Robert Carter Pitman

Robert Carter Pitman
Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court
In office 1869 – March 5, 1891
President of the Massachusetts Senate
In office 1869–1869
Preceded by	George O. Brastow
Succeeded by	Horace H. Coolidge
Member of the Massachusetts Senate
In office 1868–1869
Member of the Massachusetts Senate
In office 1864–1865
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office 1858–1858
Personal details
Born	March 16, 1825 Newport, Rhode Island
Died	March 5, 1891 Newton
Nationality	American

Robert Carter Pitman (March 16, 1825 – March 5, 1891) was a Superior Court judge in Massachusetts, a temperance advocate, and a legislator in the Massachusetts General Court.

Pitman was born in Newport, Rhode Island on March 16, 1825, the son of Benjamin and Mary Ann (Carter) Pitman. He was educated at the public schools of Bedford, at the Friends Academy, and at Wesleyan University,^[1] where he became a member of the Mystical Seven, graduating in 1845. He studied law and taught briefly at Centenary College in Louisiana in 1846 or 1847.^[2]

Pitman was admitted to the bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1848. He practiced law until 1869, and was at different times a partner with Thomas D. Eliot and Alanson Borden.^[1] In 1858, he was appointed a judge of the Police Court.^[2] He was a state representative in 1858 and a state senator in 1864-65 and 1868–69; and in the last year he was President of the Senate.^[1] In 1869, he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, and remained on the bench until his death.^[1] That same year, he received a Doctor of Laws degree from Wesleyan University.^[2]

Pitman became active in the temperance movement, and in 1873 he became president of the National Temperance Convention, and wrote and extensively on the societal effects of alcohol.^[2] Pitman was also the author of Alcohol and the State: A Discussion of the Problem of Law in 1877, a comprehensive 400 page tome. This book has recently had a new life by being reissued on a CDrom set.^[3] He was married in New Bedford on August 15, 1855 to Frances R., daughter of Rev. M. G. Thomas, and died at Newton on March 5, 1891.^[1]

References

1. Davis, William Thomas, Bench and Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in New England, The Boston History Company, 1895.
2. Nicolson, F. W., Orange Judd, eds. (1883). Alumni Record of Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. Middletown, Connecticut: Press of Avery Rand.
3. NCBartender: Alcohol Prohibition vs Bible Debate - Many Books on CDrom