John Pike was a founder of Woodbridge, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 and a judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

 and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 of the early colony of New Jersey.

Early life and education

Pike was born in Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. He came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...

 in 1635 with his father, John Pike (1572-1654), who first settled in Newbury

Newbury, Massachusetts

Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,666 at the 2010 census. Newbury includes the villages of Old Town , Plum Island and Byfield, home of The Governor's Academy , a private preparatory school.- History :Newbury Plantation was settled and incorporated...

. In 1665, acting on the invitation of Governor Philip Carteret

Philip Carteret

Philip Carteret, Seigneur of Trinity was a British naval officer and explorer who participated in two of the Royal Navy's circumnavigation expeditions in 1764-66 and 1766-69.-Biography:...

, a number of Newbury residents formed a corporation to settle in Woodbridge, named after Rev. John Woodbridge, a Newbury clergyman.

The younger John Pike, one of the original nine "associates" of Woodbridge, was granted some 300 acres (1.2 km²) in Woodbridge in 1665, more than the common freeholders. He was "the prominent man of the town" in its early years. He was elected President of Woodbridge, and in 1671 was appointed to the Governor's Council. After 1675, he was appointed captain of the militia

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

, and afterward was known as Capt. Pike.

In 1684, together with his son John, he was charged and convicted of possession of stolen goods, a felony

Felony

A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...

. After his death, the New Jersey assembly passed an act clearing his name, as well as one allowing his family to sue for defamation. He was well respected despite the felony conviction. After years of local leadership, Pike was chosen to represent the township in the colonial General Assembly three times: 1692-3, 1696, and 1697-8.

Marriage and family

Pike and his first wife had several children together: John (1634-1714), Thomas, Joseph, Hannah, and Ruth, and three others who predeceased him. As a widower aged 72, Pike married his second wife Elizabeth Fitz Randolph in 1685. He died a few years later.

According to genealogists using DNA analysis, almost 25% of current male Pikes in the United States are descendants from his line. He is also an ancestor of Albert Pike

Albert Pike

Albert Pike was an attorney, Confederate officer, writer, and Freemason. Pike is the only Confederate military officer or figure to be honored with an outdoor statue in Washington, D.C...

, a prominent Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 brigadier general and an important Freemason; and Lt. Colonel Emory Jenison Pike

Emory Jenison Pike

Emory Jenison Pike was a United States Army officer during World War I who earned the Medal of Honor for his actions at Vandieres, France on September 15, 1918. An 1901 graduate of West Point, and the only West Point graduate to be awarded the Medal of Honor during World War I, Pike was a...

, awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...

 for actions during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

in France, where he was killed.