Background
He was the son of William McGinnies and Elizabeth Lighthouse McGinnies.
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Joseph Albert
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Career
William McGinnies emigrated to the United States and settled in Ripley, New New York At the age of sixteen, Joseph McGinnies began working at the drugstore of Doctor Simons in the village of Ripley, learning the pharmacist"s profession, and after five years as a clerk in the store he became its proprietor. He developed the establishment into a prospering general store.
Then he began to purchase fruit farms, principally those adaptable to grape-growing.
He first had his own small farm to look after, and from time to time he was appointed administrator of estates in the grape belt, becoming one of the most expert grape-growers in the region. They had one daughter, Clara Elizabeth, who studied at Syracuse University, from which she was graduated Bachelor of Arts.
In 1919, Clara Elizabeth McGinnies married Park J. Johnson, the postmaster of Ripley. About 1897, he began organizing the Chautauqua and Erie Grape Growers" Association, based in Westfield, New York, of which he was for many a director, secretary-treasurer and manager.
Afterwards, he was chosen a director of the First National Bank of Ripley and of the Dunkirk Trust Company of Dunkirk, New York
From 1906 on, he was Clerk of the Board.
He was an alternate delegate to the 1924 Republican National Convention. And a delegate in 1928 and 1932.
Politics
He entered politics as a Democrat and accepted the nomination to run for the New York State Assembly, but was narrowly defeated. In 1905, he changed parties, and became a Republican, but continued to be re-elected to the County Board of Supervisors annually for more than 20 years.
Membership
In 1896, he was elected a member of the Chautauqua County Board of Supervisors and was re-elected continuously. He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Chautauqua Company, 2nd Doctorate) in 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934 and 1935. And was Speaker from 1925 to 1934.
