James Russell Vineyard

James Russell Vineyard (January 16, 1801 – August 30, 1863) was a United States Democratic politician and pioneer.

Born in Frankfort, Kentucky, Vineyard settled in Platteville, Wisconsin, in Wisconsin Territory, in the 1840s. During this time, he was elected to the Seventh Michigan Territorial Council for the western area of Michigan Territory; he was then elected to the Wisconsin Territorial Council (the equivalent of the present Wisconsin State Senate). On February 11, 1842, in the course of a heated debate over the appointment of a sheriff for Grant County, Vineyard clashed with Charles C. P. Arndt. After the body was adjourned, Arndt's temper remained heated, he charged Vineyard's desk, and Vineyard shot Arndt dead upon the Council floor. Vineyard had boarded with the Arndt family in Green Bay during the winter of 1835–36, and is reported to have been regarded as almost one of the family; the two men were considered fast friends (even staying at the same boarding house in Madison).

He was tried and acquitted of the murder and later served in the first Wisconsin Constitutional Convention of 1846 and was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1848 for one term.

In 1850, he moved to California to join the Gold Rush. He settled in Sacramento, California, where he was an Indian agent. There he was elected to the California State Assembly in 1855.In 1861, he moved to Los Angeles, California, and was elected to the California State Senate in 1863.

He died in Los Angeles on August 30, 1863.