Austin F. Pike

Austin Franklin Pike
United States Senator from New Hampshire
In office March 4, 1883 – October 8, 1886
Preceded by	Edward H. Rollins
Succeeded by	Person C. Cheney
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875
Preceded by	Samuel N. Bell
Succeeded by	Samuel N. Bell
President of the New Hampshire Senate
In office 1858–1858
Preceded by	Moody Currier
Succeeded by	Joseph A. Gilmore
Member of the New Hampshire Senate
In office 1857–1858
Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
In office 1865–1866
Preceded by	William E. Chandler
Succeeded by	Simon G. Griffin
Personal details
Born	October 16, 1819 Hebron, New Hampshire
Died	October 8, 1886 (aged 66) Franklin, New Hampshire
Political party	Republican

Austin Franklin Pike (October 16, 1819 – October 8, 1886) was a United States Representative and Senator from New Hampshire. Born in Hebron, New Hampshire, he pursued an academic course, studied law, and was admitted to the bar of Merrimack County in 1845. He was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1850 to 1852 and in 1865–1866, and served as speaker during the last two years.^[1] He was a member of the New Hampshire Senate in 1857–1858, serving as president the last year.^[2]

Pike was elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress (March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875) and was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1874 to the Forty-fourth Congress. He was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate after a lengthy deadlocked election in the New Hampshire Legislature and served from August 2, 1883, until his death. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Claims (Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses). He died in Franklin, New Hampshire; interment was in Franklin Cemetery.

Personal life

Pike married twice; he married his second wife, Caroline White, in 1850 and had three children with her - Helen, Edward E., and Leila.^[3] His daughter Helen married Frank Nesmith Parsons, Pike's law partner from 1879 until his death; Parsons was later Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court (1902–1924).^[4]

References

1. Jenks, p. 45
2. Jenks, p. 44
3. Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of Austin F. Pike (1888)
4. http://www.nh.gov/nhdhr/publications/justices/parsons.html

• United States Congress. "Austin F. Pike (id: P000345)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Jenks, George E. (1866), Political Journal for the State of The New Hampshire 1867, Concord, New Hampshire: McFarland and Jenks
• "A Long Dead-Lock Broken: Austin F. Pike Elected Senator from New-Hampshire". New York Times. August 3, 1883. p. 1. Retrieved July 26, 2016.