Individual Details
Anthony DIKE
(Bef 1610 - 1638)
ANTHONY DIKE
ORIGIN: Unknown
MIGRATION: 1623 on Anne
FIRST RESIDENCE: Plymouth
REMOVES: Cape Ann, Salem
OCCUPATION: Mariner.
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Although not in the list of early Salem churchmembers, his inclusions in the "freeman's land" section of the 1636Salem land grant indicates that he was a member of that church nolater than 1636.
FREEMAN: 18 May 1631 [MBCR 1:366].
OFFICES: At the Essex Quarterly Court of 26 December 1637 "MargaretWeston challenged three of the jurymen of Salem, Jeffrey Massie, Edm.Batter and Anth: Dike" [EQC 1:7], and none of these men appeared onthe jury list for that court session.
ESTATE: "Anthony Dixe" received a grant in the 1623 Plymouth landdivision as a passenger on the Anne [PCR 12:6].
"Antho: Dike" granted 40 acres in 1636 Salem division of land, beingincluded among those designated freemen (original grant of 20 acreschanged to 40) [STR 21, 22, 25]. On 16 January 1636/7, "Antho: Dike"was one of eight men to "have each 1/2 an acre of land granted them atWinter Harbor for fishing trade, & to build on" [STR 33]. On 21 August1637 "Anthony Dike" requested meadow for two or three cows, but norecord was made of any action on this request [STR 56]. "Anth: Dike"was granted one acre in the 1637 division of marshland, for ahousehold of six [STR 103].
On 11 August 1673 "Anthony Dike of Salem, seaman," sold to "myfather-in-law Nathaniell Pickman of Salem" for a valuableconsideration "every part & parcel of land or whatsoever else did ordo any ways appertain or belong unto me the abovesaid Anthony Dike, aseldest son to my father Anthony Dike deceased" [ELR 5:10]. On 30October 1682 "John Alford of Salem ... fisherman & Charity my wife"sold to "our father-in-law Nath[anie]ll Pickman of Salem" for "diversegood considerations ... all our right, title & interest that we haveor might have or of right do or might any ways belong to us or eitherof us in any part or parcel of the lands formerly of Anthony Dike, thefather of me the said Charity, deceased" [ELR 6:67].
BIRTH: By about 1610 based on date of freemanship.
DEATH: 15 December 1638: "Anthony Dick, in a bark of thirty tons, castaway upon the head of Cape Cod. Three were starved to death with thecold; the other two got some fire and so lived there, by such food asthey saved, seven weeks, till an Indian found them, etc." [WJ 1:345].
MARRIAGE: Wife Tabitha _____, who married after 8 August 1639Nathaniel Pittman (or Pickman) of Salem. In the 1655 litigationagainst Francis Johnson, Nathaniel Pittman appears as the successor toAnthony Dike, and Tabitha Pittman on 30 March 1657 testified regardingthe last words spoken to her by "her husband Dike" just before he "wastaken away at Cape Cod by the hard winter" [EQC 2:25]. On 8 August1639 there was "granted to Nathaniell Pitman a proportion of land,near about 20 acres lying next unto the Widow Diks land on the southside of the Forrest River" [STR 89].
CHILDREN:
i ANTHONY, b. say 1636; m. by about 1665 Margery _____ (eldest childborn before 1667); she m. (2) John Polin (antenuptial agreement dated2 June 1680 [ELR 7:26]).
ii CHARITY, b. say 1638; m. John Alford [Essex Ant 3:104; EIHC66:323].
COMMENTS: Since Anthony Dike was in Plymouth for the 1623 landdivision and not for the 1627 cattle division, and since Anthony Dikeis next seen in Salem, Savage suggests that he joined ROGER CONANT inthe exodus from Plymouth to Cape Ann.
Dike's maritime activities took him to all parts of the New Englandcoast, and constantly led him into perilous situations, leadingfinally to his shipwreck and death off Cape Cod in 1638.
Roger Clap records the following story of the capture and release ofAnthony Dike by the pirate Dixey Bull in 1632: "They having taken oneAnthony Dicks, a master of a vessel, did endeavor to persuade him topilot them unto Virginia; but he would not. They told him that theywere filled with such fear and horror, that they were afraid of thevery rattling of the ropes; this Mr. Dicks told me with his own mouth"[Clap 362-63].
About the same time Dike entered into a partnership with Roger Conant,Peter Palfrey and Francis Johnson for trading in beaver in Maine; thisled to extensive litigation more than twenty years later, and alsoprovides the evidence for the existence and remarriage of Tabitha,Anthony Dike's wife [EQC 1:409, 2:22-26].
In 1636 Dike was carrying freight to the Connecticut for WilliamPynchon [WP 3:286], and then in 1637 he took an active part in thePequot War, appearing at Saybrook and in Narragansett Bay, bringingreports to Roger Williams and carrying a letter from Governor Vane ofMassachusetts Bay [WP 3:407, 411-12; RWCorr 78-81].
Savage says that Anthony Dike "in 1637 was of Charlestown or Salem."There was an Anthony Dix, carpenter, who was an inhabitant ofCharlestown in 1641, and sometime before 1652 sold a house and lot inCharlestown to Walter Allen [Wyman 294; ChBOP 136]. This could not beeither Anthony Dike of Salem or his son of the same name.
That the Anthony Dix/Dike who had wife Margery in Salem by about 1665was the son of the immigrant is supported by the probate of hisestate, in which two of the appraisers were Nathaniel Pickman Sr. andNathaniel Pickman Jr., who would be his stepfather and half-brother.(See TAG 17:163-65 for an account of Jonathan Dike, the son of thisyounger Anthony.)
ORIGIN: Unknown
MIGRATION: 1623 on Anne
FIRST RESIDENCE: Plymouth
REMOVES: Cape Ann, Salem
OCCUPATION: Mariner.
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Although not in the list of early Salem churchmembers, his inclusions in the "freeman's land" section of the 1636Salem land grant indicates that he was a member of that church nolater than 1636.
FREEMAN: 18 May 1631 [MBCR 1:366].
OFFICES: At the Essex Quarterly Court of 26 December 1637 "MargaretWeston challenged three of the jurymen of Salem, Jeffrey Massie, Edm.Batter and Anth: Dike" [EQC 1:7], and none of these men appeared onthe jury list for that court session.
ESTATE: "Anthony Dixe" received a grant in the 1623 Plymouth landdivision as a passenger on the Anne [PCR 12:6].
"Antho: Dike" granted 40 acres in 1636 Salem division of land, beingincluded among those designated freemen (original grant of 20 acreschanged to 40) [STR 21, 22, 25]. On 16 January 1636/7, "Antho: Dike"was one of eight men to "have each 1/2 an acre of land granted them atWinter Harbor for fishing trade, & to build on" [STR 33]. On 21 August1637 "Anthony Dike" requested meadow for two or three cows, but norecord was made of any action on this request [STR 56]. "Anth: Dike"was granted one acre in the 1637 division of marshland, for ahousehold of six [STR 103].
On 11 August 1673 "Anthony Dike of Salem, seaman," sold to "myfather-in-law Nathaniell Pickman of Salem" for a valuableconsideration "every part & parcel of land or whatsoever else did ordo any ways appertain or belong unto me the abovesaid Anthony Dike, aseldest son to my father Anthony Dike deceased" [ELR 5:10]. On 30October 1682 "John Alford of Salem ... fisherman & Charity my wife"sold to "our father-in-law Nath[anie]ll Pickman of Salem" for "diversegood considerations ... all our right, title & interest that we haveor might have or of right do or might any ways belong to us or eitherof us in any part or parcel of the lands formerly of Anthony Dike, thefather of me the said Charity, deceased" [ELR 6:67].
BIRTH: By about 1610 based on date of freemanship.
DEATH: 15 December 1638: "Anthony Dick, in a bark of thirty tons, castaway upon the head of Cape Cod. Three were starved to death with thecold; the other two got some fire and so lived there, by such food asthey saved, seven weeks, till an Indian found them, etc." [WJ 1:345].
MARRIAGE: Wife Tabitha _____, who married after 8 August 1639Nathaniel Pittman (or Pickman) of Salem. In the 1655 litigationagainst Francis Johnson, Nathaniel Pittman appears as the successor toAnthony Dike, and Tabitha Pittman on 30 March 1657 testified regardingthe last words spoken to her by "her husband Dike" just before he "wastaken away at Cape Cod by the hard winter" [EQC 2:25]. On 8 August1639 there was "granted to Nathaniell Pitman a proportion of land,near about 20 acres lying next unto the Widow Diks land on the southside of the Forrest River" [STR 89].
CHILDREN:
i ANTHONY, b. say 1636; m. by about 1665 Margery _____ (eldest childborn before 1667); she m. (2) John Polin (antenuptial agreement dated2 June 1680 [ELR 7:26]).
ii CHARITY, b. say 1638; m. John Alford [Essex Ant 3:104; EIHC66:323].
COMMENTS: Since Anthony Dike was in Plymouth for the 1623 landdivision and not for the 1627 cattle division, and since Anthony Dikeis next seen in Salem, Savage suggests that he joined ROGER CONANT inthe exodus from Plymouth to Cape Ann.
Dike's maritime activities took him to all parts of the New Englandcoast, and constantly led him into perilous situations, leadingfinally to his shipwreck and death off Cape Cod in 1638.
Roger Clap records the following story of the capture and release ofAnthony Dike by the pirate Dixey Bull in 1632: "They having taken oneAnthony Dicks, a master of a vessel, did endeavor to persuade him topilot them unto Virginia; but he would not. They told him that theywere filled with such fear and horror, that they were afraid of thevery rattling of the ropes; this Mr. Dicks told me with his own mouth"[Clap 362-63].
About the same time Dike entered into a partnership with Roger Conant,Peter Palfrey and Francis Johnson for trading in beaver in Maine; thisled to extensive litigation more than twenty years later, and alsoprovides the evidence for the existence and remarriage of Tabitha,Anthony Dike's wife [EQC 1:409, 2:22-26].
In 1636 Dike was carrying freight to the Connecticut for WilliamPynchon [WP 3:286], and then in 1637 he took an active part in thePequot War, appearing at Saybrook and in Narragansett Bay, bringingreports to Roger Williams and carrying a letter from Governor Vane ofMassachusetts Bay [WP 3:407, 411-12; RWCorr 78-81].
Savage says that Anthony Dike "in 1637 was of Charlestown or Salem."There was an Anthony Dix, carpenter, who was an inhabitant ofCharlestown in 1641, and sometime before 1652 sold a house and lot inCharlestown to Walter Allen [Wyman 294; ChBOP 136]. This could not beeither Anthony Dike of Salem or his son of the same name.
That the Anthony Dix/Dike who had wife Margery in Salem by about 1665was the son of the immigrant is supported by the probate of hisestate, in which two of the appraisers were Nathaniel Pickman Sr. andNathaniel Pickman Jr., who would be his stepfather and half-brother.(See TAG 17:163-65 for an account of Jonathan Dike, the son of thisyounger Anthony.)
Events
| Birth | Bef 1610 | ||||
| Immigration | 1623 | Ship Anne to Plymouth, Mass. | |||
| Marriage | Abt 1636 | Salem, Essex Co., Massachusetts - Tabitha |  | ||
| Death | 1638 | Off Cape Cod, MA | |||
| Reference No | 8975 |
Families
| Spouse | Tabitha ( - ) |
| Child | Anthony DIKE (1636 - ) |
Endnotes
1. Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Name: Name: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1985;;), Pg. 238.