U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice, U.S. Senator, U.S. Congressman. A native of Culpepper County, Virginia, he moved with his family to Kentucky when he was a child. He studied law and became a lawyer in Louisville, Kentucky in 1800. In 1818, he moved to Madison County, Alabama and became one of Huntsville's earliest settlers. He formed the Cypress Land Company and bought land from the Federal government to develop the town of Florence as one of its founders. McKinley became a member of the Alabama Legislature from 1820 to 1822 and was appointed as a Jacksonian to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry Chambers in the United States Senate on November 27, 1826. He served as a Senator until 1831 and was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1830. He became a member of the state legislature again in 1831. Elected to represent Alabama's 2nd District in the United States House of Representatives, he served from 1833 to 1835 and did not seek reelection. He became a member of the state legislature again in 1835 and served until he was elected to the United States Senate again in 1836 to represent Alabama as a Democrat. He resigned from office after seven weeks to accept an appointment by President Martin Van Buren to the bench of the United States Supreme Court as the 23rd Associate Justice. While a member of the court, he was one of the justices to hear the famous case involving the Amistad. He died in Louisville, Kentucky in 1852 when he was 72 years old. The house where he lived in Louisville is listed on the National Register and is known as the Howard Weeden Home.
