[1] He wrote lyrics in collaboration with James Pierpont for the song "The Little White Cottage" or "Gentle Nettie Moore" published by Oliver Ditson and Company, and copyrighted on September 16, 1857.

The songwriting credit appeared as: "Poetry by Marshall S. Pike, Esq."

Mr. Pike served in the American Civil War as Drum Major of the 22nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry for three years and was discharged in 1862.

The 1857 song is about a man pining for a girl sold into slavery, shackled with chains, and taken away from the little white cottage as a slave laborer.

The Sons of the Pioneers with Roy Rogers released a recording of "Gentle Nettie Moore" in 1934.