Fairfield Deputy Sheriff Gets His Due 117 Years Later

A Fairfield deputy sheriff who died nearly 117 years ago as he was arresting a man wanted for stabbing a Fairfield resident is finally getting his due.

Deputy Sheriff Francis Melville Pike, who suffered a fatal heart attack as he was handcuffing the suspect about 11 p.m. on May 13, 1894, will have his name included on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. in a ceremony on May 13, which, coincidentally, is the 117th anniversary of his death, Police Chief Gary MacNamara said on Wednesday.

Pike, who was also a town clerk in Fairfield, was 38 years old when he died and had been in law enforcement for four years. Fairfield Police Sgt. Gregory Gunter recently learned that Pike's name is not included on the memorial that honors law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, MacNamara said.

"Deputy Sheriff Pike should be honored and recognized for what he did for the community back then. I don't think there's anybody that doesn't get the significance of that...Whether it was last week or 100 years ago, we have to honor that," MacNamara said.

On May 13, Pike will join James Cavanaugh, the only officer from Fairfield whose name is now on the memorial, and 127 other law enforcement officers from Connecticut whose names are now on the memorial. Cavanaugh was a special police officer who was killed April 11, 1966 after being struck by a motor vehicle at a construction site in Fairfield's Greenfield Hill neighborhood.

The department is not only ensuring Pike's name is included on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial but also are hoping to find a descendant of Pike's so they will know their relative is receiving his due. "The one missing piece of this is we have yet to find any living relatives," MacNamara said.

MacNamara said the department received word on Feb. 2 that Pike's name will be added to the memorial in May and that anyone who is a descendant of Pike's can contact Gunter at 203-254-4808.

Pike, whom MacNamara said was the son of prominent businessman in Fairfield's Southport neighborhood named Samuel Pike, is buried in Oaklawn Cemetery on Bronson Road in Fairfield.

The full account of Pike's death, as reported in The New Haven Evening Register on May 14, 1894, reads:

DIED IN THE STRUGGLE

A Deputy Sheriff Succumbs to Heart Disease While Making an Arrest

"Fairfield was shocked last night by the sudden death of Deputy Sheriff Francis M. Pike. Mr. Pike's death occurred as he was in the act of making an arrest and was due to heart failure caused by over-exertion in forcing his prisoner to submit to arrest."

"The prisoner was a desperate Hungarian named Louis, who had stabbed John Wright of Fairfield in a quarrel during the afternoon. Deputy Sheriff Pike went with Charles Flannagan to arrest Louis and the Hungarian made a desperate resistance. The sheriff found it necessary to handcuff him. He had succeeded in slipping the cuff on one wrist when he fell backward unconscious. Mr. Flanagan supported the sheriff's form with one hand while he manacled the free hand of the prisoner and then set about restoring the stricken man to consciousness. His efforts in this direction were unavailing and he saw that Mr. Pike's ailment was of a serious nature. He sent for Dr. Donaldson but before the doctor arrived Mr. Pike died."

"The Hungarian was placed in the lockup. Mr. Pike was 38 years old."

"Louis" was identified in another report from that time as John Sandis.