Marcus James 7 BIGELOW
Children of Marcus and Clara (Parlin) Bigelow:
16B2A.261t Florence Louisa, b 17 Nov 1873 North Butte, Sutter co, CA; d 25 Sept 1949 (48?) Gridley, Butte co, CA; m 01 Aug 1900 Richard Campbell (1870-1943) of Gridley, CA; 2 sons
16B2A.262t Arthur Wallace, Hon., b 18 Nov 1876 Gridley, Butte co, CA; d 07 Feb 1947 (43?); m (1) 18 Aug 1903 Mary "Mamie" Erickson; son Mark or Marcus (1904-1965); m (2) 17 May 1914 Bertha Lou Sanders ( -1921 ); 1 child Bertha Lou (1917-2000); m (3) 28 May 1923 Emma (Dittes) Franzen, the widow of Henry Franzen; no children. (see below)
16B2A.263t Ralph Carl, b 07 Apr 1878; d 16 Jan 1938 (1943?); m (1) 10 Feb 1900 Lena Sanders, later divorced; 2 children: Carl and Helen; m (2) Florence Fahler; son Richard ( - );
16B2A.264t Theodosia Isabel, b 27 Sept 1881; d 21 July 1971 Walnut Creek, Contra Costa co, CA; m (1) 29 Mar 1902 David Carlton Orvis Bigelow (15326.3214); 2 sons, divorced; m (2) Herbert D.Young;
16B2A.265 Parlin Edward, b 12 Mar
1889; d 20
May 1910; no issue.(see below)
Sources:
Bigelow Family Genealogy Volume. II; page 276;
Howe, Bigelow Family of America; page 270 child
Mark;
FORGE: The Bigelow Society Quarterly;
Vol. 9,
No. 2
April,
1980
FORGE: The Bigelow Society Quarterly;
Vol. 28 No.3; July 1999.
Thompson and West, History of Sutter co, CA;
histories of Siskyou and Butte counties, CA;
histories of Butte and Siskiyou counties, CA;
Marriage Records California; Vol 5, No 2;
"Bigelow, Marcus J. m Parlin, Clara I. ; 13 Mar 1872 Clipper
Mills, #283"
census records CA;
descendants family records;
family Bibles;
correspondence with descendants of Marcus Bigelow;
16B2A.265 Parlin Edward Bigelow, b 12 Mar 1889; d 20 May 1910; no issue. He died young of Septic Meningitis at age 22y, 2m, 8d, while his parents, Marcus James and Clara Isabelle (Parlin) Bigelow, were living at Neroly/Antioch, Contra Costa, California. Family records are that he died in San Francisco where he may have been for medical care for the condition that caused his early death. Gridley Biggs Cemetery records have his death place as Brentwood, Contra Costa, CA, which would have been provided by a family member to the mortuary, and is an upscale area next to Antioch. He was the fifth and youngest child; brother of Florence Louise, Arthur Wallace, Ralph Carl, Theodosia Isabelle BIGELOW. His grandfather brought his family, including his father in his youth, to California after the Gold Rush for business and farming opportunities, finally settling in North Butte (now Pennington, Sutter, California where Gridley in Butte County was a larger nearby town for shopping. His parents later made Gridley their home and source of employment before moving to Neroly/Antioch. Gridley Cemetery remained the resting place of choice by the extended family.
The late Mrs. Ed (Pat) Bigelow's records; photographs
Larry W. Campbell, 4741 7th Av., Sacramento 20, CA submitted group
sheets before Vol. 1 and 2 were on computer. Marcus crossed the
plains
by ox-cart in 1857. A letter (Eugene's article) written by
Marcus' older brother to Allen Bigelow and Emily Wallace, his
parents,
instructing them how to
prepare for the transcontinental trip. Allen was then 55 and
took
wife
and children to foot of Mt. Shasta in Northern CA, evidently
taking the
Oregon trail after crossing Utah and dropped into CA fm. the north
and
settled
in Weed, a little community on the northeast slope of Mt.
Shasta.
They went into the logging business and were active in the
manufacture
of
lumber during gold rush era. Then they moved to Gridley, 100
mi.south
in Sacramento Valley and farmed. In their memory, BIGELOW
FALLS
on
east slope of Mt.Shasta (near famous chalets later built by
William R.
Hurst)
and BIGELOW ROAD, near Pennington not far from Gridley.
Rewrite
by Larry Campbell < llcampbell23@sbcglobal.net >
The entry for my Great-Grandfather, has information from
several
contributors, which includes conflicting dates and information
before
more accurate information was available. The
following
is a more accurate bio that flows in the chronological order of
his
life.
Please replace the main portion of his entry with this more
accurate
update. I have tried to contact contributor and my
cousin
Michael Biglow, but he is not responding.
Larry W. Campbell,
llcampbell@netzero.com March 28, 2011.
16B2A.26 Marcus James 7 BIGELOW, son of
Thomas (
Gale, Jabez, Gershom, Joshua, John) and Jane
Emily
(WALLACE) BIGELOW, was born 29 October 1840 at New Lebanon,
Columbia,
NY. In June 1846, age 5, his family and the Hogeboom family
moved
to Genoa, DeKalb, IL where his parents farmed 120 acres.
In the spring of 1857, Marcus (age 16) went overland by ox
cart
with his parents to CA. His older sister, Jane Eliza was
being
courted by Joseph Hogeboom. He decided
to marry Jane, leave his family in Genoa, and go with the
Bigelows the next morning.
A letter survives, written by Ralph
Bigelow
to Allen Bigelow and Emily Wallace, his parents, instructing them
on
how to prepare for the transcontinental trip. They took the
northern trail
with easier mountains to cross. They entered CA along
Goose
Lake near the CA/OR border and settled in Weed, Siskiyou, CA near
his
older brother, Ralph, who had preceded them to CA. Allen was
age
55 when he made the trip with his wife, children, and son-in-law,
which
was old for this difficult crossing in those days. We
descendants
who live in sunny CA, not cold IL, owe him our sincere thanks.
In Weed, a little community on the
northwest
slope of Mount Shasta, they went into the logging business and the
manufacture of lumber during the booming Gold Rush era. This
must
be where Marcus first learned to keep the sawmill machinery
running as
the beginning of his long career. When things slowed, they
moved
by 1860 to North Butte (now Pennington), Sutter, CA , which is
about
100 miles south in the Sacramento Valley on a smaller mountain
slope,
and there engaged in farming, where Joseph and Jane Hogeboom were
also
most successful.
In commemoration of this family there are two
public names: Bigelow Falls, which is on the east slope of Mount
Shasta
(near the famous chalets later built by William Randolph Hurst)
and
Bigelow Road, which is on the North side of the Sutter Buttes in
an
area called Pennington (then North Butte), not far from the town
of
Gridley.
1870 Census, Marcus is single, living in New
York
Township (Brownsville P.O.), Yuba, CA as a mill machinist in a
lumber
mill. The home is owned by Amasa P. Willy, Lumberman and
occupied
by other workers in the mill, one of whom has a wife and
child.
This lumber mill is located near the Parlin family where he met
his
future wife, Clara. On 13 March 1872 (age 31) he
married Clara Isabel Parlin (age 19) at Clipper Mills, Yuba, CA.
Clara
was born at Woodville (now Woodleaf), Yuba, CA on 10 July 1852 to
49er
parents, first white child born in that vicinity, a gold mine camp
in
the Sierra Nevada mountains east of Oroville, CA.
In 1880, he and Clara with three children are
farming in Hamilton (now East Gridley), Butte, CA near the Andrew
W.
and Martha (Moore) Campbell family. H e was a gentleman
farmer
who enjoyed playing cards with friends more than farming, thus he
was
not too successful at farming. He moved and worked
slowly.
He would quit work early in the day and go into Porter's Soda
Fountain
and bar in Gridley to play cards with his friends for
entertainment,
not gambling. They never had electric lights in their home. He
could
not both play cards and farm, so the farm got mortgaged to
Bonslett,
and they moved to Oakley (Neroly) near Antioch, CA.
Marcus and Clara were very musically
inclined.
Marcus was a hoedown fiddler and Clara played the organ and
sang.
In an era when everyone made his own entertainment, they were in
great
demand because of their musical skills. Their grandson,
Eugene
Biglow, as a small child as late as 1914, can recall their
playing. Marcus was also a "steam engineer," as they called
men
who were skilled in keeping the early power equipment running.
Eugene
recalls one annual job he had to man the county road equipment,
fire
the boilers, and operate the steam engine used to heat and spray
the
dirt roads with oil. This was before the days when the roads were
filled with rock ballast to form a base.
He learned to drive an automobile at age 74
and
drove very fast. Everyone was afraid to ride with him. He
only
wrecked a car once, and considering his age, did admirably.
His
first car was a 1908 Buick; he later sold it and bought a 1918
Model T
Ford. In those days one bought gasoline from a handcart in a
garage. We
drove into a garage in Antioch, filled with gas and we were going
to
back out. He was driving and Eugene was sitting on the right. I
was
about eight at the time. He said, "You watch your side, and
I
will watch mine." We started backing up, and he was going to hit
the
door on my side. I said, "Grandad, go ahead." I kept saying it
louder
until we crashed into the wall. I was furious and said, "Grandad,
I
told you to go ahead," and he said, "I thought you meant, "go
ahead and
back up." Marcus Bigelow was very active in the
Masonic Order; was past Secretary in North Butte Masonic
Lodge
No. 230. Served 6 terms in 1878, 1882 -
1886. On
his 50th year as a member received a large silver service. Eugene
is
most fortunate in having inherited one of the silver
teapots. I
am also grateful that I have Marcus James' and Clara's library
table,
Morris chair, and an ornate marble-top dresser, while my cousin,
Richard Wallace Campbell of Gridley, has Clara's reed pump organ.
Marcus James remained very active until
into
his eighties and then gradually developed hardening of the
arteries of
the cerebrum and could remember only old times but did not know
any of
his family. He died in Gridley, Butte, CA on 8 June 1933 at the
age
of 92 years, 7 months, and 9 days. His grave marker
can be
seen at:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=bigelow&GSfn=marcus&GSiman=1&GScid=8006&GRid=32823982&
-------------------------
Note:
Subject: Correction to A.J. Biglow page
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 18:27:26 -0900
From: Mike Biglow <mjb5491@iname.com>
On Marcus James Bigelow's webpage, his wife's name was
"Emily
Jane
Wallace," so the name "Emily" should be added before the Jane.
http://bigelowsociety.com/rod7/mar72a26.htm#16B2A.264
By the way, is there any movement a foot to add pictures of any
of
these people on the web? With today's scanners and jpeg
formats,
it is an
easy thing to do. (This just occurred to me as I verified
the
name order
on Emily Jane Wallace Bigelow's portrait framed on my wall, half
of a
pair with her husband born in 1802!) I'd be happy to send
scans,
if you
are interested.
Cheers!
Mike Biglow
<
rodbigelow@netzero.net > 
