John Marcus 9 BIGELOW
Children of John M. and Etta (Hunt) Bigelow;
15145.17131 Jack Harvey, b 13 Dec 1893 Bowling Green;
d 03 Feb 1977 Bowling Green, Wood, OH; m (1) 1912 Elizabeth
_____ ; m (2) Florence Black; dau Georgetta Bigelow;
( -1915)
15145.17132 Della Jocelyn, b 06 Dec 1895 Bowling
Green, Wood, OH; d 29 Aug 1967;
m 26 Aug 1924 Harold Joseph "Gus" Leahy;
15145.17133 Georgia A., b 22 Mar 1898 Bowling
Green, Wood, OH; d ____ ; m D. C.
Bryan (1898-1956); child: Virginia Bigelow Bryan;
15145.17134 Harry K., b 08 Oct 1901
Bowling
Green; d _______ ; m Agnes Curtain.
15145.17135 John Ray, b 21 Nov 1903;
Bowling Green; d 12 June 1975 Hemet, CA; m _ Feb 1921 Madelyn Vern
(1898-1975); 3 children: Jeanne Frances, Joan Rae, and John Ray, jr
Bigelow;
(see below)
15145.17136t Edith L., b 11 Nov 1905
Bowling Green, Wood co, OH; d 22 Feb 1958; m Edward Newton Jackson
(1896-1943); 3 children known; Patricia, June Etta, and John Edward
Jackson;
15145.17137 Josephine "Joey", b __ 1908 Bowling Green, OH; d 18 Jan 2000 Bowling Green, OH; m 15 Feb 1928 Roy H. Smith; 2 children;
15145.17138 Pauline
Virginia "Fritzi", b 23 Apr 1911 Bowling Green, OH; d _____ ; m
22 Mar 1936 John A. Hartman; 2 children:
Sources:
Bigelow Society,The Bigelow Family Genealogy, Vol II, pg 308-309
child;
Family correspondence with Bigelow Society historian/genealogist
Music and talented musicians seem to run in
many branches of the Bigelow Family. One such is the John
Marcus 9 BIGELOW family. This John was a
very strong man - six ft. tall weighing 220 pounds with not an ounce of
fat; all muscle. When he was 32 he married Etta Eliza Hunt, she
was 18 on her wedding day. This was in Bowling Green, Ohio, 19
March 1892. Between 1893 and 1911 John and Etta had 8 children.
To keep the children in a tight home atmosphere, it was decided that
music was the answer. There seemed to be a lot of natural talent
on both sides of the family.
John would buy his children the finest instruments,
but each child had to learn to play them without lessons. Jack started
coronet when he was 10 and he helped his sisters, Delia and
Georgia. Harry played an alto horn and John, Jr., the trombone - also
an organ later on. Edith played the trombone, piano and organ.
She was a fine musician and later played
professionally with Rita Rio and his orchestra. Josephine played
the drums, Virginia played the saxophone and clarinet
John, the father, played the bass drum and Etta, the mother, alto
horn.
father was a lumber yard owner and stationery engineer, but both
parents devoted lots of time to their musical family. They
played band concerts on the square in Bowling Green and around the
area. Jack formed the All-Girl Band in 1921, including his five
sisters and first wife, Elizabeth. They traveled the states
playing the Keith Orpheum Circuit and the RKO Circuit and for 25 years
played at the Wood County (Ohio) Fairgrouds in conjunction with radio
station WFOB. Jack opened a music store in Bowling Green with his
sister Josephine, and mother. This store featured "a complete
line of musical supplies, including instruments, sheet music, records,
record players, cutters, radios and pianos. It also repaired
all kinds of musical instruments and certain lessons were given." This
store operated
from 19M-6 until December of 1980. After Jack's death, in 1977, his
widow,
Florence, aided in running the store.
Virginia Bigelow Hartman's son, John (a dentist),
plays trombone in The Natural Gas Jazz band for his recreation in the
San Francisco area. Her daughter, Georgetta, was a 3 time winner
on the Ted Mack program and played with the Phil Spitalny All Girl
Orchestra. She also competed in a program from Madison Square
Garden, playing a variety of instruments.
Music held this Bigelow family together over the years and it doesn't
seem likely that music will disappear from later generations'
gatherings.
Material for this article from: Mrs. Hartman, The Daily
Sentinel-Tribune, Bowling Green, Ohio, December 19, 1980; Mrs. Ed
Bigelow, Fairbanks, Alaska, and Howe's: The Bigelow Family.
Liner notes from LP in Bigelow Library:
You might say Fritzi was born with a horn to her
lips. Nan Nan Bigelow must have given her a tuba mouthpiece for a
"teething ring" for if you were in the Bigelow family, you had to play
a horn!! She was the youngest of eight children, born in 1911 to John
and Etta Bigelow in Bowling Green, Ohio. Jack, Delia. Georgia, Harry,
John, Edith and Josephine were
already part of the Bigelow Family Band; so Fritzi joined them at an
early
age singing, dancing, and playing the drum. She later added other band
instruments to her repertoire concentrating on tuba and sax.
Playing for fairs, fanners institutes, political rallies, and
vaudeville shows all over Northwestern Ohio kept the family band busy
during the teens. One memorable concert was for Armistice Day, November
11, 1918.
In 1925, at the tender age of fourteen, she got her
first taste of vaudeville. When the Vincent Lopez Debutantes came to
the
Trianon Ballroom in Toledo, their tuba player became ill and needed an
operation. The manager of the Debutantes was a friend of Fritzi's
brother, Jack, who by this time had his own band on the Keith Orpheum
Circuit. After much persuasion, Mama Bigelow let Fritzi join the group
until the tuba player recovered. They played the Keith's Theatre in
Toledo and the Circle in Indianapolis.
1927 found Fritzi playing tuba in brother Jack's
band at the Bay Shore Inn on Lake Erie. For a publicity stunt, the band
went high over Maumee Bay in a United Cigar Store airplane piloted by
the famous Col. Roscoe Turner. The next day's headlines in The Toledo
News Bee were "Fritzi Teaches Birds to do Black Bottom."
Fritzi stayed out of high school that year to play with Jack's band.
They were headquartered in Chicago where they played in the vaudeville
theaters. The band ended the year with a trip to the West Coast playing
in the theaters of all the major cities. It was during that year that
Fritzi was first featured in her specialty one man band "Dinah" number.
She played sax, clarinet, trombone, trumpet, piano, drums, tuba and
ended with a tap dance. It was a real showstopper!
After traveling a year, Fritzi returned to high
school and graduated in 1929. Even though playing bands was fun, Fritzi
really wanted to be a school teacher. She entered Bowling Green
University and studied
French and math, because the music courses were too expensive.
With two years of college completed, Fritzi got the
opportunity to travel again with her two sisters in a small stage band.
She thought she could save enough money and return to school and study
music. They toured the South in 1931. Their shows included a chorus
line, comedians, jugglers, a string group and a young singer named
Roberta Sherwood.
Fritzi returned to Bowling Green and graduated with a
major in French. She also did additional work at Ohio State University
and obtained a major in music.
A BIT ABOUT JOHN A. AND JOHN B.
Backing Fritz: is John A. Hartman on keyboard and
John B. Hartman on trombone, percussion, and vocal. Born in Napoleon,
Ohio.
John A. started his musical career under the direction of his mother,
Lottie Crabtree Hartman, who was a church organist. John's high school
band director, Mike Lombards, was also a big influence. In 1928 John
was selected to play in the Ohio State Fair Band and was directed by
John Philip Sousa.
John was also a natural athlete playing all sports, but excelling in
track. In college he combined both music and athletics. John broke
records on the Bowling Green State University track team and is now a
member of the Athletic Hall of Fame. Besides being a band director,
John was a successful basketball coach and guidance counselor. He
directed the senior choir at the Wesley United Methodist Church for
seventeen years. He is very active in Republican politics in Williams
County, Ohio, and is past president of the Rotary and Toastmasters
clubs. In the summers, John directs the Bryan City Band, an
organization
that was formed in 1852.
John B. started his musical career on the piano followed shortly by the
cornet and violin. Because his father needed trombone players in the
school band, John switched to that instrument in sixth grade. During
his high school years, John played in the marching, concert and dance
bands. He attended
Culver Military Academy and was a member of the band. Athletics was
important
to John, and like his father, he excelled in track setting many school
records.
At an early age, John B. decided he wanted to be a dentist. He pursued
getting his degree at Bowling Green State University and Ohio State
University. While he was at Ohio State, he played guitar with folk
groups. After graduation, John served two years in the army one being
in Viet Nam as a dentist.
John B. moved to the San Francisco area in 1969 and returned to school
to get a certificate in Periodontia from the University of California.
He presently is practicing dentistry in Novato California. Shortly
after he moved to the Bay Area. John joined the Natural Gas Jazz Band.
This group performs not only in the Bay Area but also plays in
festivals in Sacranmento, Three Rivers and Pismo Beach. Outside
California they have played gigs in Davenport Iowa Ir.dis.-.spriis
Denver Charleston West Virginia
Note:
Subject: John Marcus Bigelow
Date: 27 Dec 2003
From: John Bigelow (jbigelow@vcn.com)(not valid 2008)
Rod,
rodbigelow@netzero.net
