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

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Deacon William 5 BIGELOW

Deacon William ⁵ BIGELOW