Kinney, John F. (John Fitch), 1816-1902

Lawyer, poitician, and judge who served as chief justice of Utah.

John Kinney was born in New York and moved to Lee County, Iowa in 1844. He served as a Lee County prosecutor (1846-1848) until he was appointed to the Iowa Supreme Court in 1848. In 1856 he left Iowa to become the chief justice of the Supreme Court for the Utah Territory. Later in life he represented the Utah Territory in the U.S. Congress, practiced law in Nebraska City, Nebraska and served as a special Indian Commissioner under presidents Johnson and Arthur. Kinney's service on the Iowa Supreme Court is noted in the minutes of the 4th reunion of the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association of Iowa where he is listed as a survivor of "territorial legislatures 1-8, 1838-45."

John Fitch Kinney was born in New York in 1916. He studied law there until he moved to the western United States. He practiced in Ohio and Iowa and served as a supreme court judge. He served as Utah's supreme court chief justice and was elected congressman in 1863. He was also a U.S. commissioner of Indian affairs.