Biography

American lawyer and politician who served as the eighth Governor of New York from February 11 to December 31, 1828.

He was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1806 and 1815–1817, surrogate of Washington County in 1812 and 1813, town clerk of Kingsbury in 1813 and 1814, and justice of the peace. During these times he studied law and was admitted to the bar and practiced law. He was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention in 1821. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1827 and 1828 and became governor upon the death of Governor DeWitt Clinton. He was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Congresses (March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1823), and reelected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-second Congress (March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1833). Pitcher died on May 25, 1836, aged 58, and was buried at Baker Cemetery in Hudson Falls.

The Town of Pitcher in Chenango County is named after him.