Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/55

Rh raised for the expedition against Canada under Gen. Abercrombie in 175*. ami was a member of the council of safety during the greater part of the Revolutionary war. He was appointed colonel in 1702 and was a member of the council from 1766 till 1785. In 1784 he was elected to congress. He was chief justice of the state supreme court for nineteen years, and was a delegate to the convention for the ratification of the constitution of the United States in 1788. He was connected with large manufacturing interests in East Hartford, and in 1775 began to manufacture gunpowder for the Revolutionary war in the same mills owned by his grandfather. This was the first powder-mill in the state. Another son. George. b. in 1729: d. in 1806; was clerk of the superior and supreme courts for many years, was commissioned captain in 1708. lieutenant-colonel in 1774. colonel in 1775. and commanded the 4th regiment of minute-men, with which he marched to Boston on hearing of the battles of Concord and Lexington. George's brother, Timothy, clergyman, b. 13 Jan.. 1727: d. 8 July, 1812, was graduated at Yale in 1747. was tutor there in 1750-'1. and a fellow of the corporation from 1777 till 1804. He studied theology and was installed pastor of the Congregational church in Farmington, Conn., in 1752. At the one hundredth anniversary of the church in Farmington, Rev. Noah Porter said that, while pastor of that church and afterward. Rev. Mr. Pitkin walked with dignity up the centre aisle in flowing coat and venerable wig. with his three-cornered hat in hand, bowing to the people on either side." The third William's grandson. Timothy, lawyer, b. in Farmington. Conn., 30 Jan.. 1766; d. in New Haven. Conn., 18 Dec.. 1847. was the son of Rev. Timothy Pitkin. He graduated at Yale in 1785. devoted much time to astronomy, calculating the eclipses of 1800. studied law. was admitted to the bar. served in the legislature for several years, and was speaker of the house during five successive sessions. He was elected to congress as a Federalist, serving from 2 Dec.. 1805. till 3 March. 1819. and during his term was esteemed good authority on the political history of the country. Yale gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1829. He was the author of "Statistical View of Commerce of the United States of America" (Hartford. 1816; 3d ed., New Haven, 1835) and "A Political and Civil History of the United States of America from the Year" 1763 to the Close of Washington's Administration" (2 vols., New Haven. 1828). He left in manuscript a continuation of this work to the close of his own political life. The second William's descendant through his son Joseph. Frederick Walker, governor of Colorado, b. in Manchester. Conn.. 31 Aug. 1837: d. in Pueblo. Col., 18 Dec., 1886. was graduated at Wesleyan university. Middletown. Conn., in 1858, and at Albany law-school in 1859. In 1*110 he went to the west and began to practise in Milwaukee. Wis. His health became impaired, and he went to Europe, whence in 1873 he was brought home in a dying condition, but removed to Colorado and engaged in rough labor in the mines, regaining sufficient health to resume his practice. He also entered politics, and in 1878 was elected governor of Colorado, and re-elected to this office in 1880 as a Republican. He was prompt and fearless during the riots at Leadville. his energetic action preventing the loss of many lives and the destruction of much valuable property. He was urged to become a candidate for U. S. senator in 1883, but declined. The town and county of Pitkin. Col., were named in his honor. A genealogy of the Pitkin family was published by Albert P. Pitkin (Hartford. 1887).

PITMAN, Benn, stenographer, b. in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, 22 July, 1822. He was educated in his native town, and in 1837 assisted his brother in perfecting the latter's system of phonography. From 1843 till 1852 he lectured on the system throughout Great Britain, and had a large share in compiling his brother's text-books. At Isaac's request he came to the United States in January, 1853, to give instruction in phonography, and settled at Cincinnati, where he has since resided. In 1855 he discovered the process of producing relief copper-plates of engraved work by the galvanic process known as electrotypes, for which he was awarded a silver medal by the Cincinnati mechanics' institute in 1856. The following year he succeeded, in connection with Dr. J. B. Burns, in producing stereotype plates by the gelatine process in photo-engraving. From his arrival in this country until 1873 Mr. Pitman was chiefly engaged in reporting. In 1863-'7 he acted as the official stenographer during the trials of the assassin of President Lincoln, the &ldquo;Sons of Liberty,&rdquo; the &ldquo;Ku-Klux Klan,&rdquo; and other similar government prosecutions. He also edited and compiled the printed reports of these trials. In 1873 he abandoned reporting and became connected with the school of design, now the art academy, of the University of Cincinnati. His object was to secure the development of American decorative art and to open up a new profession for women. The display of wood-carving and painting on china sent to the Philadelphia centennial exhibition was the first attempt to give the public an idea of what had been accomplished. Over one hundred pieces were exhibited, including elaborately decorated cabinets, base-boards, bedsteads, doors, casings, mantels, picture-frames, and book-cases all the work of girls and women. Mr. Pitman for years lectured and taught in the same institution. Besides many elementary books of instruction on phonography, he has published &ldquo;The Reporter's Companion&rdquo; (Cincinnati, 1854); &ldquo;The Manual of Phonography,&rdquo; of which 250,000 copies have been issued (1855); &ldquo;Trials for Treason at Indianapolis&rdquo; and &ldquo;The Assassination of President Lincoln, and the Trial of the Conspirators&rdquo; (1865); and, with Jerome B. Howard, &ldquo;The Phonographic Dictionary&rdquo; (1883).

PITMAN, Marie J., author, b. in Hartwick, n. Y., 17 March, 1850; d. in Paris, France, 30 Nov., 1888. She was the daughter of Lucius D. Davis, of the Newport, R. I., &ldquo;Daily News,&rdquo; was educated by private tutors, and in 1866 married Theophilus T. Pitman. Her pen-name was &ldquo;Margery Deane,&rdquo; and she wrote many children's stories and sketches of travel, was the Newport correspondent of the Boston &ldquo;Transcript&rdquo; and other journals, and the author of &ldquo;Wonder World,&rdquo; translations (New York, 1878), and &ldquo;European Breezes&rdquo; (Boston, 1880).

PITOU, Louis Ange, French author, b. in Châteaudun, France, in 1769; d. in France about 1828. He entered the priesthood, but after the beginning of the French revolution he abandoned his profession. He was a zealous royalist, was arrested sixteen times, and finally transported to Guiana under the Directory. Shortly after his arrival at Cayenne he escaped, and after many adventures among the natives he returned to France. He engaged in new conspiracies under the consulate, and was a few years in prison. He published &ldquo;Relation de mon voyage à Cayenne et chez les anthropophages&rdquo; (Paris, 1805). This work, although full of inaccuracies, excited the public curiosity, and a second enlarged edition was published (2 vols., 1808). After the return of the Bourbons, Pitou received a small pension.