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��THE GRANITE MONTHLY.
��him in this branch of the military or- ganization were some of the foremost men of the state : Hon. Francis A. Faulkner, an able lawyer of Keene, was commissioner, and Dixi Crosby, the distinguished head of the Dart- mouth Medical College, was surgeon of the board of enrollment ; Senator H. W. Blair, Hon. Ossian Ray, and Col. Nelson Converse, of Marlbor- ough, were the deputy-marshals, and Judge W. H. H. Allen, of Newport, C. C. Kimball, Esq., of Charlestown, and Henry C. Henderson, Esq., of Keene, were clerks of the board. To have conducted the office in a way to secure the respect and co-operation of such a body of men is in itself a dis- tinguished honor.
In 1866 Mr. Pike received the nom- ination for councillor of the fourth councillor district, but declined, and was subsequently appointed United States collector of internal revenue. His administration of the duties of this position was deservedly popular with the department at Washington, and with the people at home, and he remained in it till the districts of the state were consolidated. In 1876 he was delegate from Cornish in the con- stitutional convention, receiving every vote cast by his fellow-townsmen.
In addition to these public offices, Mr. Pike has been a director in the Claremont National Bank for fifteen years, and an active member and officer of the Sullivan County, the Connecti- cut River, the New Hampshire State, and the New England agricultural so- cieties. To have earned and to have enjoyed the popular favor in a republic, and in so many and varied places of honorable trust, is to have passed the crucial test of fitness for public life.
Few men of positive character and recognized ability, if in exalted posi-
��tions, are so fortunate, in this age, as to escape criticism ; but it will be ac- knowledged that in all the state and national trusts held by the subject of our sketch, he has so borne himself as to win the approval of the authorities, the good will of the people, and the respect of his friends.
In 1862 Mr. Pike was united in marriage to Amanda M. Fay, the daughter of Hon. Levi Chamberlain Fay, of Windsor, Vt, a lady of attract- ive manners and varied accomplish- ments. Mrs. Pike has been a most loyal wife in all the relations of life, and the beloved mother of four chil- dren, — three sons and a daughter, — of whom but one survives, Chester Fay Pike, a lad of twelve years.
In the above narrative we have done but little more than to set down in order the events in the life of a quiet citizen of one of the country towns of our state ; but, when we consider how much this gentleman has accomplished, and that he is only now at the meridian of life, we realize that his is no ordi- nary career, and that New England does not furnish a long catalogue of men who have so well illustrated the genius of our institutions, and the pos- sibilities of a sagacious mind that has a fixed purpose to succeed in the race of life. The man who does difficult work and wins the love of friends, de- serves to be honored of all. In all the relations of public and private life, Mr. Pike,
" By nature honest, by experience wise. Healthy by temperance and exercise,"
has acted well his part, and so honored his state, and made a name which his descendants will cherish in the years to come. — From " Successful New Hampshire Men"
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