Benjamin Pitman - Biography

Biography

He was born at Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England. He received a good elementary education there at home, and at a parish school supervised by George Crabbe, a poet. In 1837, he assisted his brother, Isaac Pitman, in perfecting the latter's system of shorthand. From 1843 until 1852, he lectured on the system throughout Great Britain, and had a large role in the compilation of his brother's textbooks. Around 1849, he married Jane Bragg of Manchester.

At Isaac's request, Benn, Jane and their two children went to the United States in January 1853 so Benn could instruct people in the United States on his brother's system. After brief stays in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Canton, Ohio, they settled at Cincinnati, Ohio, where Benn founded the Phonographic Institute, of which he was long the president. He at first published his brother's shorthand textbooks, giving him credit for the system; but in 1857, when Isaac and his co-laborers made certain changes in the system, he refused to adopt them. Benn felt the original system was better, and the original system became the one which was adopted in the United States. In 1855, Pitman invented the electrochemical process of relief engraving.

From his arrival in the United States until 1873 Pitman was chiefly engaged in reporting. During the first years of the Civil War, he served in the Union Army. From 1863 to 1867, he acted as the official stenographer during the trials of the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, the “Sons of Liberty,” the “Ku-Klux Klan,” and other similar government prosecutions. He also edited and compiled the printed reports of these trials.

In 1873 he abandoned reporting and became connected with the school of design, later the art academy, of the University of Cincinnati. His goal was to secure the development of American decorative art and to open up a new profession for women. The display of wood carving and painting on china sent to the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition was the first attempt to give the public an idea of what had been accomplished. Over 100 pieces were exhibited, including elaborately decorated cabinets, baseboards, bedsteads, doors, casings, mantels, picture frames, and bookcases all the work of girls and women. He lectured at the Cincinnati Art School from 1873 until 1892 on art and wood engraving.

He introduced what later became known as the “Pitman School of Wood Carving,” which provided for the treatment of naturalistic designs, and could produce very beautiful effects in wood sculpture. His influence as an artist came to be considerable, particularly throughout the midwest of the United States.

His first wife, Jane, died in 1878. They had three children. He married Adelaide Nourse in 1881, and they had one child. Benn Pitman died in Cincinnati, Ohio. Pitman's home at his death, the Ben Pitman House, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.