Samuel Pike (1821-1872)

Whiskey Distiller & Builder of Pike's Grand Opera House, Cincinnati, Ohio

He was born "Samuel Nephtali Hecht" in New York to German Jewish parents before changing his surname to "Pike". Having made his fortune in whisky in Cincinnati, he built Pike's Grand Opera House - the first home of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra - completed in 1857 at a cost of $500,000. In 1868, he spent a further million dollars building Pike's Opera House/the Grand Opera House on the northwest corner of 8th Avenue and 23rd Street in New York City. He had four children (listed) and was the maternal grandfather of the author and playwright Natalie Clifford Barney.

Spouse (1)

Ellen (Miller) Pike

Mrs. “Ellen” Ursula Muellion (Miller) Pike

1830-1908

Children (4)

Jeannette (Pike) Goin

Mrs. Jeannette Amelia (Pike) Goin; of 582 Fifth Avenue, New York City

1850-1941

Laurence Pike

Clubman, of the San Remo Hotel, Central Park West, New York City; unmarried

1850-1906

Hester (Pike) Bunstine

Mrs. Hester (Pike) Bunstine

1854-1941

Alice Pike Barney

Mrs. Alice (Pike) Barney; Painter, of Washington D.C.

1857-1931