Individual Details
Robert Pike
(17 Mar 1616 - 12 Dec 1706)
Major Robert Pike was the first and strongest representative of the right of petition in New England. (For a
lengthier discussion see The Essex Antiquarian, 4:113-117)
According to Hoyt: "Maj. Robert and Mrs. Pike were first on the list of members of the Salisbury church in 1687; and
he was the most prominent citizen of Salisbury during the last half of the 17th century. ... He took the oath of
freedom May 17, 1637...He was very decided in his opinions, which were liberal in advance of his time...He has been
called the 'moral and fearless hero of New England'; 'the first and strongest representative of the right of
petition'; the 'power which squelched the witchcraft delusion', etc."
From Charles Hendrick p. 31-32, a slightly modified version of what appears in the Bradbury Memorial, p. 68-70: "He
was one of the founders of Salisbury, Mass., and became one of the leading men on committees and commissions for the
transaction of the public business. At the age of thirty-two he was chosen a member of the General Court, and had a
much longer service in that capacity and as councilor and assistant, than any of his contemporaries. He had a good
education and wrote a fine, flowing hand. He was an easy, eloquent and forceful speaker. He was engaged in at least
three conspicuous controversies during his life. The first was his arraignment by the General Court in 1653, for his
hostility to the persecution of the Quakers. The second was his resistance of the dogmatic authority of some of the
clergy, in the person of his pastor, Rev. John Wheelwright. The third was his bitter opposition to the witchcraft
prosecutions in 1692. In all these controversies, Robert Pike stood practically alone. He was a century in advance of
his time, and a century has more than vindicated his advanced positions. The historian of the Salem witchcraft
delusion says that "not a voice comes down to us of deliberate and effective hostility to the movement, except that
of Robert Pike in his cool, close and powerful argumentative appeals to the judges who were trying the witchcraft
cases. It stands out against the deep blackness of those proceedings like a pillar of light upon a starless Midnight
sky." Confronting the judges stood this sturdy old man, his head whitened with the frosts of seventy-six winters and
protested that there was no legal way of convicting a witch, even according to the laws and beliefs of those times.
It required no small amount of courage for him to take the stand he did against the opinions of the highest judicial
tribunal in the province when no one was safe from the charge of having dealings with the evil one, and he himself
might be the very next one accused of being a witch! But having the courage of his convictions he rose to the demands
of the situation and proclaimed his opposition by a formal and thorough exposition: The great merit of this position,
so far as it has come down to us, belongs entirely to him, and no man of his time is entitled to greater honor. It is
a marvel how he breasted the storm when any resistance to the popular demamd was deemed evidence of complicity with
the witches, imps and all the powers of darkness, to overthrow the true church on earth. He defended and plead the
cause of several of the accused, among whom were Mrs. Mary Bradbury, who was condemned but not executed, and Susanna
Martin, whose memory is perpetuated by John Greenleaf Whittier, the poet."
The 1914 "Americana" comments briefly about Robert Pike: "...he appears as one of the earliest exponents in America
of Legislative assemblies, and acquittal in courts of law in default of sufficiently conclusive evidence."
Came from England with his bride in 1855 on a sailing vessel which took six weeks.
ROBERT PIKE, of Salisbury, Major Commandant, commissioned May 31, 1670 to the NORFOLK REGIMENT of King Philip's war.
The ancient County
lengthier discussion see The Essex Antiquarian, 4:113-117)
According to Hoyt: "Maj. Robert and Mrs. Pike were first on the list of members of the Salisbury church in 1687; and
he was the most prominent citizen of Salisbury during the last half of the 17th century. ... He took the oath of
freedom May 17, 1637...He was very decided in his opinions, which were liberal in advance of his time...He has been
called the 'moral and fearless hero of New England'; 'the first and strongest representative of the right of
petition'; the 'power which squelched the witchcraft delusion', etc."
From Charles Hendrick p. 31-32, a slightly modified version of what appears in the Bradbury Memorial, p. 68-70: "He
was one of the founders of Salisbury, Mass., and became one of the leading men on committees and commissions for the
transaction of the public business. At the age of thirty-two he was chosen a member of the General Court, and had a
much longer service in that capacity and as councilor and assistant, than any of his contemporaries. He had a good
education and wrote a fine, flowing hand. He was an easy, eloquent and forceful speaker. He was engaged in at least
three conspicuous controversies during his life. The first was his arraignment by the General Court in 1653, for his
hostility to the persecution of the Quakers. The second was his resistance of the dogmatic authority of some of the
clergy, in the person of his pastor, Rev. John Wheelwright. The third was his bitter opposition to the witchcraft
prosecutions in 1692. In all these controversies, Robert Pike stood practically alone. He was a century in advance of
his time, and a century has more than vindicated his advanced positions. The historian of the Salem witchcraft
delusion says that "not a voice comes down to us of deliberate and effective hostility to the movement, except that
of Robert Pike in his cool, close and powerful argumentative appeals to the judges who were trying the witchcraft
cases. It stands out against the deep blackness of those proceedings like a pillar of light upon a starless Midnight
sky." Confronting the judges stood this sturdy old man, his head whitened with the frosts of seventy-six winters and
protested that there was no legal way of convicting a witch, even according to the laws and beliefs of those times.
It required no small amount of courage for him to take the stand he did against the opinions of the highest judicial
tribunal in the province when no one was safe from the charge of having dealings with the evil one, and he himself
might be the very next one accused of being a witch! But having the courage of his convictions he rose to the demands
of the situation and proclaimed his opposition by a formal and thorough exposition: The great merit of this position,
so far as it has come down to us, belongs entirely to him, and no man of his time is entitled to greater honor. It is
a marvel how he breasted the storm when any resistance to the popular demamd was deemed evidence of complicity with
the witches, imps and all the powers of darkness, to overthrow the true church on earth. He defended and plead the
cause of several of the accused, among whom were Mrs. Mary Bradbury, who was condemned but not executed, and Susanna
Martin, whose memory is perpetuated by John Greenleaf Whittier, the poet."
The 1914 "Americana" comments briefly about Robert Pike: "...he appears as one of the earliest exponents in America
of Legislative assemblies, and acquittal in courts of law in default of sufficiently conclusive evidence."
Came from England with his bride in 1855 on a sailing vessel which took six weeks.
ROBERT PIKE, of Salisbury, Major Commandant, commissioned May 31, 1670 to the NORFOLK REGIMENT of King Philip's war.
The ancient County
Events
| Birth | 17 Mar 1616 | Landford, Wiltshire, England | |||
| Event | Mar 1634 | Maryland |  | ||
| Marriage | 3 Apr 1641 | Sarah Sanders | |||
| Death | 12 Dec 1706 | Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts |
Families
| Spouse | Sarah Sanders (1615 - 1679) |
| Child | Sarah Pike (1641 - 1718) |
| Child | Mary Pike (1647 - 1695) |
| Child | Elizabeth Pike (1650 - 1715) |
| Child | Reverend John Pike (1653 - 1710) |
| Child | Moses Pike ( - ) |
| Spouse | Sarah Sanders (1615 - 1679) |
| Child | Archibald Pike Sr (1658 - 1728) |
Notes
Event
St Mary's County, MarylandRobert Pike setted at St Mary's County, Maryland in March 1633/34.