Background
Chinn, Joseph William was born on November 16, 1798 in Epping Forrest, near Nuttsville, Lancaster County, Virginia, United States.
Chinn, Joseph William was born on November 16, 1798 in Epping Forrest, near Nuttsville, Lancaster County, Virginia, United States.
Born at "Epping Forest" near Nuttsville, Virginia, Chinn graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York in 1819, studied law in Needham, Virginia and was admitted to the bar in 1821, commencing practice in Lancaster County, Virginia.
Chinn was elected a Jacksonian to the United States House of Representatives in 1830, serving from 1831 to 1835. There, he was chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia from 1833 to 1835.
He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1826 to 1828 and a member of the Virginia Senate from 1829 to 1831.