Arthur Dudley Vinton was an author and lawyer born in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York. Vinton was the son of Elizabeth and Reverend Dr. Francis Vinton. His mother’s father was Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry

Oliver Hazard Perry

United States Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island , the son of USN Captain Christopher Raymond Perry and Sarah Wallace Alexander, a direct descendant of William Wallace...

 (1785-1819). His own father, Francis, was a famous pastor affiliated with the Trinity Parish Episcopal church of southern Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

.

Arthur Vinton attended the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute then joined the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 and became a Col. A.D.V. Midshipman before attending college. He graduated from Columbia Law School

Columbia Law School

Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...

 and started a law firm during 1879 with two wealthy classmates, his cousin Perry Belmont

Perry Belmont

Perry Belmont was an American politician and diplomat.-Biography:He was born on December 28, 1851 in New York City to August Belmont. His brothers were Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont and August Belmont, Jr....

 and George Frelinghuysen. The firm of Vinton, Belmont & Frelinghuysen lasted about five years. Belmont was elected to the House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 and Frelinghuysen married into the Ballantine family and soon became president of the Ballantine Brewing company.
When his friend Lloyd Bryce

Lloyd Bryce

Lloyd Stephens Bryce was a U.S. Representative from New York.His father, Joseph Smith Bryce, graduated from West Point in 1829, third in his class . J. S. Bryce was a Union Major in the Civil War, engaged in the defense of Washington D...

, whom he met at Columbia Law, became the editor of the North American Review

North American Review

The North American Review was the first literary magazine in the United States. Founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others, it was published continuously until 1940, when publication was suspended due to J. H. Smyth, who had purchased the magazine, being unmasked as a Japanese...

 during 1889, Vinton began working there and contributing.

Among his novels are:

• Looking Further Backward (1890), a derisory sequel to Edward Bellamy
  Edward Bellamy
  Edward Bellamy was an American author and socialist, most famous for his utopian novel, Looking Backward, set in the year 2000. He was a very influential writer during the Gilded Age of United States history.-Early life:...
  
  's novel "Looking Backward".
• The Pomfret Mystery