He lost his mother at an early age and his father travelled to the Oregon coast, leaving him to be raised by an uncle.

He attended William Jewell College[1] before fighting for the Confederate States in the Civil War, serving as a private in the 3rd Missouri Infantry Regiment from January 1862 to April 1863.

[5] By 1882, he had relocated to Hailey, Idaho Territory, losing Democratic nominations for Alturas County district attorney that year and in 1886.

[6][7] On January 23, 1884, he was admitted to practice law in the Idaho Supreme Court, becoming one of the first hundred attorneys with that privilege.

[1] Vineyard died at the age of 73 on March 14, 1919, in Lewiston, Idaho, from paralysis following a series of strokes.