His grandfather was William Pitkin IV, attorney general of Connecticut.
Pitkin was first elected to the colonial assembly in 1728, where he served through 1734, the last two years as speaker of the house.
He was also active in the colonial militia, raising troops in East Hartford for an expedition to the Spanish West Indies during the War of Jenkins' Ear in 1740.
Pitkin was opposed to the Stamp Act and other attempts by the British Parliament to tax the colonies, and he served as governor from 1766 to 1769.
[7] He is commemorated by his town's Governor William Pitkin Elementary School.