Mahlon Pitney, 1912-1922

MAHLON PITNEY was born on February 5, 1858, in Morristown, New Jersey. He was graduated from Princeton University in 1879 and earned a graduate degree three years later. Pitney studied law with his father and was admitted to the bar in 1882. Pitney practiced law for seven years in Dover, New Jersey. When his father was appointed Vice Chancellor of New Jersey in 1889, Pitney returned to Morristown and took over the elder Pitney’s practice. Pitney was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1894 and was re-elected in 1896. He resigned before the end of his second term when he was elected to the New Jersey State Senate. He was elected President of the Senate the following year. Pitney was appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court for a seven-year term in 1901. In 1908, he was appointed Chancellor, head of both law and equity branches of the Court. On February 19, 1912, President William H. Taft nominated Pitney to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on March 13, 1912. Pitney retired from the Supreme Court on December 31, 1922, after ten years of service. He died on December 9, 1924, at the age of sixty-six.