Deacon William 5 BIGELOW
Deacon William and Hepzibah (Russel) Bigelow; Natick, MA
# 15591. William 5 BIGELOW,
oldest child and son of Josiah 4(
Thomas 3 , Samuel 2, John 1) BIGELOW
and Mary (Harrington) Bigelow, was born 11 October 1749 at
Weston, Middlesex county, MA. He married, on 25 March 1772, Hepzibah
Russell, born Weston 12 September 1758, daughter of Thomas and
Hepzibah (Nichols) Russell.. They lived a few years in Weston, where
three children were born, then removed to Natick circa 1778, and
remained there all their lives. He died at Natick 25 March 1813,
Hepzibah on 31 October 1830. Their grandson Calvin Stowe's wife,
Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author and abolitionist, described the
family in her story "Old Town Folks." William is said to be the
model of "Deacon Badger," his wife as "Grandmother Badger," the
eldest son as "Uncle Bill," and daughters Hepsibah, Eunice, and
Abigail as "Susy," "Aunt Lois," and "Aunt Keziah." (William was
the owner of Bigelow Mills; see below)
1790 census: MA-Middlesex-Natick-William Bigelow: 2-3-6-0-0.
Children of William and Hepzibah (Russell) Bigelow, the first 3
born Weston, Middlesex co, MA, the remainder at Natick, Middlesex
co, MA:
15591.lt William, b 21 Sep 1773; d 12 Jan
1844 Boston, MA; m 12 Jan 1798 Margaret Lander; he was an
educator, author, and newspaper writer. Possibly 4 or 5 children.
15591.2 Mary,b 16 Aug 1775; d
17 Oct 1823 Natick, MA; unmarried.
15591.3t Isaac,
b 02 Oct 1777; d 18 Apr 1854 Natick; m _____ 1798 Fanny Jackson. 6
children.
15591.4t Hepsibah,
b 15 Dec 1779; d _____ ; m 16 Mar 1797 Samuel Stowe; lived Natick.
3 children.
15591.5 Abigail, b 15 Feb 1782; d
30 Oct 1844 Natick; unm.
15591.6 Josiah, b 16 Mar 1784; d 13
Apr
1794 Natick.
15591.7 Eunice, b 10 Apr 1786; d 15
Apr
1831 Natick; unmarried.
15591.8t Abraham,
b 15 Mar 1788; d 16 Oct 1873 Natick; m 15 Mar 1814 Louisa Train;
res Natick. 13 children.
15591.9t Susanna,
b 20 May 1790; d 12 Jun 1845; m _____ 1817 Alexander Thayer. Among
her family were 2 well known sons, Alexander W. Thayer ~.S. Conssl
at Austria and author of the standard work on the life of
Beethoven). and Dr. Henry Thayer, physician.
15591A Mehitable, b 18 Aug 1792;
d 10 Nov 1877 Natick; m _____ 1821 Chester Adams. He was a native
of Bristol, CT. They
res Natick, where he was prominent in town and county affairs,
town clerk
in Natick 27 yrs, member of the state legislature, 5 yrs in the
lower house,
4 yrs in the senate, and a colonel of militia in the War of 1812.
He died
1856, ae 71 yrs.
Sources:
Bigelow Society,The Bigelow Family Genealogy Vol I, pg
131-132;
Howe, Bigelow Family of America;
vital records various towns, MA.
Find a Grave 2022
Pleasant Street; Natick, MA:
Harriet Beecher Stowe House. This Federal residence was built in
1816 by
Dr. Alexander Thayer on land acquired from Col. Bigelow, his future
father-in-law.
The house is named for its most famous visitor, Harriet Beecher
Stowe, author
of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Calvin Stowe, grandson of William
Bigelow,
lived with that family after the death of his father. The couple
visited
this house often after their marriage in 1836. Mrs. Stowe based her
novel
“Oldtown Folks” on reminiscences of her in-laws.
4 Wheeler House. Moses Eames built this Greek Revival house with is
low columned
porch in the 1830s and sold to Lucy Morse in 1845. Aaron Wheeler
purchased
it in 1855, and it remained in the family until about 1918. During
the 1950s,
it housed a restaurant.
6. Eames House. Moses Eames built this Greek Revival in 1839. To
distinguish
his house from Goin Bailey’s of the same year, he added a cupola and
used
Doric columns rather than Ionic.
8 Dowd House. This office complex replaced the former Dowd House, a
barn
from the adjacent Eames property, moved and converted to a residence
by Charles
Dowd in the early 1900s.
Old Town Park and South Natick Dam. This
is the
site of the original dam, grist and saw mills built by Rev. Peabody
and Hezekiah
Broad ca. 1733. In 1778, Peletiah Morse sold them to William
Bigelow.
The last mill was razed in 1903. The dam was rebuilt in 1935. The
canal by
the basketball court was leased by Mr. Bigelow with a right-of-way
to a mill
where the Ealing Corp. now stands.
Indian Bridge. This stone bridge stands at the site of the original
foot
bridge over the Charles River. Under the supervision of the Rev.
Eliot, the
Native Americans built a strong arch nine feet high at its center.
It reached
80 feet at its center and lasted into the 1700s. This bridge was
built in
1857 at a cost of $3,442.42.
Hunnewell Field. East side of Pleasant Street. After the South
Natick fire
of 1872, the town leased a parcel here for a firehouse, later moved
to Union
Street. In 1902, the owners of the Bigelow Mills, Natick Gas Light
and Electric,
sold this land to A. Hunnewell, who deeded 11.21 acres to the town
for a
playground.
16 Horatio Alger House. Oliver Bacon built this house about 1824. In
1869,
Bacon sold to H.H. Hunnewell, who permitted Rev. Horatio Alger,
father of
the author, to live here until his death. In 1909, Hunnewell deeded
the property
to the First Unitarian Church of South Natick as a parsonage.
17 Bigelow-Foster House. In 1784, William Bigelow
bought land
from a Native, John Ephraim, and built a gambrel-roof cottage. In
1825, Isaac Bigelow removed the
old house except
for the kitchen, which he incorporated into this house.
18 Perry House. John J. Perry, son-in-law of Oliver Bacon, built
this house
in 1856. Perry moved the barn (Shaw Gym) back to house horses for
his coal
business. In 1907, Mrs. Robert G. Shaw bought the property and gave
the barn
to the town. She turned the house into a children’s home for the
Unitarian
Society of Boston.
20 Captain James McGrath House. In 1835, Alpheus Bigelow sold a
small house
to Converse Francis, father of Wayland’s Lydia Maria Child, a
feminist, abolitionist
and author of the poem “Over the River and Through the Woods.” In
1840, “Daddy”
Francis sold the land with two houses upon it to Captain James
McGrath, who
manufactured brogans here and was active in town affairs. Only
foundation
remnants of the smaller house remain.
From walking tour of Natick, MA
From: Historic homes and institutions
and genealogical
and personal memoirs of ... By Ellery Bicknell Crane
(Generation 5) William Bigelow, eldest child of
Lieutenant
Josiah Bigelow (4), was born in Weston, October 11, 1749, married,
March
25, 1772, Hepsibah Russell, who was born September 12, 1758, at
Weston. They
lived a few years at Weston and then removed in 1778 to Natick,
Massachusetts,
an adjoining town. where he spent the remainder of his life. He died
March
25, 1813, and his widow died October 31, 1830. He served in the
revolution
in Captain Samuel Lamson's company at the Lexington call. He was the
original
character described by Harriet Beecher Stowe in her "Old Town Folks"
as "Deacon
Badger'' and his wife Hepsibah was described as Grandmother Badger.
Those
who remembered Mr. and Mrs. Bigelow at the time the story was
written declared
that the characters were very accurately drawn. William Bigelow,
their eldest
son, was described as "Uncle Bill." Hepsibah, the mother of
Professor Calvin
E. Stowe, husband of the author, was known as "Susy" while Eunice
figured
as "Aunt Lois" and Abigail as "Aunt Keziah."
Their first three children were born at Weston, the remainder in
South Natick.
The children: I. William, born September 21, 1773, married Margaret
Lander.
2. Mary, born August 16, 1775, died October 17, 1823. 3. Isaac, born
October
2, 1777, married Fanny Jackson. 4. Hepsibah, born December 15, I779,
married,
March 16, 1797. Samuel Stowe, of Natick, and resided in Natick.
(Their second
child was Calvin Ellis Stowe. born April 26, 1802, married Harriet
Beecher,
daughter of Dr. Lyman Beecher. She was the famous author of Uncle
Tom's Cabin;
he wrote many theological works.) 5. Abigail, born February 15,
1782, died
October 30, 1844, unmarried. 6. Josiah, born March 16, 1784, died
April 13,
1794- 7- Eunice, born April 10, 1786, died April 15, 1831,
unmarried. 8.
Abraham, mentioned below.
9. Susanna, born May 20, 1790, married, 1817, Alexander Thayer;
mother of
A. W. Thayer, for twenty- five years consul at Trieste, Austria, a
well known
writer, author of life of Beethoven; she was mother also of Dr.
Henry Thayer;
she died June 12, 1845.
10. Mehitable, born August 18, 1792, married Hon. Chester Adams, a
native
of Bristol, Connecticut; resided at Natick; was colonel in the war
of 1812;
town clerk of Natick for twenty-seven years; repre- tcntative to the
general
court five years; to the state senate four years; she died November
10, 1877;
he died 1856, aged seventy-one years.
(Generation 6) Colonel Abraham
Bigelow,
youngest child of William Bigelow (5), was born at Natick,
Massachusetts,
March 15, 1788. He married, March 15, 1814, Louisa Train, who was
born at
Weston, June 6, 1794, and died in Natick, December 23, 1874. Colonel
Bigelow
was prominent in the militia and became colonel of a regiment of
mounted
militia. He was commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery
Company
of Boston in 1827 and 1828. He was colonel of the Artillery when
Rev. John
Pier- pont delivered his election sermon in which he made a strong
protest
against the military in so offensive a way that it was noticed in
the records
of the organization. He died at Natick, October 16, 1873, aged
eighty-five
years.
The children of Colonel Abraham and Louisa Bigelow were: I.
Alexander, mentioned
below. 2. Louisa Fiske, born May 14, 1816, married, October 6, 1840,
James
W. Locke, who was born at F"itz- william, New Hampshire, October 6.
1813,
and died March 4, 1844; resided at Batesville, Arkansas. 3. Margaret
L.,
born September 21, 1817, married, November 29, 1843, Farnum White,
of Holden;
resided at Hudson, New York, where he died 1854; she died at Natick,
July
6, 1886. 4. Lucy Train, born April 8, 1819, married, May 15, 1845,
Jonathan
B. Mann; he resided for many years in Washington, D. C. She wrote
often for
the newspapers on historical subjects; he died 1905. 5. Marshall
Train, born
January 28, 1821, died August 16, 1822. 6. Marshall Field, born
October 5,
1822, married Caroline Warland. 7. Francis Oliver, born February 6,
1823,
died February 25, 1862; resided at Medford, Massachusetts. 8. Mary,
born
March 8, 1825, died July 30, 1827. 9. Mary Elizabeth, born January
5, 1828,
died November 30, 1846. 10. Martha Greenwood, born February 8, 1830,
married
Samuel S. Richardson, and settled in Terre Haute, Indiana.
11. Ellen Maria, born November 14, 1831, married, April 12, 1859,
Isaac De
Forest White; resided at
Buffalo, New York; he died October 12, 1873. 12. William Perkins,
born July
29, 1834, married Martha Mansfield. 13. Abby Frances, born in
Holden, Massachusetts,
September 29, 1836, married, February 22, 1855, Isaac Gale.
(Generation 7) Alexander
Bigelow,
eldest child of Abraham Bigelow (6), was born in Natick,
Massachusetts, December
12, 1814. His educational advantages were limited to the common
schools.
When he was fifteen he went into a woolen mill to work, and after he
learned
the trade of woolen manufacturing in its various branches, came to
Worcester
and started in business for himself in partnership with George
Barber about
1850. The firm was Bigelow & Barber and their location was the
-present
site of the carpet mills of M. J. Whittall at South Worcester. In
1853 Bigelow
& Barber bought the mill and privilege at Hopeville on the
Middle river,
below the power station. They built a new mill, were twice burned
out, but
rebuilt. In 1870 Mr. Barber withdrew from the business and Mr.
Bigelow formed
a stock company with E. D. Thayer to continue the mill. The name of
the corporation
is the same as that under which the business has since been
conducted .to
the present time, the Hopeville Manufacturing Company. Mr. Thayer
was president,
Mr. Bigelow treasurer and Edward Gould, a director. After ten years
Mr. Bigelow
bought the other interests and remained until his death the sole
owner.
Mr. Alexander Bigelow started with nothing and acquired a very
creditable
competence; he built up a prosperous business and ranked among the
most respected
and esteemed of the manufacturers of his day in Worcester. The
industries
of Worcester of which the Hopeville Manufacturing Company is an
example have
been developed by the energy and ability of men like Mr. Bigelow.
His woolen
mill is the best memorial of his prudence, economy and thrift, his
business
sagacity and indefatigable industry. Mr. Bigelow was a member of the
Church
of the Unity (Unitarian). In politics he was a Republican, but never
cared
for public office himself.
He married, April 5, 1845, Adeline Stockwell. daughter of Cyrus
Stockwell.
She died at Worcester, December 24, 1879. He married (second)
October 18,
1881, Sarah M. Goodwin. She resides in Worcester. Mr. Bigelow died
January
22, 1887. The children of Alexander and Adeline Bigelow were: I.
Elizabeth,
born in Worcester, married in Worcester, July 16, 1878, David
Manning, Jr.,
a prominent lawyer; he was representative to the general court;
state senator
two terms; he died January 5, 1905, leaving one son, Alexander
Bigelow Manning
(see sketch of Manning family). 2. George Alexander, mentioned
below.
(Generation 8) George
Alexander
Bigelow, younger child of Alexander Bigelow (7), was
born in Worcester,
July 19, 1853. He attended the public schools of his native place.
After
three years in the Worcester high school he left to accept a
position in
the Central National Bank. He was advanced to various positions in
the bank,
where he worked in all for four years. He then entered partnership
with George
W. Coombs in the firm of Hyatt, Coombs & Company, dealers in
wool, 184
Front street. Joseph Hyatt, who was interested in the firm, lived at
Delaware,
Ohio. After three or four years the headquarters of the business was
removed
to the Boston office on Federal street, and the firm name was
changed to
Coombs & Bigelow. After seven years Mr. Bigelow withdrew from
the business
in order to take charge of the Mechanical Refrigerating Company on
North
street, Boston, the controlling interest of which was owned by his
father
and brother. Mr. Bigelow managed this business until it was bought
by the
Quincy Market Cold Storage Company.
In 1894 Mr. Bigelow returned to Worcester to take charge of his
father's
mill. Since then he has been president and treasurer of the
Hopeville Manufacturing
Company. For some years his brother- in-law, David Manning, was an
officer
of the corporation and devoted some attention to its affairs. At
present
Mr. Bigelow's son, Edward A. Bigelow, is the clerk of the company.
During
the past ten years the capacity of the plant has been doubled and
the product
correspondingly increased. The chief product of the mill is woolen
cloth
for men's and boys' clothing. Mr. Bigelow is a member of the
Commonwealth
Club, and the Worcester County Mechanics' Association. He is a
member of
the South Unitarian Church. In politics he is a Republican.
He married, October 10, 1877, Dora L. Tucker, daughter of James and
Ellen
(Walbridge) Tucker, of Norwich, Connecticut. Their children are: t.
Adelaide,
born in Norwich, July 27, 1878. 2. Helen Louise, born in Worcester,
August
5, 1880. 3. Edward Alexander, born in Worcester, May 5, 1885,
attended the
Worcester public schools and the Lowell Textile School and now with
the Hopeville
Manufacturing Company. 4. Dorothy Elizabeth, born in Worcester,
September
10, 1891.
Rod Bigelow (Roger Jon12 BIGELOW)
Box 13 Chazy Lake
Dannemora, N.Y. 12929
rodbigelow@netzero.net
BACK TO THE
BIGELOW SOCIETY PAGE
Back to Bigelow Home Page