We have little knowledge of the family of Benjamin and Mary (WYMAN) BIGELOW, but feel the following were probably his children:
16C11.+ Benjamin jr , b ____ ; d _____ ; in business in Portsmouth, NH in 1798, and head-of-family 1790 through 1810; after which his widow Salome is listed as head-of-family. He left issue, two sons and a daughter identified by church records.
16C12. ?Ruth, b ____ ; d _____ ; m 06 Apr 1775 Portsmouth, NH) William McINTIRE.
16C13. Sarah, bapt 16 Jan 1757 Brookline,
MA, "daughter of Benjamin."
16C13.? Joseph, b ca 1766; d 26 Aug 1783
Portsmouth, NH; age 17 yrs old; son of Benjamin and Mary Bigelow; buried
in Old North cemetery, Portsmouth, NH (see below)
Sources:
Bigelow Family Genealogy Volume. I page.79;
Howe, Bigelow Family ofAmerica; page 85;
vital records various towns MA & NH;
censuses 1790-1820;
church records, Portsmouth, NH.
A note from Bigelow Soc Library files:
A recent letter from Patrick Evans (he of the interesting calligraphy) states:
"The book I have is "Strawberry Pointe in Portsmouth NH" has a description
of historic
Leonard Cotton House, built ca 1740, #29 Washington St. ,Portsmouth. It was
built by
George Peirce a blacksmith who was sufficiently prosperous to have owned
one of
Portsmouth's 57 slaves in 1727. Peirce bought the houselot from John Pickering
in
the early 18th century. He also owned a lot across the street, where his
shop & wharf
were located. After Peirce' s death in 1753, his daughter Mehitable Sherburne
purchased the property from other heirs. A few years later the finances of
the
Sherburnes began to suffer,and the house was first mortgaged to Henry Jacques
of
Newbury, and in 1774 was awarded to Thomas Hulme of Boston, as a result of
a lawsuit.
By 1779 the property belonged to Benjamin Bigelow sr, a tallow chandler whose
slaughterhouse, candle shop and soapworks were located on the edge of Puddle
Dock
at Canoe Bridge. Bigelow transferred the property to his son Benjamin jr
in 1787.
In 1799, Benjamin Bigelow jr ... transferred the property to Capt. Robert
Blunt...
CF #180, in Howe page 85;
In Memory
of Joseph Bigelow
who Departed this Life
August 26th 1783
in the 17th Year
of his Age
son of Benjamin
& Mary Bigelow