He obtained his education in Minchinhampton, England. In 1848 he came to America and settled in New York City, but in the spring of 1849 removed to Jersey City, N. J., and thence in 1857 to Hudson City, now a part of Jersey City. There he resided eight years. In 1865 he moved to New Durham in North Bergen, Hudson County, where he still lives. His busi ness was that of a manufacturer of walking canes and crutches, and until 1867, when he retired, he had, in Cortlandt Street, New York, one of the largest and most successful establishments of the kind in the United States. Since 1867 he has devoted himself almost exclusively to private affairs and to the official duties which have been pressed upon him by his townsmen, his only other business of importance being a coal yard at Homestead in North Bergen, which he conducted about three years.

He was a School Trustee of South New Durham for about fifteen years and served most of that period as District Clerk, and was instrumental in causing the erection of the first brick school house in the township. This was old No. 3 school, built in 1871, and since remodeled and enlarged. He was also Collector of Arrears for a time and Township Collector one year.

Mr. Pinnell's ability, executive capacity, and active interest in local affairs caused him in the spring of 1871 to be elected Chairman of the Township Committee of North Bergen, and from that time until the spring of 1897, when he resigned, he was the acknowledged leader in all public matters, being continuously a member and Chairman of that committee with the exception of the years 1872, 1873, 1882, and 1883. This service of twenty-three years as Chairman of the governing body of the township is the longest accredited to any one man in the State. It is noteworty for the great amount of clerical labor and unceasing attention to duty which Mr. Pinnell freely and effectively rendered. He was indefatigable in the preparation of statistical tables, in efforts to reduce taxation and expenses, and in every reform calculated to benefit the township and its inhabitants, and his reports and public papers, many of which are still in existence and valuable, are models. One of these documents-the rarest and most important from his hands-is as applicable to-day as it was in 1879, when it was addressed to the property holders and taxpayers of Hudson County. It was adopted at a joint meeting of the Boards of Council of the Towns of Union and Guttenberg and the Township Committees of North Bergen, West Hoboken, Weehawken, and Union, on March 25, 1879. This paper and others issued in 1889, 1891, and 1894 stamp Mr. Pinnell as one of the ablest local reformers of his time. He brought to the conduct of township affairs a broad, progressive public spirit, an accurate knowledge of public business, great sagacity and foresight, and rare comprehension of economical problems. While he encouraged important public improvements and supported every project designed to advance the general welfare, he was unceasing in his efforts to keep taxes and public expenditures within the limits of practical economy, leaving the people unburdened by the extravagance which often marks township governments.

Mr. Pinnell has also had charge of several important estates and business properties. He was the assignee in 1890 of John Gardner, a wealthy lumber dealer of Jersey City Heights and Hoboken, and in similar capacities has exhibited marked ability and unquestioned integrity. He was especially active and useful in the matter of the State of New Jersey v. The Weehawken Cemetery, in 1885, carrying it through to success.