Joseph McGinnis was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1850, son of John McGinnis, Jr., also a native of that county. His grandfather, John McGinnis, Sr., was born in London, England. He was a saddle-maker, at which trade he worked in London for seven years. John McGinnis, Jr., married Elizabeth Hoffman, a native of Greene County, Pennsylvania, a descendant of German ancestry. They reared ten children, seven sons and three daughters, Joseph being the seventh born. His parents passed their lives and died in their native county, the father at the age of sixty-two years, and the mother at seventy-six. The latter was a member of the Baptist Church, and the children were reared in that faith. Their father was a farmer all his life. In politics he was a Republican.

At the age of six years Joseph McGinnis went with his parents to Ritchie County, West Virginia, where he remained until he was nineteen. Then he came to Iowa, and first settled in the eastern part of the State. In 1872 he came to Pottawattamie County and bought his present farm in section 16, Wright Township. At that time it was wild land, and he was one of the earliest settlers in the neighborhood. He at once went to work to improve his place, the present flourishing condition of his farm being the result of years of labor and well-directed efforts. Mr. McGinnis erected a comfortable frame house on a natural building site, and surrounded it by a grove and orchard of two acres. He also has other buildings and farm improvements. A branch of Walnut Creek flows through his premises, furnishing an abundant supply of water for stock purposes. The most of the grain raised on the farm he feeds to his stock.

Mr. McGinnis was married March 31, 1878, to Miss Roxanna Bridges, of Madison County, Iowa. She was born in Des Moines, and was reared there and in Madison County. Her parents, Lawson and Malinda Bridges, both natives of Rush County, Indiana, now reside in Madison County, Iowa. Mr. Bridges was born in 1822, and Mrs. Bridges in 1829. They moved first to Burlington, Iowa; next to Pleasant Grove, then to Des Moines, and in 1869 to Madison County.

Mr. and Mrs. McGinnis have two children: Hattie, born February 11, 1879; and Joseph, July 19, 1885. They lost two children: David, the second child, who died at the age of seven years, and an infant daughter not named.

Mr. McGinnis' political views are in accordance with Republican principals. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and both are Sabbath-school workers. He ranks among the representative citizens of Pottawattamie County.