At age 14, Skinner moved with his family to Green County, Wisconsin.

As an adult, Skinner lived in Plattsburgh, New York briefly before settling in Hennepin, Illinois as county sheriff.

[1] In May 1845, he and his wife Mary Cook Skinner traveled overland to California, wintering at Sutter's Fort.

[3] The Skinners farmed and raised a family of five children: four daughters (Mary, Leonora, Phoebe, and Amelia) and one son, St John.

[4] Historian Robert Clark suggests that Skinner deliberately chose the land he claimed because it was the best location for a local ferry monopoly.