John R. G. Pitkin

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = John Robert Graham Pitkin

| birth_date = 1840-1841

| death_date = {{death date|1901|7|4}}

| termstart = October 31, 1889

| termend = August 15, 1893

| predecessor = Bayless W. Hanna

| successor = William I. Buchanan

| party = Republican Party

| nationality = American

| rank = Private

| birth_place = New Orleans, Louisiana

| branch = Crescent Infantry Regiment

| battles = American Civil War

| allegiance = {{flag|Confederate States of America}}

| death_place = New Orleans, Louisiana

| honorific_prefix =

| children = Helen Pitkin

| office = 13th United States Minister to Argentina

| education = University of Louisiana

}}

John Robert Graham Pitkin, also known as John R. G. Pitkin, (1840-1841 – July 4, 1901) was an American diplomat and soldier.

Biography

Pitkin was born in either 1840 or 1841 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He would study at the University of Louisiana, and was admitted to the bar in 1861.{{Cite web|last=Kestenbaum|first=Lawrence|title=The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Pink to Pittoni|url=https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/pinkerton-pittoni.html#584.07.76|access-date=2021-05-12|website=politicalgraveyard.com}}

Following his graduation, Pitkin would practice law while serving as a school principal in New Orleans between the years of 1861 to 1863.{{Cite book|last1=Garfield|first1=James Abram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oEYfAQAAMAAJ&q=%22John+R+G+Pitkin%22|title=The Diary of James A. Garfield: 1878-1881|last2=Brown|first2=Harry James|date=1967|publisher=Michigan State University|isbn=978-0-87013-221-6|language=en}} During the Civil War, he would find himself briefly serving as a private in Louisiana's Crescent Regiment, beginning on February 18, 1863.{{Cite book|last=Office|first=New York (State) Adjutant General's|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2VW6bc50gsC&dq=%22John+R+G+Pitkin%22&pg=PA412|title=Annual Report of the Adjutant-General|date=1868|publisher=The Office|language=en}} However, after the fall of New Orleans, he publicly declared himself a Republican and Unionist, earning him a position in the Reconstruction.{{Cite book|last=Reed|first=John Shelton|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCBfDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22John+Robert+Graham+Pitkin%22+argentina&pg=PA187|title=Dixie Bohemia: A French Quarter Circle in the 1920s|date=2012-09-17|publisher=LSU Press|isbn=978-0-8071-4765-8|language=en}} He would participate in the Southern Loyalist convention, held in Philadelphia in 1866, and would serve as a Republican campaign speaker.{{Cite book|last1=Grant|first1=Ulysses Simpson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J0MfAQAAMAAJ&q=%22John+R+G+Pitkin%22|title=The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: November 1, 1870-May 31, 1871|last2=Marszalek|first2=John F.|date=1967|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press|isbn=978-0-8093-2197-1|language=en}}

Pitkin had a daughter on August 8, 1877, in New Orleans, Louisiana named Helen. She would go on to become a staff writer for the Louisiana paper, the Times-Democrat.{{Cite book|last1=Alderman|first1=Edwin Anderson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TClcHjAQ2coC&dq=%22John+Robert+Graham+Pitkin%22&pg=PA347|title=Library of Southern Literature: Biographical dictionary of authors|last2=Harris|first2=Joel Chandler|last3=Kent|first3=Charles W.|last4=Smith|first4=Charles Alphonso|last5=Knight|first5=Lucian Lamar|last6=Metcalf|first6=John Calvin|date=1910|publisher=Martin & Hoyt Company|language=en}}

In 1877 Pitkin was nominated to be marshal of the United States for the eastern district of Louisiana; he would hold the position for one year.{{Cite book|last=Garrison|first=William Lloyd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TrF2AAAAMAAJ&q=%22John+Robert+Graham+Pitkin%22|title=The Letters of William Lloyd Garrison|date=1981|publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-52666-2|language=en}} Later in 1882, he would take the position back up.{{Cite book|last=Senate|first=United States Congress|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lIJNAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22John+Robert+Graham+Pitkin%22&pg=PA374|title=Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America|date=1969|publisher=order of the Senate of the United States|language=en}}

Pitkin served as the United States' Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Argentina from 1889 to 1893.{{Cite web|title=John Robert Graham Pitkin - People - Department History - Office of the Historian|url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/pitkin-john-robert-graham|access-date=2021-05-10|website=history.state.gov}}{{Cite book|editor-last=Ruxton|editor-first=Ian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0L9-DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22John+Robert+Graham+Pitkin%22&pg=PA207|title=The Diaries of Sir Ernest Mason Satow, 1889-1895: Uruguay and Morocco|date=30 September 2017 |publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-0-359-28131-2|language=en}}

The last government position that Pitkin would hold would be postmaster of New Orleans, which he served as between 1898 and 1900.{{Cite book|last1=Bose|first1=Joel Campbell Du|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B1veOLPq9v4C&dq=%22John+R+G+Pitkin%22&pg=PA40|title=The Gulf States Historical Magazine|last2=Owen|first2=Thomas McAdory|date=1903|publisher=Gulf States Historical Magazine|language=en}} He resigned from this position amid a blackmail scandal involving his secretary.

Pitkin died in New Orleans on July 4, 1901.{{Cite news|date=1901-07-05|title=John R. G. Pitkin.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1901/07/05/archives/john-r-g-pitkin.html|access-date=2021-05-12|issn=0362-4331}}

References

Category:1840s births

Category:1901 deaths

Category:Politicians from New Orleans

Category:Law enforcement officials from Louisiana

Category:Lawyers from New Orleans

Category:Louisiana Republicans

Category:Tulane University alumni

Category:Confederate States Army personnel

Category:People of the Reconstruction Era

Category:19th-century United States Marshals

Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Argentina

Category:Louisiana postmasters

Category:19th-century American diplomats