Commodore Abraham 6 BIGELOW
1555C.3 Abraham 6
BIGELOW, Commodore, son of Abraham
5 ( Abraham 4, Thomas 3, Samuel
2, John1)
and Hepsibeh
( JONES ) BIGELOW, was born 14 March 1794 at Cambridge,
Middlesex county, MA. In 1833, Abraham married Louisa
GALLAGHER,
daughter of Andre GALLAGHER and Aimee
AUTIER
of St. Malo, Brittany. (see below) He entered
the
U.S. Navy as a midshipman, and spent the remainder of his life in
its
service, rising through the ranks, frequently on half-pay furlough,
until he reached the rank of Commodore. Ships that he served on were
the President, Sloop of War ONTARIO, Brig Spark, Macedonian,
Frigate Constellation, Fairfield, Shark, New
York, Scorpion, and Michigan. By 1850,
partially
disabled, he was placed in command of the Chicago lighthouse; he and
his family lived there for some time and acquired a farm on the
outskirts. In 1855 he was commisioned as a member of the efficiency
board.
He resigned from the U.S. Navy in 1857, and left Chicago. He died in
04
March 1861, and his body returned to Chicago, where he is buried at
Rose
Hill cemetery. His widow Louisa GALLAGHER (b. St.
Malo, Brittany, France 1800) died in New York State 31
August
1873,
and is interred with him.
Children of Abraham and Louisa (Gallagher) Bigelow:
1555C.31t (Louisa Angeline?), Amelia
Louisa,
b ca 1832 NY; d 06 Jan 1864; m Joseph Edwin de Haven. (b
04 Mar 1828; d 02 Dec 1879)(Photo);
3 daughters. (see below)
1555C.32 George Abraham, b ca
1837
France;
d 28 Mar 1872 Chicago, Cook co, IL; unmarried. He built the luxury
hotel
Bigelow House in Chicago, which was totaly burned in the
great
fire on 1871 on the eve of its opening, and which site was later
the
location
of the Chicago Post Office. George's estate was inherited by his
mother
and three nieces, but his mother died the year following George,
and
the
estate was unsettled for many years. (see below)
<>Sources:
Bigelow Society,The Bigelow Family Genealogy, Vol I, pg 255;
Howe, Bigelow Family of America; #824; pg 110;
National Archives, U.S. Navy Records;
1850 census Chicago; #1462-1480;
Abraham Bigelow age 30 ?? (see note), b MA , USN
Ret.
$20,000 prop.
Mrs.
Bigelow age 35 b PA
Louisa A. "
" age 18
b
NY
George A. "
" age 13
b
France, in school
Servants
Note: poor quality microfilm, this 30 is
wrong
as born 1794 (should be 56)
cemetery records Chicago;
probate records George Bigelow estate;
article, The Hotel That Never Was, unidentified magazine
article dated 1964.
Subject: Capt.
George
A. Bigelow
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 2009 14:28:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: PAHNKE JANIS <janis222@sbcglobal.net >
Dear Rod:
I subscribe to the Chicago Genealogical Society Newsletter,
and
found
this in their latest Volume...Vol. 41 No 2, Winter 2008-2009
Issue,
from an article entitled "Illinois Staats Zeitung Translations",
Part
1;
Pre 1872 and January through March 1872, submitted by Gail
Santroch.
This was on page 55
"March 30 1872, p.4
Capt. George A. Bigelow died the evening before yesterday
at the
age
of 35 in the apartment of his mother at 83 Calumet Avenue of
consumption.
He was the son of Commodore Bigelow, after whom the recently much
discussed
housing development was named, on whch the new federal building is
supposed
to be erected. Capt. Bigelow graduated from the naval
academy in
Annapolis,
entered the navy and advanced to the rank of captain. He was
in
active
service during the war of the rebellion and also active at the
bombardment
of Charleston. After the end of the war, Capt. Bigelow left
the
service
and since then has lived here (in Chicago)."
This is NOT my line, but I thought it might add something to your
records.
I believe the Commodore, his father MIGHT be the one who was in
charge
of
the Lighthouse, in Lake Michigan, around the time of the Chicago
Fire........
Janis Pahnke
Also:
See Bigelow Society Quarterly, FORGE, Apr. 1977, Vol. 6, No. 2, p.
29
and
later from Bigelow Society, "The Bigelow Family Genealogy," Vol.
1, pg
255,
son of Commodore Abraham (#R7103 and wife R1706). See
Bigelow
Society
Quarterly, FORGE, Oct 1979, Vol. 8, No 4, P. 68, looking for a
George
Bigelow
then of Iowa, exchanged at Atlanta 17 Sep 1864 as prisoner of
Andersonville,
Georgia during Civil War--"Confederate prisoners at Andersonville,
Georgia
prison camp.
New Note:
Subject: Louisa de Haven
Date: 09 Sept 2004
From: Jim Conway < Conway@ci.monterey.ca.us >
Mr. Bigelow,
In 1941 when Louisa de Haven died she willed to the City
of
Monterey her art collection. After 18 years of legal wrangling,
which
you are
familiar with, the City acquired the art through a third party.
Over
the years the collection has become an important collection
because of
the
California Artist she had collected. While researching more about
Louisa I found your web site which is most interesting. What an
important
family in American History.
Although I have read the will, and much of the probate, along with
the
1920 Readmission hearing before the House's Committee on
Immigration
there is much I don't know. It makes me more interested in how she
came
to Monterey. It has the makingsof a great study and journal
article.
We have several early pictures of Joseph Edwin de Haven, George A.
Bigelow and Abraham Bigelow with his midshipman son George. They were
part of Louisa's estate. What we don't have, and would like to have, is
a picture of Louisa or as the family called her Gussie. Do you know of
any pictures of her?
Jim Conway
Historian/ Museums Coordinator
City of Monterey
More from Jim:
Are you familiar with a book by Oliver Biddle called Gussie's Bombshell? If so, how does it fit with your family histories? Jim
Note:
Subject: Bigelow family
Date: 03 April 2004
From: Atlee Caldwell atleec@comcast.net
Hello Rod,
My name is Atlee BIGELOW CALDWELL. I was looking at your
information
about Commodore Abraham (6) BIGELOW (my
g-g-g-grandfather) and wanted to comment and also give you some
information from my files. Also, I'd be interested to review
the
information behind the links to Abraham (4), Thomas
(3), Samuel (2), and John
(1)
and Louisa Angeline, but the links didn't
work.
--> Abraham
(5)
graduated
from
Harvard University in 1782, where he studied law. He was
admitted to the Massachusetts Bar and was for many years Clerk
of the
Court in Cambridge.
--> I've
seen Abraham (5)'s wife's name spelled 4 different
ways: Hepzibeth,
Hepsibah, Hepsibeh, and Hepsibeth. I don't know
which is historically correct. Do
you?
--> Under 1555C.31t, you show "Louisa
Angeline"
as a child of Abraham and Louisa GALLAGHER
BIGELOW
(b. St. Malo, Brittany, France 1800) and the
wife of Joseph Edwin de HAVEN
(my g-g-grandfather). My
records
indicate
that Abraham
and Louisa had 2 children: George Abraham
and Amelia Louisa. And Joseph
Edwin's wife
was definitely Amelia Louisa Bigelow. Was Louisa
Angeline a third child of Abraham and Hepsibeth? Or maybe
"Angeline"
was Louisa
GALLAGHER BIGELOW's middle name?
-->
These
are notes from my genealogy files that may be of interest:
Abraham
BIGELOW was appointed Midshipman in the U.S. Navy on
December
1, 1812 and was posted to the Frigate PRESIDENT on February 5,
1813.
Thereafter his various duty stations and commands were:
1815 - Brig SPARK
1818-1820 - On furlough
1821-1824 - Sloop of War ONTARIO
1825 - Rendezvous, New York (a term commonly used to
designate the port or place where the several ships of
a
fleet are
appointed to join company)
1826 - Leave of Absence
1827-1828 - MACEDONIAN
1829-1832 - Leave of Absence
1833 - Frigate CONSTELLATION
1834-1837 - Leave of Absence
1838-1839 - Waiting Orders
1840-1842 - Commanding Schooner SHARK
1843 - Commanding Sloop FAIRFIELD
1844 - Leave of Absence
1845-1846 - Waiting Orders
1847 - Commanding Receiving Ship, New York
1848 - Commanding Steamer SCORPION *
1849-1851 - Waiting Orders
1852-1853 - Commanding Steamer MICHIGAN
* During
the
Mexican War (1846-48) the SCORPION was one of a flotilla under
the
command of Captain Matthew PERRY. While in temporary command of
the
flotilla during Capt.
PERRY's absence, Capt. BIGELOW succeeded in subduing the
native
insurgents of the state of Tabasco.
Capt.
BIGELOW
was last at sea in December 1853; his duty station in 1857 ws
the Navy
Yard, New York, where he was Commanding Officer. He resigned the
service as of March 1, 1857.
Abraham
BIGELOW was
a Commodore in the U.S. Navy and the Commandant of the Brooklyn
Naval
Yard. He is buried at Rose Hill, Chicago (Evanston?),
Illinois.
***********************************************************************************r
In 1833, Abraham BIGELOW married Louisa GALLAGHER,
daughter of Andre GALLAGHER and Aimee
AUTIER
of St. Malo, Brittany. According to one authority, Aimee
was
born January 20, 1767 (Plebouille 22, Brittany). She
was the
daughter of Jean AUTIER and Toussainte
REUXEL. Aimee AUTIER and Andre
GALLAGHER were married in Philadelphia on November
13,
1795. Another source states that they were married in
St.
Malo on November 3, 1794. Andre Gallagher was the son of Andrew
(Andre)
GALLAGHER, a Philadelphia merchant, and Aimee
DOEL.
Abraham and
Louisa Bigelow had two children, George Abraham
and Amelia
Louisa. George entered the Navy after
graduating from
the U.S. Naval Academy, Class of 1854. He died at a
relatively
young age from natural causes. Amelia Louisa
married Joseph Edwin de HAVEN, also of the
Navy, and
died shortly after (January 6, 1864) the birth of
their third
child. The three children of this marriage
were:
Josephine Amelia (my g-grandmother) b. 03/18/1857
Augusta
Louisa ("Gussie") b. 10/21/1861
Sarah Elizabeth ("Nina"), b.
12/26/1863
Abraham
Bigelow died March 4, 1861. The three
granddaughters
were raised by their grandmother, Louisa GALLAGHER
BIGELOW,
when their father, Captain Joseph de HAVEN,
remarried
and settled in Geneva, Switzerland. They received their
early
education at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York
City.
Josephine Amelia later attended the Conservatoire de Musique in
Geneva. In 1874, at age 17, and the year after the death
of
Louisa Gallagher Bigelow, Josephine married Towson
CALDWELL of
Virginia at The Little Church Around the Corner in New York
City.
Augusta Louisa married Baron Eberhard
von ALTEN of Hannover, Germany, and Sarah
Elisabeth married Baron Hans von CAMPE
also
of Hannover. Upon the death of their grandmother, the
three
granddaughters became heirs to a sizeable estate, the capital
and
principal source of income deriving from the western property
acquired
by Abraham BIGELOW during the pioneer years of the State of
Illinois.
--> The
following is written by my uncle, Richard Atlee CALDWELL's,
account of the famous BIGELOW Trust Case, which was
litigated in
the Cook County Courts for 90 years:
THE
BIGELOW WILL AND TRUST
I shall
attempt to summarize the history of a family during a period
spanning
over one hundred fifty years, commencing shortly after the
founding of
the Republic. It begins with one of the early settlers, a
patriot
with an urge to pioneer, and like many others of his time, with
little
or no backing. Such a man was Abraham BIGELOW
Born
in Cambridge, Massachusetts of colonial stock in 1794, he was
the
eldest of four children born to Abraham and
Hepsibah JONES. Abraham, the father, was
educated at
Harvard and followed the legal profession in Cambridge. I
know
nothing of young Abraham's early years or education until he was
appointed Midshipman in 1812 and posted to the frigate
PRESIDENT.
His subsequent naval service was spent mostly at sea and, in due
course, in command of ships of the line. He saw service in
the
Mexican War (1846-48) under Captain Mathew Perry and eventually
attained the rank of Commodore (the highest in the service at
that
time) prior to his retirement in 1857 as Commandant, U.S. Naval
Shipyard, Brooklyn, New York.
While
serving
on the U.S.S. CONSTELLATION with the Mediterranean Fleet in
1832, he
met and married Louisa GALLAGHER of St. Malo,
Brittany, France. Prior to the introduction of the Code
Napoleon
in the early nineteenth century, the Province of Brittany
remained
separate in language and customs from the French
nation. Through
common language and geographical proximity, commerce with
Ireland had
long been active with resulting intermarriages. Thus,
Louisa's
Irish surname. She was the issue of Andre
GALLAGHERand
Aimee AUTIER of St. Malo and was born in 1800.
During the
early years of our Navy, officers were frequently put on half
pay and
granted leave of absence pending availability of billets for
reassignment. It was during one of these in 1833, with a
wife and
coming family to support, that Lieutenant BIGELOW
decided to prospect for land in the newly-opened Illinois
Territory,
from which Indians had been expelled and the Territory opened
for white
settlement. A general Land Office was established as a
Bureau of
the Treasury Department to facilitate development of western
land. Through Acts of Congress, liberal policies were
promulgated
to attract speculators and investors.
Afforded
this
opportunity, BIGELOW set forth on the boat from New York to
Albany,
where he transferred to a barge on the Erie Canal, arriving some
days
later in Buffalo. While awaiting arrival of the laker
"Walk-in-the-Water", he put up at the Iroquois Hotel, where the
furniture was removed from his room, enabling him to pace the
quarterdeck. Eventually, he arrived at Fort Dearborn and
what
would soon become the settlement of Chicago, at this time, a
sordid
outpost, thick with dust in summer and a mud hole in winter when
not
deep in snow. In "The Oregon Trail", Francis PARKMAN
states that
it harbored "some of the vilest outcasts in the country".
During the
course of this and subsequent visits, BIGELOW acquired
substantial land
holdings or parts of sections (one section equaling 640 acres)
in an
area that would someday become "The Loop" as well as in outlying
areas
of present day
suburban Chicago. Even at the then minimal going rates, he
was
obliged
to borrow from Eastern banks and exchange brokers.
In the
meantime, his wife, Louisa, was settled in a house at 31 West
45th
Street, New York, which was, as far as I know, their only
permanent
home aside from the temporary dwelling of the Commandant at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard. There were
two children of this marriage, George [Abraham] and
Amelia [Louisa]. Through the offices of
the
Honorable Stephen A. DOUGLAS, a friend of BIGELOW's, George was
appointed to the newly-founded Naval Academy and graduated with
the
class of 1852. Amelia married Joseph Edwin de
HAVEN,
a junior naval officer under the command of Captain Bigelow.
Joseph
deHaven
was descended from Evert in den HOEVEN of
Mulheim-on-the- Rhine and a third generation descendent of Peter
de
HAVEN of Germantown, Pennsylvania, who equipped
Washington's army with footgear during the harsh winter of
Valley
Forge. He was born in 1828 and died in 1879.
The de
Havens
had three daughters, Josephine Amelia in 1857,
Augusta
Louisa (hereinafter referred to as "Gussie") in
1861,
and Sarah Elizabeth (hereinafter referred to
as
"Nina") in 1863. Amelia deHaven
died in childbirth with Nina, and the three children were placed
in the
care of the grandmother, Louisa BIGELOW.
Louisa
BIGELOW
seems not to have readily adjusted to her adopted country, and
though
of a warm disposition, made few friends, among whom were the
SHATTUCKs
and SALTONSTALLs of Boston (connections of her husband), a Mrs.
WHARTON
of Philadelphia, and Major and Mrs. CALDWELLof Virginia.
At his
death in 1861, Commodore BIGELOW left in its entirety a sizeable
estate
to his widow, upon whom this unaccustomed responsibility plus
the care
of her three young granddaughters, weighed heavily.
The Chicago
properties were apparently ably administered by trusted agents
of the
Commodore's, who saw to building construction, leasing, and
collection
of rental fees. For a time, Mrs. BIGELOW set up
housekeeping
arrangements with her son-in-law, [Capt. de HAVEN by now
resigned
from the Navy, and who would soon remarry [Augusta Wilhelmine
BORCK]
and settle in Geneva, Switzerland. Louisa BIGELOW was
Catholic,
and when of age, the de HAVEN girls were enrolled at the Academy
of the
Sacred Heart in New York City.
Josephine,
the eldest, showed musical talent in her younger years and
played the
organ during mass at the Sacred Heart. In time, Louisa
took her
granddaughters to Geneva to visit their father, placing
Josephine in
the Conservatoire de Musique and the two younger girls in school
to
finish their education. Josephine excelled at the piano
and, upon
completing her studies, received first prize, a piano with her
name in
mother-of-pearl above the keyboard. It was during (or
shortly
after) their schooling in Geneva that Gussie
and Nina met their future husbands.
Josephine
was
the first to be married, to her childhood friend, Towson
CALDWELL, in 1874 at the Little Church Around the
Corner in
New York City. Gussie and Nina married into the German
nobility, Gussie
to Eberhard, Baron von ALTEN in 1882, and Nina
in
1884 to Hans,Baron von CAMPE.
Louisa
BIGELOW
died in Geneva in 1873 leaving a will which was probated in the
Court
of Cook County, Illinois (Chicago), and which, while curious and
perhaps clear enough to the layman, nonetheless contained
ambiguities
and loopholes to attorneys, courts and future generations.
Not
only did the wording and provisions of the will result in over
ninety
years of litigation and lasting family enmity, but it also
caused the
recurring, nagging, and bothersome question as to "what were the
intentions of Mrs. BIGELOW?" It seems clear enough that
her
overriding concern was for the welfare of her
granddaughters. Her
considerable estate, both real and personal, was left in trust
to the
granddaughters, and the income therefrom for life until the
death of
all three, after which the principal to be divided among their
heirs. It would appear that she harbored a distrust of men
in
general when in the will she states that "her property, real and
personal, shall remain intact, free from the husbands or husband
of any
or either of my said grandchildren". Perhaps therein
Louisa was
insightful for, in the future, the deHavens were to be easy prey
to
fortune hunters and adventurers.
The will
empowers the Trustee to dispose of any real estate which it
deems
advisable "for the support or maintenance of my said
grandchildren". Gussie and Nina consistently opposed the
selling
of property, a very European outlook which Josephine did not
share,
causing conflict between the sisters and embarassment to the
Trustee. This resulted in at least three petitions to the
Chancery
Court to interpret the will. An unfortunate provision
stated that
her sizeable bequest of jewelry and silver "be used" by
Josephine for a
period of ten years, then to Gussie for a like period, and
finally to
Nina
for life, an unhappy arrangement which poisoned the relationship
between
the sisters.
There is
little or
no record of Towson CALDWELL other than that he was the son of Major
William
Mackey (Mackay) and Frances TOWSON CALDWELL
of Virginia. He followed no known occupation, and during
their
short marriage, they spent their winters in Washington, DC and
summers
in Portsmouth, Rhode Island at Redwood Farm. The marriage
lasted
some twelve years, after which, having run through Josephine's
dowery
and fathered six children, he vanished, leaving no trace.
Josephine
moved to
England with her children, where she made her home for the next
fourteen years or so, finally at Maes-y-Neuadd in
Merionethshire, North
Wales. Here she married Arthur BYRDE,
tutor to
her children, neither a popular nor sympathetic person. At
his
urging, they all returned to the U.S. in 1897 and settled for a
time in
Grosse Point Farms near Detroit to be near the automotive
industry,
which was thought might provide gainful employment for
BYRDE.
After twenty unhappy years with
BYRDE and facing bankruptcy, Josephine fled to Germany in 1913
to be
with
her sister, Nina, and to escape further depredations.
Josephine's
adult life was an odyssey of continuously moving from place to
place in
search of peace and security. She had long since ceased to
observe the Catholic faith and before her death had become
interested
in the Hindu religion
and was planning a pilgrimage to India when her death
intervened.
She died at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City on the day
that the
harbor
naval batteries were saluting the death of Theodore
ROOSEVELT. In
her delirium, she thought her death was being saluted as she had
been
at
birth as the firstborn grandchild of the Commandant, Brooklyn
Navy Yard.
Gussie's
marriage to Baron Eberhard von ALTEN fared no
better,
though he was the injured party in this case. Gussie was
overbearingly self-willed, determined at all costs to have her
own
way. The von Altens were a prestigious and proud family,
and
Eberhard was a faithful, adoring husband and devoted
father. Born
in 1859 in Wohlan-Schlesien, he was descended from Count
Charles
von ALTEN, an infantry general and a hero of
Waterloo. Eberhard was a career army officer, becoming
Rittmeister in the Kaiser's exclusive Kurassier Regiment.
Early in
their
marriage, Eberhard was posted to the Court of Saxe Weimar as
Aide-de-Campe to the Grand Duke Charles.
On
Gussie's income, they live conspicuously well, if not
ostentatiously,
in the small provincial court. She carried on an affair
with the
Grand Duke Charles, and in time the scandal became such that
Eberhard
was recalled and billeted to remote Silesia. Refusing to
share
his fall from grace, Gussie did not accompany him and finally
divorced
him on trumped up grounds of his misconduct. She
became hostile to their children when they, not surprisingly,
sided
with
their father. The proceedings had to be dropped as no
legal
action against officers in the Kaiser's service was
permitted.
Thereupon, Josephine renounced all marital and maternal ties and
became
a familiar figure
in the fashionable continental spas and resorts of the period
immediately preceding World War I.
The von
Hardenberg family had been prominent in the cultural and
political life
of Prussia since the eighteenth century. The most eminent
of them
was Karl August, who was instrumental in
maintaining
Prussian neutrality during the Napoleonic Wars and represented
Prussia
at the Congress of Vienna. In recognition of his services,
the
Austrian Emperor granted him land holdings in Hungary, which
were
handed down to his heirs. Through Gussie's marriage to
Eberhard,
she was well acquainted with the von Hardenberg family.
Her
daughter, Adelheit {"Ada"} Augusta Nina Edwina von
HARDENBERG,
married Count Rudolf Hermann Franz von HARDENBERG ,
and
her niece, Alice Klara Hedwig Marie von CAMPE (Nina's
daughter)
married a brother of Count Rudolf, Count Hans von
HARDENBERG. Gussie now formed an attachment to
a cousin
of Count Rudolf's cousin,
Karl August, whom she joined on his estates in Hungary prior to
the
outbreak of the 1914 War.
Gussie
remained there
with von Hardenberg until 1919, when she was caught in Budapest
during
the
riots and revolution surrounding Bela KUHN. Following a
harrowing
escape
(see New York Times 2/9/1921), she reached the United States to
plead
for
return of her citizenship before the House Committee of Congress
in
Immigration
and Naturalization. Her plea was granted. She then
succeeded
in divorcing Eberhard. But when she insisted that her
children
"forswear paternal allegiance and become good Americans", they
refused,
remaining
loyal to their father, and she therefore repudiated them.
Nina's
marriage, while outwardly settled and conventional, was
nonetheless
unhappy and strained. Their estrangement arose in part
over the
upbringing of the children. Compared to her sisters, she
was
practical, down-to-earth, and matriarchal with a tall commanding
presence. At the turn of the century (1900), she built a
large
schloss at Wilkenburg near Hannover, which, together
with her children, became the center of her life. Her
husband,
Hans,
was a doctor, specializing in pulmonary ailments, and was the
attending
physician to the Kaiser. He also headed a sanatarium in
Cairo,
where
he and Nina often spent their winters. In 1912, possibly
foreseeing
the coming war, she came to the U.S. and waited out the
necessary time
to regain her citizenship status. [NB:
Prior to
1922 and passage of the Cable Act, American women marrying
foreign
nationals automatically forfeited their U.S. citizenship.]
Upon her
return to
the U.S., Gussie settled in Monterey, California and never
returned to
Germany, insisting that she had no children. In California
she
became interested
in Unity, a popular religious cult at that time, and through
which she
met
a mysterious and predatory Dr.
Eugene
ORME
(see below).
He
was presumably younger, and she eventually adopted him as her
son. She then made a will leaving him her entire one-third
share
in the Bigelow Trust.
After
Gussie's
death in 1941, Dr. ORME filed his claim with the Trustee, The
Northern
Trust Company of Chicago. This was set aside because the
Trust
was still in effect until the death of the last of the three
sisters,
which did not occur until 1951. Therefore, Gussie had
nothing to
will in 1941. Following the death of the last sister, Dr.
ORME
renewed his claim, which was to be contested by Gussie's heirs
for the
next nine years. This litigation rested on "The Rule in
SHELLEY's
Case". This rule, handed down in a celebrated English case
in the
nineteenth century, states in brief that when a person transfers
property to another whom we shall call "X", either by contract
or will
for life, and thereafter to "X's" heirs, the effect
of the law is to give an entire interest in the property to "X"
so that
if s/he transfers it to another during his/her lifetime, the
heirs have
no claim, thereby superseding the declared intent of the
original
holder of the property. Counsel for the Trustee argued
that the
rule did not apply and was contrary to Louisa BIGELOW's
intentions.
Though the
CALDWELL/von CAMPE heirs were neither party to nor concerned
with the
ORME suit, the Trustee would make no distribution of the BIGELOW
estate
principal pending the outcome of the ORME suit, reasoning that
any
distribution would be subject to attendant costs of the
litigation. The Office of Alien Property Custodians of the
Department of Justice would not release frozen war assets
pending the
settlement of reparations. With this deadlock, all regular
income
from the Trust ceased. With Gussie's heirs in post-World
War II
Germany bombed out and nearing destitution, and some of the
CALDWELL/von CAMPE heirs now past middle age and infirm, this
deprivation was real. The non-interested parties to the
Orme suit
were obliged to retain counsel to press the Trustee to make
partial
distribution on humanitarian grounds, which succeeded in some
measure.
In or about
1960, the ORME suit, having gone through two courts to the
Illinois
Supreme Court, was decided in favor of the Trustee, and the
principal
(or what remained of it) was distributed to the CALDWELL/von
CAMPE
heirs, and not the von ALTENs.
Being
curious
and concerned over this decision, I wrote to Mr. Roland TOWLE,
attorney
representing the von ALTEN interests. I quote his reply of
3-18-70: "The United States Supreme Court several years ago
determined
that the heirs of Louisa de HAVEN von ALTEN have no interest in
the
BIGELOW Trust."
What I have
attempted to describe above I have only touched upon and is a
mere tip
of the iceberg, omitting any mention of litigation occurring
between
1873 and 1941. I do not possess this information in any
detail,
though it exists in the records of the Court of Cook County,
Illinois
(Chicago) and the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.
The
heirs of Baroness von ALTEN and Baroness von CAMPE survive today
in
Germany and Austria and have considerable pertinent
documentation.
With final
distribution of principal to the CALDWELL beneficiaries in 1960,
I
received a letter from Mr. Arthur DIXON, attorney for the
CALDWELL
interests, from which I quote in part: "In closing, I believe
someone
with literary ability should write a historyof this estate,
which has
taken ninety years and several lawsuits to close only two
thirds, with
one third still in litigation." Lacking that literary
ability
myself, I leave this challenge to someone else.
Richard
A.[tlee]
Caldwell
References:
a.)
Last
Will and Testament of Louisa G[allagher] Bigelow
b.) Bills and petitions of and to The Northern Trust
Company,
Chicago, Illinois
c.) Letters from Josephine deHaven Caldwell to Edwin
deHaven
Caldwell
d.) Personal paper of Abraham Bigelow
******************************************************************************************************
Best
regards,
Atlee
Caldwell
New Note
2007:
Subject: Dr. Eugene Orme
Date: Tue, 06 June 2006 13:25:05 -0700 (PDT)
From:
Regan McCoy < rmmccoy@sbcglobal.net >
Hello Rod,
I am doing some research and unfortunately I seem to have run up
against
a bit of a "brick wall" in regards to a Dr. Eugene Orme. The
only
information
I can find on the Internet regarding this Dr. is on your website.
The Dr. Eugene Orme I am looking for information on would have
lived
circa:
1886-1968...rough estimate. He was a Dr. in Monterey, CA and
was
friends
with the artist Julian Greenwell.
Any information you can provide me with would be much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Regan McCoy
Sorry, no further info
available................................ROD
Modified - 11/25/2021
(c) Copyright 2009 Bigelow Society, Inc. All
rights
reserved.
Rod Bigelow - Director
rodbigelow@netzero.net
Rod Bigelow (Roger Jon12 BIGELOW)
Box 13 Chazy Lake
Dannemora, N.Y. 12929
< rodbigelow@netzero.net >
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