PIKE. PIKE. 481 an almost unanimous vote. He served during two terms, from December, 1872, to March 4. 1S77, and took a prominent part in the important legislation of that period. In 1877 he very reluctantly became the citizens' candidate for mayor of Boston, and was elected by a handsome majority. He secured a complete re-organization of the police department, and an impartial and energetic enforcement of the laws regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors. At the expiration of his term he declined a re-election, and has not since held any political office. During the last ten years his time has been absorbed largely by his manufacturing business. He has traveled quite extensively in this country and Eu- rope, and he has taken a prominent part in many of the reform movements of the day. PIKE, JAMES DAVIS, son of Jacob and Abigail Moody (Davis) Pike, was born February 26, 1829, in Salisbury, Essex county. After attending the public schools, he entered the employ of Samuel Bragdon, of Newburyport, at the age of eighteen years, as a clerk in the grocery business. Subse- quently he learned the business of wool sorting, which he pursued for several years in Amesbury and Salisbury. In i860 he purchased the grocery and dry-goods busi- ness of John S. Poyen, in West Amesbury, adding to the stock, that of paints, oil and carriage-painters' supplies. At one time he was one of the editors and proprietors of the " Merrimac Budget," and from 1885 to '89 was connected with the Bay State Felt Boot & Shoe Company, of Merrimac, as its treasurer. Mr. Pike was married in Newburyport, October 26, i860, to Malvina, daughter of Ebenezer and Esther Rogers, who died in 1875. In 1880, he was again married, to Mrs. Lois A. Betts, daughter of Moses and Ann (Bailev) Sargent. They have one child : Ethel J. Pike. In 1864 Mr. Pike represented the town of Amesbury in the House of Representa- tives, serving upon a special committee for the reimbursement of military bounties, and amendments to the valuation act. In 1878 he was elected the first representative from the new town of Merrimac, and served on the committee on harbors and public lands. Mr. Pike has held various offices of re- sponsibility and trust, being one of the trustees of the Merrimac Savings Bank since its incorporation, and its secretary until 1 886, when he resigned the position. He was clerk of the West Amesbury Branch Railroad for many years ; a justice of the peace for twenty-one years, and has been a notary public since 1S72. He is also a deacon of the Congregational church in Merrimac, and president of the Young Men's Christian Association. In politics Mr. Pike has always been a Republican, having served as a member of the Republican state central committee and of the Republican town committees of Amesbury and Merrimac. He represented his district, the 4th Essex, in 1888 and '89 in the state Senate, serving on the com- mittees on the treasury, expenditures, in- surance, and drainage. PIKE, JOHN, son of Richard and Mary (Boardman) Pike, was born in Newbury- port, Essex county, July 3, 1813. His school instruction was largely com- mitted to Alfred W. Pike, an excellent classical scholar and a thorough teacher. By him he was fitted for college, and also led to accept those views of a religious life that had a controlling influence on his sub- sequent career. He entered Bowdoin Col- lege in 1829 and was graduated in 1S33, being elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and was afterwards made president of his class. Bowdoin College has long regarded him as among her distinguished sons. Prom 1863 to '87, when he resigned, he was a member of the board of overseers, and served on the committee that secured for the college two valuable presidents. He was also one of the committee for the re- ception of President Grant when he hon- ored the college by his presence at its commencement, and was himself honored by it with one of its highest degrees. Dr. Pike has always kept up his interest in his alma mater, which bestowed on him the title of D. D. in 1866. He has been a trustee of Dummer Academy since 1842, and for thirty-five years president of the board. He was also a trustee of the theo- logical seminary at Hartford, Conn., for some years. Leaving college, he soon commenced his theological studies, entering the Andover Theological Seminary in 1834, but unfor- tunately, during his last year at Bowdoin his eyesight had weakened, and that weak- ness so increased that he was obliged to employ an assistant to read and write for him — nor was it ever fully overcome, but finally ended in total blindness ; yet he still resolutely persevered, and graduated with honor in 1837, and at once entered upon his calling.
