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Fred M. Vinson, son of James Vinson and Virginia Ferguson, and grandson of
Lazarus (Lace) Vinson and Jane Ratcliffe, married Roberta Dixon.
Fred was a lawyer and a Congressman, Secretary of the Treasury, Jurist, and
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Judge Vinson graduated from Kentucky
Normal College, Louisville, Ky., received his A B degree from Centre College,
Danville, Ky., and his LLB degree in 1911. He started his legal practice in
Louisa in 1911, became City Attorney 1913-1914, entered the US Army as a
private in August 1918. In 1921 he was elected Commonwealth Attorney, serving
in that office until elected as a Democrat to the US House of Representatives.
His only defeat was in the Republican landslide in 1928. On June 24, 1946,
President Harry S. Truman appointed him Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court.
As Judge Vinson's father was jailor of Lawrence County and the family lived in
quarters at the jail, he often jokingly stated he was the first Chief Justice
born in jail. Clayton R. Cox, author of "Appalachia Crossroads" writes, "one
of my most embarrassing moments was when I met Judge Vinson. My father and I
were visiting Armco Park near Summitt, Kentucky, one Sunday afternoon. Mr.
Vinson, then US Representative, was attending one of the family reunions. I
was playing in the playground area, when my father called to me...'son, come
here I want you to meet a crooked politician.' As Mr. Vinson knew my father
well, he laughed and said, 'Sam, you should be ashamed of yourself for putting
such ideas in your son's head.' Mr. Vinson really stood out from the crowd for
he was immaculately dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and tie, and I
remember his black shoes had one of the best shines I had ever seen. The next
time I saw Judge Vinson in person was as a summer commencement speaker at a UK
graduation, circa 1946, when he spoke from the North Porch of the Margaret I
King Library. The audience was seated on the lawn where the new archive wing
is located. In 1959 the former Roberrt Dixon large, stone residence at the
corner of Madison and Jefferson streets in Louisa was razed for an Ashland Oil
gas station." Vinson served as a Congressman serving as Chairman of the House Ways and Means
Committee, as Justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia, as Economics Stabilizer, and as Chief Justice of the United States.
In the early days of the Truman administration he was Secretary of the
Treasury. |