Biography
Timothy Bigelow was born to a
successful farming family in the Pakachoag Hill area of Worcester (now Auburn)
on August 12, 1739. He was the fifth son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Whitney)
Bigelow. Two of his brothers, Nathaniel and Elijah, died before he was old
enough to know them. Timothy chose at an early age to follow in the footsteps
of his great grandfather John, a successful blacksmith in Watertown. Timothy
apprenticed as a blacksmith and was also successful in the smithy trade and as
an innkeeper. Timothy was self educated and from his love of the printed word
grew a personal library of famous literary works. He also started the " The
Learned Blacksmiths." in Worcester.
He became an eloquent speaker and
was known throughout the area for his superior ability at debating. He was
described as a man with a dynamic mind and generous warm heart. He was six
feet two inches tall and had an admirable personal appearance that displayed a
military bearing. The following is an anecdote told by the Rev. Andrew Bigelow
about a conversation with an aged parishioner who saw Major Bigelow on his way
to Cambridge. " Standing outside the tavern, many people coming and going, I
spied a couple of officers walking up. One of them was a tall man, stepping
very handsome; had a firm, quick gait, and no swagger. He was speaking to the
other quite earnestly, and looked, somehow, serious. He was a six-footer, and
something more; carried himself straight; was broad-chested, not spare. I
remember he was rather dark complected, but with a good brown color on his
cheeks; his hair a jet-black, very full, and clubbed behind ( gathered in a
pony tail ). I watched his eyes : they were very bright; blackish, or
thereabouts; saw them plain, as he passed by and went into the house. When
they had got in, I asked a countryman, standing by, who that tall officer was.
He said, 'Major Bigelow: Major Bigelow of Worcester.'"
Timothy Bigelow
expressed his anti-British sentiment early both in his public speaking and in
writing. With over a hundred years of American struggle under British rule in
his family, he advocated the need for the formation of home rule. He fell in
love with Anna Andrews, the young daughter of Samuel and Anna (Rankin)
Andrews. Her family in New Hampshire did not approve of 15 year old Anna
associating with 23 year old Timothy because he was not of equal financial
standing. Anna was an orphan and heir of the tannery fortune Samuel Andrews
had built. They continued to meet secretly in Worcester. Anna and Timothy
eloped on July 7th, 1762. They produced six children; Nancy born 1765, Timothy
born 1767, Andrew, born 1769, Rufus born 1772, Lucy born 1774, and Clarissa,
born 1781. The deep love of his wife and children could not subdue his strong
feelings of patriotism.
Timothy was an elected member of the colonists'
grievance committee, the "Committee of Correspondence". The open conflict
between the colonies and England and lack of organization inspired Timothy to
organize the "Political Society" in December of 1773. Their meetings were held
in the Bigelow home. They arranged to form an agreement with each citizen of
Worcester to provide arms and ammunition, an act of treason at that time. This
group of Minutemen were enlisted and Timothy Bigelow was unanimously chosen to
command. The work of the Political Society broke the powerful control of the
Tory party in Worcester. Every evening all their free time was spent in
militia training and drills. In 1774 they went on to join the "Sons of
Liberty". In March of 1775 the Minutemen were ordered to train half a day a
week. They were each paid half a shilling for their time. Capt. Timothy
Bigelow's company had been training every day for months and already displayed
prodigious military precision. Post express rider, Israel Bissell, rode from
Boston to Philadelphia to deliver the message of war from General Palmer. On
the morning of April 19th he passed through Worcester calling " TO ARMS!, TO
ARMS!, THE WAR HAS BEGUN!" Within a short time the Minutemen were marching in
Lincoln Square.
In all, one hundred ten men marched off for Concord.
Capt. Bigelow stopped to rest his men at Howe Tavern in Sudbury. They pressed
on and the organization of the army was made in Cambridge. As the first
company reviewed by General George Washington, he is reported to have said,
"This is discipline, indeed." Capt. Bigelow marched at the Battle of Concord
and Lexington, and soon after received from Congress the commission of Major.
Timothy was also a member of Boston's Whig Club, and he was a delegate
to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. As the conflict escalated so did the
threats against Isaiah Thomas, printer of the Massachusetts Spy newspaper.
Paper was in scarce supply. Getting the word out to supporters was such an
important task that John Hancock suggested Isaiah Thomas move his Boston Press
out out to the country. With Timothy Bigelow's assistance the press was hauled
to the cellar of the Bigelow home in Worcester. The Massachusetts Spy
continued publication and all the printing for the Provincial congress was
done there until the presses were set up in Cambridge and Watertown. Isaiah
Thomas also founded the American Antiquarian Society.
In the fall of
1775 Major Bigelow volunteered, along with twelve soldiers from Worcester, to
join force with 750 hand selected men to accompany Col. Benedict Arnold as
part of a supporting eastern invasion force aimed at Quebec City. The
expedition was a failure. Intentionally deceptive British maps, bad weather,
difficult terrain, and a lack of proper supplies put the men into dire
circumstances. Col. Arnold set out from Fort Western on September 25th with
eleven hundred men. In six weeks time he had only six hundred remaining. The
men were forced to eat anything they could find to try to
survive.
Despite the hardships Col. Arnold believed that if they joined
with the remains of other forces they could still take Quebec. In a daring
night attack, during a snow storm, on December 31st, Major Bigelow and his few
remaining men, were captured by the British. He remained a prisoner of war for
seven months. In the fall of 1776 he came home when a prisoner exchange was
arranged. Timothy was again called to serve as a Lieutenant Colonel and in
1777 he was commissioned a full Colonel of the 15th regiment under General
Gates. Col Bigelow and the men of the 15th were present at the surrender of
General Burgoyne.
Then they set off to support the army, under the
command of General Washington, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At White Marsh
General Washington recognized Col. Bigelow from their first meeting in
Cambridge. While shaking Timothy's hand he is reported to have said "This,
gentleman officers, is Col. Bigelow, and the 15th regiment of the
Massachusetts line under his command. This gentleman is the man who vanquished
the former royalists in his own native town. He marched the first company of
Minutemen from Worcester at the Alarm from Lexington. He shared largely at the
suffering of the campaign against Quebec, and was taken prisoner there. After
his exchange he raised a regiment in his own neighborhood, and joining the
northern army under General Gates, participated in the struggle with Burgoyne,
and shares largely in the honor of that victory" A member of his troop said
that this was a clear indication of "the high estimation in which the
commander-in-chief held Colonel Bigelow." With a lack of rest and necessities
the army was in wretched condition. The British took control of Philadelphia.
The American troops were all pushed back until they set up winter quarters in
Valley Forge. Colonel Bigelow and the 15th. were with them. When many men were
wanting to give up, Col. Bigelow reaffirmed his decision to stay with the
American cause, come what may, he was a solider for life.
With the
arrival of supplies, more troops, and spring weather they moved out and began
fighting the British troops as they moved onto the battle at Monmouth, 1778.
Timothy is now under the command of General Lafayette. Col. Bigelow's troops
were the last to quit the field. When one of his men was wounded he grabbed
his musket from him and "fought more like a tiger then a man". The Americans
took the field and the British fled under the cover of night. Col. Bigelow was
called to aid in many small skirmishes, breaking up nests of Tories, and
protecting the American people from the evils that wars bring. He kept watch
of British troop movements in New York, Connecticut and Rhode island. When
Col. Bigelow hears that General Gates leaves his command of the southern army
to General Greene, 1780, he requests and receives orders for his regiment to
join General Greene in the south.
Colonel Bigelow was then assigned to
fight under General Lafayette at Yorktown in 1781. The American successes at
Battle of Yorktown laid the foundation for the end of the American Revolution
and peace. Col. Bigelow and his regiment return to West Point. He was then
ordered to leave West Point for Rhode Island. Colonel Bigelow returned to
Worcester. He soon returned to West Point and then was assigned to the arsenal
at Springfield until his term was over. In 1782 the provisional articles for
peace were signed.
Montpelier township was granted by the legislature
of Vermont, October of 1780 and consisted of 22,640 acres. By charter from the
governor, the town was conveyed to Colonial Timothy Bigelow and associates on
August14, 1781. When Timothy served on the staff of General Lafayette he
became close friends with the French aide-de-camp (Lafayette's personal
assistant). In May of 1787 Colonel Bigelow and his French officer friend
visited the area. When they reached it highest point Colonel Bigelow is
reported to have said to his friend " This is my charter, but I do not know
what to name it." The French officer replied, "The beauty of the scenery, the
clarity of the air, the purity of the water, remind me of my native city in
France, Montpelier. If you give your town that name, it will remind, in years
to come, your descendants and mine of our mutual friendship begun in war,
confirmed in peace." Colonel Bigelow decided it should be so. On this visit
they were joined by Col. Jacob Davis and General Parley Davis, both associate
grantees. As Colonel Davis set up camp he is said to have declared "Here shall
stand the capital of Vermont." He stayed and built a log home at that same
location. Eighteen years later (1805) the Vermont legislature was looking for
a permanent home and selected Montpelier as the capital city.
Timothy
returned to Worcester. The hardships of war had taken their toll. In 1999 a
descendent of Asa Harrington posted finding an entry that showed Col. Timothy
Bigelow was reported as "deranged" in 1781. Upon Timothy's return he found his
once impressive business and financial status grievously depreciated. Soldiers
were paid in Continental paper money. Post-war time was hard and this currency
no longer held its value. The cost of necessities had risen 3340 percent over
pre-war prices. With his can do spirit he set about rebuilding his blacksmith
& innkeeper business. But with necessities like shoes costing $40 a pair,
the American Dollar had not yet been adopted, one could only trade with
credit. The brawn required by the Blacksmith trade had been stripped from
Timothy by too many years of poor nutrition during the war. He was a shell of
the man he once was, he faltered, and his business failed. Too little was know
about mental illness and the disorder we now call post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD). In history it has also been referred to as shell shock,
battle fatigue, combat fatigue, traumatic war neurosis, and combat neurosis.
His creditors mounted and he found himself so deep in debt, he could not see a
way out.
In 1784, there were seven people in the Worcester debtors'
prison. By 1786, twenty six men were housed in each cell. With the demons of
war pursuing him, the death of his son Andrew in 1787 was too much for him to
bear. Plagued by depression, ill health, and unpaid loans, one of George
Washington's best officers was sent to debtors' prison. The men who should
have been Timothy's friends and owed much of their freedom to his patriotism,
treated him poorly. Given the conditions of the prison at that time, this was
a death sentence. Colonel Timothy Bigelow died in debtors' prison on March 31,
1790 at the age of 51. The friend and patriot to whom he had given aid in
saving his printing press, Isaac Thomas, placed only a single line in the
Massachusetts Spy Newspaper, reporting Timothy's death.
Timothy's
beloved wife, Anna lived in Groton and died there in July of 1809 at the age
of 63.
His eldest son, his namesake Timothy, apprenticed to Isaiah
Thomas for two years and in 1779. They remained friends. Mr. Thomas makes note
of dining with him numerous times in his diary. Timothy joined his father
during the Rhode Island campaign. He then returned home and graduated with
honors from Harvard University. He was accepted into the bar and became a
successful lawyer in Groton. He went on to become representative to the
general court, a state senator, a member of the legislature for 18 years, and
was also speaker of the house. He died at the age of 54.
His first
born daughter Nancy married the Honorable Abraham Lincoln of Worcester in
1784. Lincoln was a selectman, representative to the general court and member
of the council. He was certainly a man of position and influence in Worcester.
His son Andrew's death came swiftly. He died of consumption at 18
years of age. Today we know consumption was tuberculosis.
His son
Rufus became a leading and well known merchant in Baltimore, MD. He was a
friend and business partner with John Greene Proud. He died at the age of 41.
Daughter Lucy married Capt. Luther Lawrence of Groton in 1805 and it
is said that after his death she married his brother William Lawrence also of
Groton.
Daughter Clarissa married her cousin Tyler Bigelow in 1806.
Tyler graduated from Harvard University and studied law under Timothy, Jr. in
Groton. He opened a practice in Watertown and rose high in his profession.
Upon his death in 1865 he left $10,000 to Harvard University to be used as a
meritorious scholarship for poor students.
Several plaques at Valley Forge
bear an inscription to Col. Timothy Bigelow and the 15th Massachusetts
Infantry.
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 2 Aug 1739 - Worcester, Worcester Co, Massachusetts, USA 2 3
Death: 31 Mar 1790 - Worcester, Worcester Co, Massachusetts, USA
Burial:
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Parents
Father: Daniel Bigelow [1538] (1697-1789) 1
Mother: Elizabeth Whitney [8891] (1702-1789) 1
Spouses and Children
1. *Anna Andrews (11 Apr 1747 - 9 Jul 1809) 1
Marriage: 2 Jul 1762 - Worchester, , Massachusetts, USA 3
Children:
1. Nancy Bigelow (1765-1839) 1 2
2. Timothy Bigelow (1767-1821) 1
3. Andrew Bigelow (1769-1787) 1
4. Rufus Bigelow (1772-1813) 1
5. Lucy Bigelow (1774- ) 1
6. Clarissa Bigelow (1781-1846) 1