Timothy Pitkin

Who was Timothy Pitkin?

Timothy Pitkin was an American lawyer, politician, and historian.

He graduated from Yale in 1785, taught in the academy at Plainfield, Connecticut for a year, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1788. He served in the State Legislature of Connecticut in 1790, 1792, and 1794‑1805, serving as Clerk of the House 1800‑1802 and as Speaker 1803‑1805. He was elected as a Federalist to the United States Congress in the Ninth Congress to fill in part the vacancies caused by the resignations of Calvin Goddard and Roger Griswold; and was reëlected to the Tenth and to the five succeeding Congresses, thus serving from September 16, 1805, to March 3, 1819.

He was not a candidate for renomination to the Federal Congress in 1818, but was a delegate to the convention which framed the new State constitution in that year. Resuming his private law practice, he also returned to serve as a member of the Connecticut State House of Representatives from 1819 to 1830. His writing on and gathering of statistical materials are the accomplishments which accord him a special place in the history of the United States.