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Term: Vinje, Aad John 1857 - 1929

Definition:

lawyer, judge, b. Voss, Norway. He migrated with his family to the U.S. in 1869, settling in Marshall County, Iowa. He attended Iowa College, Grinnell, Iowa, and Northwestern Univ. at Des Moines, Iowa, taught school, and graduated from the Univ. of Wisconsin (B.A., 1884; LL.B., 1887). From 1884 to 1888 he was assistant in the State Law Library in Madison, and from 1888 to 1891 was assistant state supreme court reporter. In 1891 he moved to Superior, where he practiced law until 1895, and in 1895 was appointed circuit judge of the 11th Wisconsin circuit to succeed Judge Roujet D. Marshall (q.v.), who had been appointed to the state supreme court bench. Vinje was subsequently elected to the circuit bench and served in this capacity until Sept., 1910, when he was appointed justice of the state supreme court to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Justice Joshua E. Dodge (q.v.). In Apr., 1911, Vinje was elected for a full 10-year term on the state high court bench, and was again elected in 1921, serving in all from Sept., 1910, until his death. After Feb., 1922, Vinje was chief justice ex officio by reason of seniority. Known for his judicial temperament, and his concise, logical, and convincing opinions, Vinje was a notable contributor to the jurisprudence of the state, Wis. Reports, 200 (1930), pp. xxxvi-xlii; E. B. Usher, Wis. (8 vols., Chicago, 1914); Wis. Blue Book (1911), (1927).

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Aad J. Vinje Letters for details.