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Children of Amos and Fanny (Stockwell) Bigelow:
15349.71 Liberty, b July 1812 Sutton, MA; d 31 Oct 1813 Sutton.
15349.72t Liberty D., b 28 June 1815 Sutton, MA; d 20 Jan 1890 Melrose, MA; m 31 Mar 1835 Harriet Lawrence. (see below)
15349.73 Sophia H., b ca 1825 Pittsfield, NH; m (1) 19 Apr 1841 Eleazer Kelly; (2)19 May 1860 Sanford Inman of Oxford, MA. (see below)
15349.74 Lucinda H.F., b ca 1829; d 4 Nov 1845 Sutton, MA.
Sources:
Bigelow Society,The Bigelow Family Genealogy, Vol I, pg 249;
Howe, Bigelow Family of America; pg 195;
vital records Sutton, MA.
Note:
Possible ancestors:
Subject: Bigelow geneology
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 15:05:42 EDT
From: Betty Inman Cohee EMCOHEE@aol.com
My father's middle name was Bigelow, I believe that it had been the
maiden name of a a female ancestor. My father was
Frederick Bigelow Inman, his father was Harry Bigelow Inman. I
would like to find where the linkage may be between these two families.
My family settled early in New England, Massachusetts and Rhode Island
in particular. They moved to New Jersey sometime around the turn of
the century.
If you have any information that would help, please respond.Betty Inman
Cohee
1841. SOPHIA H., b. in Pittsfield, N. It., about 1825; m. May 19, 1860,
Sandford A. Inman of Oxford.
From Internet Source:
http://beebeestate.org/more_info_be.html
Around 1842 William Harlow, also a Boston businessman,
purchased the Foster estate on West Foster Street, Melrose, from Mr. Foster.
Mr. Harlow was connected with the steam railroad business, and while he was
living in the house the Boston & Maine railroad tracks were laid through
Melrose in 1845, a portion adjoining his land. He remained in the house for
12 years, and then sold it to Liberty Bigelow
Mr. Bigelow, who was born in Sutton, Massachusetts, on
June 23, 1815, left home at the early age of 17 to seek his fortune. He became
a stage driver, then considered a respectable calling, and made a real success
of it. After consulting with James Gordon Bennett, the noted Scottish-American
newspaper publisher and journalist, he established the first stage express
between Boston and New York.
When steam railroads began to replace stage express,
Mr. Bigelow naturally gravitated to the railroad business. It was his idea
that the Cheshire Railroad, based in Keene, New Hampshire, then in its infancy,
should be extended into Vermont. He was able to attract the attention of
the proper people with his idea and when the Sullivan and the Rutland Railroad
lines were established in Vermont, he was appointed Superintendent.
In 1854, Liberty Bigelow was appointed Superintendent
of the much larger Fitchburg Railroad with offices in Boston. At about this
time he purchased the Melrose home built by William Foster. Bigelow left
the Fitchburg Railroad in 1857 to establish his own express business in Brattle
Square, Boston. His company first expressed merchandise by railroad between
Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and Keene, New Hampshire. Later he merged his company
with Northern Express Ltd. There was born his idea for a United States -
Canadian express, which developed into one of the most prosperous express
companies on the continent.
A few years later, Mr. Bigelow was asked to go to Chicago
to work with Franklin Parmalee in establishing a horse street railway system.
New York City had had such a system for some years and many of the large
eastern cities had followed suit. Chicago having become a thriving city,
was in great need of such a method of transportation. The Chicago City Railway
Company founded by Bigelow and Parmalee was a great success. Liberty Bigelow
first conceived the idea of running a system of railway coaches between railroad
stations and hotels in Chicago. This idea spread throughout the eastern part
of the country. During his stay in Chicago, the Bigelow family remained in
their Melrose home. After completing his service of about five years in Chicago,
he returned to Melrose to enjoy a well deserved retirement. He continued
to serve as director of several Boston concerns including the Metropolitan
Horse Railway.
Mr. Bigelow died in Melrose on June 20, 1890, in his
75th year. He was described as a fine physical specimen, modest and retiring,
genial and philanthropically minded; beloved and respected by all.
The estate remained in the hands of Liberty Bigelow's
widow, Harriet A. Bigelow. In this house, the Melrose Hospital Association
was organized on July 28, 1893. Mrs. Bigelow was a strong supporter of the
hospital and gave much of her time and money to it. From this beginning,
the hospital has grown into the large private institution that it is today.
At Mrs. Bigelow's death in 1898, her daughter, Katherine,
inherited the estate. She was married to Decius Beebe, descendent of a wealthy
family and a member of the firm of Lucius Beebe and Sons of Boston, which
had extensive interests and tanneries in New England.
Mr. Beebe’s forbears came to this country in 1650 and settled in New London,
Connecticut, where the family became large landowners and prominent in the
community. As the years went by, the sons and grandsons struck out on their
own in various business enterprises. In the 1830's, Lucius and Junius Beebe
set up business in New Orleans as Commission Merchants. At about this time,
steam power for ships came into use and a steam railroad was developing throughout
the east and south. Both of those methods of transportation were a boon to
the Beebe business which prospered beyond imagination. About 1844, they opened
an office in Boston and later one in New York City.
After the Boston store opened, Lucius Beebe moved his family to Cambridge,
Massachusetts, where they lived for a few years. Later they moved to Melrose
for about a year. Here, Decius, was born on May 2, 1852. The family finally
settled in the adjoining town of Wakefield where the father, Lucius, purchased
the Forrester estate located on the east shore of Lake Quannapowet.
After Decius finished school, he entered his father's firm in Boston. In
1879, he married Katherine Bigelow, only child of Liberty and Harriet A.
Bigelow. Their marriage was blessed with eight children.
Decius and his twin brother, Marcus, with another brother, Junius, continued
to operate the leather business very successfully, and the Beebe name was
well recognized throughout the trade. Decius was also active in local financial
affairs; was President of the Melrose National Bank from its incorporation
in 1892; was a trustee of the Melrose Savings Bank; and was a generous contributor
of time, talent and money to the Melrose Hospital.
Decius died on September 23, 1915, at the age of 63 and his wife, Katherine,
remained in the house until her death in 1928. Two maiden daughters continued
to live there until the death of the remaining one, Selinda, in 1963. On
November 19, 1963, the property was acquired by the City of Melrose and turned
over to the School Department for use as its Administration Building. It
served this purpose for more than thirty years until the city decided to
use the restored and greatly expanded Beebe Estate barn as the Milano Senior
Center, and to move the Council on Aging offices to the main house.
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