Person:William Pinckney (2)

William H. Pinckney, was born in Michigan in 1843 and is of English stock. The immigrant ancestor left his home in Yorkshire in 1649 and aided in the early colonization of American. His father, Joshua B. Pinckney, was one of the distinguished officers of the Black Hawk war and in 1832 was colonel of the Second Regiment of militia. He married Hannah Mills, a native of New Hampshire and of Scotch lineage. She was also of pioneer stock, and both the Pinckney and Mills families were represented in the Continental army by gallant soldiers who aided in winning American independence. Joshua B. and Hannah Pinckney went to Michigan at an early period in the history of that state and in 1856 started for Iowa with their family of six children. They drove across the country with two teams of oxen and settled on the Big Sioux river in 1857. They migrated to the Pacific coast in 1873 and settled in western Washington when this was a frontier district. Their sons, Charles and John M., remained in Iowa and both engaged in Indian warfare.

At Elk Point, South Dakota, in 1873, William H. Pinckney married Miss Anna Jackson, whose grandfather was a cousin of General Andrew Jackson, and in the same year they journeyed westward to Seattle, Washington, by way of the Union Pacific Railroad. Mr. Pinckney bought a forty acre tract adjacent to the town site of Semiahmoo, now Blaine, and lived on the place until the winter, when he revisited Iowa. In 1877 he returned to Washington, spending a year in Whatcom county, and in 1878 located in Seattle. He was one of the early real estate dealers of that city, opening an office in the old Union block, where he remained until the building was destroyed by the memorable fire of 1889. He continued his operations in Seattle for several years and then sold the business to the well known real estate firm of West & Wheeler. He was a member of the police force of Seattle for four years, acting a night captain for a time, and he also built four residences in the city. He was a leader in many large development projects and handled what was known as the Pleasant Valley addition, in which he built a road at a personal cost of four hundred and seventy-five dollars. He did much to improve and beautify Seattle, which he left in 1893 to take up his abode on a ranch at Semiahmoo. For several years he operated the place, devoting his attention to general farming, and after selling the ranch came to Blaine, where he has since made his home. His real estate activities have been a source of great benefit to the town, and he also sold fire insurance, prospering in both lines of business. Having reached the venerable age of eighty-two years, he is enjoying a well earned period of leisure, and no resident of the community occupies a higher place in the esteem of its citizens.

Mr. Pinckney is an independent republican and has filled public offices of trust and responsibility. He was justice of the peace for some time and was later elected police judge of Blaine, holding that position for several years. While at Sioux City, Iowa, he enlisted in Company E of the Northern Border Brigade, in August, 1862, following the Indian massacres in that region, and afterward joined Company L of the Seventh Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, under Captain S. P. Hughes, serving in all for two and a half years in upper Missouri. He belongs to Reynolds Post, No. 32, G. A. R., which he joined at Blaine in 1913, having previously been a member of Stevens Post of Seattle, and is also identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

His son John J. Pinckney, was born August 9, 1875, at Elk Point, South Dakota, and attended the public schools of Seattle, where he afterward read law. He was admitted to the bar in 1903 and opened an office in Blaine, where he has since practiced. He is the possessor of a keen, analytical mind, and years of experience and intensive study have ripened his ability, bringing him a large and lucrative clientele. He never enters a court room without preparation as thorough as time and means render possible, and he wins a large percentage of his cases, convincing by his concise statement of the law rather than by word painting. He acts as city attorney and is counsel for the Home State Bank of Blaine. He is secretary and a trustee of the Blaine Investment Company and is also a successful orchardist, owning a valuable fruit farm of eight acres. he specializes in the production of fine cherries for which this region is noted, and his property is situated near the town.

On June 29, 1904, Mr. Pinckney was united in marriage to Miss Grace M. Scaman, a native of Blaine, and they have become the parents of a daughter, Dorothy, at home. Mr. Pinckney is an adherent of the republican party and his contribution to the general good covers service on the city council of Blaine. He is a Mason and is also identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He has progressed through the medium of his own efforts and what he has accomplished represents the fit utilization of his time, talents and opportunities. Mr. Pinckney typifies the enterprising spirit of the west and is a man whom to know is to esteem and admire.

(History of Whatcom County, Volume II, by Lottie Roeder Roth, 1926, pps. 491-492.)

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Blaine Journal-Press
   2 Feb 1928.
   JUDGE PINCKNEY, VETERAN, PASSES
   Resided In Blaine For 36 Years Veteran of Civil War and Spent Boyhood and Young Manhood on Frontier.
   Judge Wm. H. Pinckney passed away peacefully at the home of his son, John, Tuesday at noon. He had been very low from a stroke of paralysis for a week and his death was not unexpected. William H. Pinckney was born in Michigan January 28, 1843, and had passed his 85th birthday anniversary just three days. He spent his boyhood and early manhood in Iowa in the days when that country was a real frontier, enlisting in the Civil war from that state. He saw much frontier life and fighting with the Indians. He came west to Seattle in 1878 and served for several years on the police force of that city. In 1892 he came to Blaine and has resided here since. During his residence here he served many years as police judge from which service he became known widely as "Judge." Mrs. Pinckney preceded him about a year.
   In addition to the son, John J., he is survived by a brother, Albert, here and a sister, Mrs. Mary Griswold, of San Francisco, Cal. Funeral services will be held this afternoon at 2 o'clock at the chapel of Purdy & Sons' in charge of the International Bible Students, and the pallbearers will consist of brother Odd Fellows. Deceased was a rugged man in his prime and withstood many trials and weaknesses through sheer grit. In his passing Blaine loses another old settler and a man who saw the town grow from an insignificant hamlet, in which growth he was prominently identified for many years.
2. ↑ Washington State Death Record.
3. ↑ BLAINE COUPLE WED FIFTY YEARS
   Mr. and Mrs. William Pinckney celebrated their golden wedding anniversary yesterday at their home on Fourth street. Anna Jackson was born in New Brighton, Beaver county, Pa., in 1852. She is a descendant of Andrew Jackson and taught school in Pennsylvania, Iowa and Dakota. William H. Pinckney was born in Salem, Washtanaw county, Mich, in 1843. In 1856 he came with his parents and four other children 1,000 miles by ox team and wagon and settled on the Big Sioux river in Iowa. In 1862 they were driven off their homestead by Indians in the Minnesota massacre. He then, with his brother, John, enlisted in the Company Rangers of the border regiment and then he enlisted in Company L, Seventy-fifth volunteer cavalry of Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Pinckney were united in marriage in 1873 at Elks Point, Dakota territory. A son was born to this union, John J. Pinckney, now an attorney of this city. They came to Seattle in 1878, where Mr. Pinckney engaged in the real estate business with Arthur Wright and started what is now the West & Wheeler office. At the time of the big Seattle fire Mr. Pinckney was located by himself in the Union block. After the fire he had his office in a tent, then back into the same building, with a Fred West as partner, who is still in Seattle in the West & Wheeler office. They came to Semiahmoo and ranched on eighty acres for seven years, then moved to Blaine, where Mr. Pinckney again had a real estate office. He has been police judge for seventeen out of twenty-one years that he has lived here and still holds the office.
   From The Bellingham Herald, March 17, 1923 (Special to The Herald)