PVT Deacon William Bigelow

Ancestor #: A010064

1. 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.

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.