Joseph W. Chinn

Joseph W. Chinn (February 13, 1866 – August 16, 1936) was born at the Brockenbrough house in Tappahannock, Virginia to Joseph William Chinn and Gabriella Brockenbrough Chinn. Judge Chinn was raised at his family home, Wilna, in Richmond County, Virginia south of Warsaw, Virginia. He attended Colonel Council’s School in King and Queen County, Virginia and, after teaching for several years, decided to study law. He entered the University of Virginia Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1890. He began the practice of law in Warsaw. In 1891, he was elected Commonwealth’s Attorney for Richmond County and served in that capacity for twenty-four years, He resigned in 1915 to accept the position of judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit of Virginia. The Special Court of Appeals was formed in 1924 and, in 1925, Judge Chinn became a member of that court. He remained as a member of that court until it was dissolved three years later. On December 3, 1931, he was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia and stayed on the bench until his death.
Judge Chinn married Sarah Fairfax Douglas at St. Johns Episcopal Church in Warsaw on December 14, 1899. They had five children, Betty Landon (April 22, 1903), Joseph William (June 4, 1904), Sarah Fairfax (September 30, 1905), Austin Brockenbrough (May 8, 1908) and Mary Douglas (October 1, 1910).
He was a lifelong Democrat. He was a faithful member of St. Johns Episcopal Church in Warsaw, where he served as a vestryman for many years. He was a member of the board of directors of the first bank in Warsaw, the Mumford Bank. He was the first president and a director of the Northern Neck State Bank in Warsaw. He was also director of the Northern Neck Telephone and Telegraph of Warsaw. He was school superintendent for Richmond County. He also served on the board of directors at University of Virginia.
Judge Chinn died in Battle Creek, Michigan, where he had gone for treatment for his emphysema, on August 16, 1936. He is buried at St. Johns Episcopal Church, Warsaw, Virginia.