 His father, also Joseph Chinn, had married Elizabeth Griffin, one of Col. Ball's daughters, and represented Lancaster County in the Virginia House of Delegates alongside Henry Towles from 1792 until 1794, when he was elected to the Virginia Senate to represent the Northern Neck counties of Lancaster, Richmond and Northumberland.His paternal grandfather, yet another Joseph Chinn, had served in Virginia's House of Burgesses, representing Lancaster County from 1748 until 1750 (like Col. Ball's grandfather of the same name), when he won election as Lancaster County's coroner and later served as its sheriff.This Joseph Chinn received a private education locally, then traveled to Schenectady, New York to continue his education, graduating from Union College in 1819.