top of page

Pike, I  / Dedham

Review of Jarvis Pike Sr and Jr as possible candidates

 

Research to date

  • John Kebabian (The Chronicle v 24 n 2),

  • Karl West (The Chronicle v 39 n 1),

  • Don & Anne Wing (Anne Wing correspondence 2019 and 2020)

​

Molder photos courtesy of M Humphrey

I Pike / Dedham

​

Probable candidates per GAWP5 - Jarvis Pike Sr. (1683 - 1762) or Jarvis Pike Jr. (1709 - 1750), Dedham, MA. No additional information was available per Thomas Elliott with respect to Emil Pollak's notes.

​

I Pike was among 18th C American Plane Makers presented by John Kebabian in his 1971 Chronicle article. Dedham town and Church volumes were searched, yielding record dates of 1726 and 1733 for Jarvis Sr. and record dates of 1732 to 1742 for Jarvis Jr. (These were "record" dates ... not "active" dates.) No other I / J Pikes living in Dedham were identified.

 

Karl West, in his 1986 Chronicle article, presented the results of his research on Jarvis Sr. and Jarvis Jr. While Karl provided detailed information on Sr's and Jr's families, their trades remained unknown. A targeted search of Suffolk and Norfolk Co. records did not yield any will or probate documents. 

​

Correspondence with Anne Wing in 2019 and 2020 yield some important details on Jarvis Jr. "We found only the one Dedham  deed, dated  4 November 1735 from Ebenezer Ellis, gentleman, to Jarvis Pike Jr., joiner, and Elisha Pike, weaver, for half of the sawmill and dam." "Also found in the “warning out” notices in Rehoboth on 2 September 1740 that Caleb Lyon has taken into his house William Compton, joiner and his wife and children, from Providence and “likewise a man Named Jarvis Pike who has a wife and 3 children.  He is a Joyner by Trade.  He came last from Providence.”  Anne did not have any trade based information for Jarvis Sr.

​

(The editor has been continuing the research on Jarvis Sr. and Jr. since 2017, but by in large, the Wing's research stands at the limit of what we know; Jarvis Jr., is a known Dedham joiner from 1735 through ca 1738 / 1740 and a joiner moving to Rehoboth ca 1740 while Jarvis Sr. remains without a known trade.)  A 1734 Dedham town record pays Jarvis Pike for "mending and stuff" for the schoolhouse but it is not known if this is Sr. or Jr. (Town records were not consistent in their use of Sr. or Jr. labels for the two Jarvis's.)

Review of Jarvis Pike Jr.

  • b Roxbury 4-25-1709

  • His family moved to Dedham ca 1715.

  • m Experience Pierce 11-29-1732

  • children b in Dedham; Hannah 1734 (d 1734), John 1735 and Moses 1838. Meriam b 1740 in Providence.

  • 1740 warned out of Rehoboth with his wife and 3 children.

  • d 1750 in Rehoboth

​

Aside from Dedham tax records and listings of the neighborhood highway survey "teams", few period documents are known for Jarvis Pike Jr. Two documents are included below.

 

Excerpt from Jarvis Jr. and Elisha's deed from 1735. The only other deeds found were for his brother Elisha in Worcester Co., where he bought and sold land in New Sherborn in 1738 / 1739.

Excerpt from the 1750 probate record where Israel Dagget, yeoman, is made guardian to John, Jarvis Jr's 15 year old son, Jarvis late of Rehoboth. 

Review of Jarvis Pike Sr.

  • b 1684 in Roxbury to Rev. John and Elizabeth (Engleslie)

  • 1708 m Abigail Story

  • ca 1715 moved to Dedham, taxes paid in 1714

  • children b in Roxbury; Jarvis 1709, Elisha 1711, John 1713.

  • children b in Dedham; Susannah 1717, Sarah 1720, Elizabeth 1723, Mary 1726

  • 1736 Abigail died

  • 1739 married Elizabeth Everett and son Benjamin b 1-24-1742

  • d 1762

​

While the trade of Jarvis Sr. is not known, details do immerge from a review of the Dedham town records for the years between 1714 and 1762. (Early Records of the Town of Dedham, vol 6 and 7 by D.G. Hill.)

​

1718 through 1730 Jarvis is paid to ring the meeting house bell and sweep the meeting house for each year. He also watched over the boys at the meeting house.

​

In the Dedham tax list records, Jarvis Sr. is present starting ca 1714 through roughly 1730, with his assessments being typical of his neighbors. His son Jarvis Jr. first appears on the 1730 tax list. However, in 1732 and 1734, Jarvis Sr's assessments drop off and in subsequent years he's not even on the tax lists, save those from 1746 and 1747.

​

In parallel to the tax assessments, other town notes paint an increasingly bleak picture for Jarvis Sr. between 1730s to his death in 1762. These Dedham town records include;

​

1733 the family suffering due to Jarvis and taverns

10-1734 garment for Jarvis

1734 and 1735 the family indigent including daughter Sarah

1734 Jarvis living on land bought by Nathaniel Ames

1-1735 boarding Abigail 8 1/2 weeks

4-1736 Abigail and daughter Sarah's care paid by Dedham

1738 medicine for late wife

3-1742 Jarvis, indigent and suffering, asks for town's help. 

1749 boarding and provisions for Jarvis

1751 Jarvis illness

1758 wood to Jarvis from town

1759 and 1760 town paid for the boarding of Jarvis

1762 Samuel Doggett paid by Dedham for Jarvis's coffin. 

1762 town paid for Jarvis's funeral

​

​

Tax record dated 1730 for Jarvis Pike, Sr. and Jr.

Tax record dated 1732 for Jarvis Pike Sr., Jarvis Pike Jr. and Elisha Pike.

I Pike / Dedham 9 3/4" long molding plane

information courtesy M Humphrey

i pike mh 4 copy_edited.jpg

Mike's assessment of the chamfer stops on the I Pike molder ... "The rear stop just tapers out, but the front stop is a lamb’s tongue [he wasn’t that careful]. (above and right)"

 

Mike's assessment of I Pike (below - top) and S Dean (below - lower) wedge finials ... "The finial relief is pretty similar to some of ... S Dean's."

Editor's assessment / review.

 

This I Pike molding plane is not that dissimilar to molding planes marked S Dean / Dedham made by Samuel Dean of Dedham (1700 - 1775). That said, the front chamfer stop is closer to a classic Cesar Chelor molding plane than a typical Samuel Dean plane.

​

Moving to assess Jarvis Pike Sr. and Jr., Jarvis Jr. seems to be the stronger candidate based on at least three considerations.

​

1. Jarvis Jr. is a known joiner with Dedham date ranges of ca 1730 to ca 1740.

2. Jarvis Sr's trade is not known and so his candidacy remains an open question. His being "employed" by Dedham for the ringing of the bell, his sweeping of the meeting house and the watching of boys for the meeting house over the years 1718 to 1730 does not strongly argue for his having an active trade, such as carpenter or joiner. He and his immediate family's reliance upon Dedham's alms for many of the years between 1733 to 1762 could be assessed in a similar way.

3. The I Pike molding plane is a much better fit with Jarvis Jr's dates than with Jarvis Sr's dates. ie Jarvis Sr. would be too early for the plane as he would have started close to 1705.

​

* This I Pike entry will be amended as new information becomes available.

​

​

bottom of page