"Gov. William Pitkin … b. Apr. 30, 1694, … d. Oct. 1, 1769 … He was distinguished both in public and private life. He acquired from his father a thorough knowledge of business and public affairs, particularly of the laws and policy of the Colony. This, with his natural courtesy and ease of manner, soon brought him prominently before the public. He was chosen Town Collector in 1715. He represented Hartford in the Colonial Assembly from 1728 to 1734. He was appointed Captain of the 'train band' in 1730, and rose to Colonel in 1739. He was elected Speaker of the House in 1732, and was elected to the Council in 1734. He was Judge of the County Court from 1735 to 1752. He was appointed Judge of the Superior Court in 1741. He was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court twelve (12) years, and Lieutenant-Governor from 1754 to 1766, a period of twelve (12) years. He was a strong advocate of Colonial rights, and the first in the Colony to resist the 'Stamp Act,' which was passed in 1765, when Fitch was Governor and Pitkin, Lieutenant-Governor. When Governor Fitch and others of his council, who thought it their duty, were taking the oath to support the 'Stamp Act,' Lieutenant-Governor Pitkin, with Trumbull and others of the council, remonstrated, and left the council chamber while the oath was taken by Governor Fitch and his supporters. At the next election, May, 1766, when both Fitch and Pitkin were candidates for Governor. Pitkin was elected Governor by a majority 'so great,' says the Connecticut Gazette of the day, 'that the votes were not counted.' The first instance of the kind on record, I believe. Jonathan Trumbull was elected Lieutenant-Governor under Pitkin, who was Governor three and a half years, and died in office. The great popularity of Governor Pitkin, and his policy in resisting the 'Stamp Act,' and his sudden removal by death while in office, probably gave to his deputy, Trumbull, the Governorship at the following election.
Gov. Pitkin took a leading part in the first movement made towards the formation of this government and nation. At the first meeting of the Colonies to form a plan of union, in 1754, Lieut.-Gov. Pitkin and five others, with Benjamin Franklin as chairman, were chosen a committee, by the Colonies, to meet at Albany, N. Y., and prepare a Constitution. The plan then presented was the germ of the Articles of Confederation, re-arranged by Franklin in 1775, and adopted in 1777; under which the Colonies lived till the adoption of the Federal Constitution. …
The inscription on his monument, written by the good Dr. Williams, is as follows: 'Here lieth Interred the body of the Honorable William Pitkin, Esq., late Governor of the Colony of Connecticut. To the God of Nature indebted for all his Talents, he aimed to employ them in Religion, without Affectation, Chearfull, Humble, and Temperate, Zealous and bold for the Truth, Faithfull in Distributing Justice, Scattering away Evil with his Eye, an Example of Christian Virtue, a Patron of his Country, a Benefactor to the poor, a Tender Parent and Faithful Friend. Twelve years he presided in the Superior Court, and three years and a half Governor-in-Chief. After serving his Generation by the Will of God with Calmness and serenity fell on sleep, the 1st day of October, A. D., 1769, in the 76th year of his Age. 'Walk thoughtful on that solemn shore, Of that vast ocean thou art soon to pass.'"
