Career
Born in Rockdale Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, Pinney moved with his family to Dane County, Wisconsin. Pinney began reading law in 1851 or 1852 in the offices of Vilas & Remington. In 1875, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly and had been elected Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, in 1874.
In 1891, he was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Because of ill health, Pinney resigned from the court and died the next year. The Pinney Branch of the Madison Public Library was named in his honor.
Madison"s first public library opened in 1875 when Pinney was mayor.
