| 1837 | 1837 Born near Macon, Georgia, the son of William Pinchback, a planter, and Eliza Stewart, an emancipated slave. His mother had her children educated in Cincinnati, Ohio. |
| 1848-1862 | Pinchback is a cabin boy on ships from canals along the Ohio River to the Missouri. Red and Mississippi Rivers. Some reports say he began his career shining shoes in a steamboat barbershop and fleecing deckhands at cards. Later he is a steward on a Mississippi steamboat. His father dies when he is young and he is charged with caring for his brother Napoleon who is mentally ill. |
| 1860 | Marries Nina Hawthorne. |
| 1862 | Runs a blockade at Yazoo City to reach New Orleans where he enlists, raises a company of black volunteers named Corps d'Afrique, but resigns due to protocol and his race. |
| 1862 August 18 |
Joins the 1st Louisiana Volunteer Infantry, a white unit. |
| 1862 October 6 |
Commissioned a Captain of Company A, 2nd Regiment , Louisiana Native Guards under General Butler until September 17, 1863. |
| 1863 September 17 |
Receives a commission from General Banks to raise a cavalry company. He raises the money and volunteers, but is denied the opportunity to serve. |
| 1865-1867 | Lives in Alabama working for black suffrage. |
| 1867 | Moves back to New Orleans with Congressional Reconstruction and organizes the 4th Ward Republicans. |
| 1867 June |
At the State Republican Convention Pinchback serves as one of ten vice presidents |
| 1867 September |
As a delegate to the constitutional convention he drafts article 13, the constitution's civil rights article. The constitution is ratified and Pinchback is chosen as State Senator from the 2nd senatorial District. |
| 1868 December 7 |
Becomes Lt. Governor after the death of Oscar J. Dunn. |
| 1872 December 9 |
Henry C. Warmoth is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. Pinchback becomes acting governor. |
| 1873 January 13 |
Yields the office of governor to William Pitt Kellogg after 35 days. The legislature elects Pinchback to the U. S. Senate but he is refused the seat. |
| 1877 | Serves on the State Board of Education. |
| 1879 |
Serves as an Internal Revenue Agent until 1882.
Delegate to the constuitutional convention from Madison Parish. Southern University is established through his efforts. He also engages in several businesses: a cotton factorage, a newspaper The New Orleans Louisianaian and the president of the Mississippi River Packet Company which is established to accommodate black passengers. |
| 1882 | Surveyor of Customs, Port of New Orleans. |
| 1883 | Serves on the Board of Trustees of Southern University for several years. |
| 1883 | Leaves New Orleans for Washington D.C. |
| 1895 | Moves his family to New York where he is employed as a U. S. Marshal |
| 1909 | Opens a law practice in Washington D.C. |
| 1921 December 21 |
Dies in Washington D. C. and is buried in Metairie Cemetary. |