PITKIN, Timothy [1766-1847] -- American legislator

Born in Farmington, Conn., Jan. 20, 1766; son of the Rev. Timothy and Temperance (Clap) Pitkin; grandson of William and Mary (Woodbridge) Pitkin, and of the Rev. Thomas and Mary Whiting Clap, and a descendant of William and Hannah (Goodwin) Pitkin. He was graduated at Yale, A.B., 1785, A.M., 1788, and during his college course made a specialty of mathematics, natural philosophy, and astronomy, and calculated and projected all the eclipses, 1785-1800. He studied law under Oliver Wolcott, was admitted to the bar in 1788, and settled in practice in Farmington. He was married to Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Bela Hubbard, D.D., of New Haven, Conn. He represented Farmington in the Connecticut assembly almost continuously 1790-1805, and was speaker of the house for five successive sessions. He was a Federalist representative from Connecticut in the 9th-15th congresses, 1805-19, and in congress was frequently appealed to on questions involving political history. He received the degree LL.D. from Yale [p.337] in 1829. He is the author of: Statistical View of Commerce of the United States of America (1816, 3d ed. 1835); A Political and Civil History of the United States of America from the Year 1763 to the Close of Washington's Administration (2 vols., 1828), of which he left a continuation in MS., bringing it down to the close of his public career. He died in New Haven, Conn., Dec. 18, 1847. [Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans]