elected to the United States House of Representatives.[6]
A
Death and legacy
Chinn died at his estate called "Wilna" near
Although several generations of this Chinn family achieved political office, descendants continued prominent on the Northern Neck, and this Joseph Chinn for a time represented Prince William County (and adjoining areas), the historical marker in Prince William County near Minnieville and Old Bridge Roads, as well as the 98-acre Chinn Regional Park, Chinn Regional Library and Chinn Aquatic Center remember the legacy of an early and distinguished African-American family descended from the 19th century emancipated slaves Thomas Chinn and his wife Nancy (who bought 500 acres between Telegraph and Davis Ford Roads at the end of the American Civil War), and their daughter Mary Jane Chinn (1827-1907), who became the family's matriarch.[11][12][13]
References
- ^ Virginia Biographical encyclopedia
- ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia's General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond, Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 188, 192, 197, 201, 205 and 209.
- ^ Leonard, pp. 81, 84 and note.
- ^ 1820 U.S. Federal Census for Stafford Virginia p. 6 of 24
- ^ 1830 U.S. Federal Census for Lancaster County, Virginia pp. 15-16 of 34
- ^ Leonard, pp. 334, 339, 352, 358, 362.
- ^ 1850 U.S> Federal Census for Tappahannock, Essex county, Virginia p. 3 of 5
- ^ 1860 U.S. Federal Census for Richmond County Virginia family 402
- ^ Robert E.L. Krick, 40th Virginia Infantry (1st ed) (H.E. Howard, Inc. Lynchburg, 1985) p. 76
- ^ Confederate Applications for Presidential Pardons on ancestry.com
- ^ Masters, Brooke A. (1989-12-14). "Memorial To A Matriarch". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ^ http://www.pwcgov.org/government/dept/library/Pages/Chinn-Park-Regional-Library.aspx
- ^ "The Chinn Family". waymarking.com. Retrieved Oct 6, 2021.
External links
- United States Congress. "Joseph Chinn (id: C000362)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.