William Francis 8 BIGELOW


William F. 8 Bigelow, grandson of Joab 6
Photo from Bigelow Soc. Library files
15198.532    William Francis 8 BIGELOW, son of Josiah 7 ( Joab 6 , Josiah 5 , Jotham 4, John 3, Samuel 2, John 1) and Ann Jennette (FITCH) BIGELOW, was born at Concord, Jackson, MI on 16 May 1852 and married twice. His first marriage was to Emma Isabel Watson "Belle" (see below) on 29 August 1878. We have no data on her and this marriage ended in a divorce. The second marriage was to Bertha Ann Herold who was born in WI in July 1864. This marriage took place in 1889. William was trained for the law but was a newspaper editor for many years. The weekly newspaper, which he established existed until 1980. In 1900 he was living in Des Plaines, IL where he died on 10 December 1924.

Children of William F. and Emma (Watson) Bigelow, born in Concord, MI:
 
15198.5321     Bessie, a twin, b 06 Dec 1880; d _____.
 
15198.5322     Jessie Melville, a twin, b 06 Dec 1880; d ______; m 1899 Henry Benton Howard; 

Children of William F. and Bertha Ann (Herold) Bigelow, born in Chicago, Cook co, IL:
 
15198.5323t    Ralph Eldon, b 22 March 1882; d 19 May 1914 Tempe, AZ; m Christina Miller; 4 children.

15198.5324t    Edwin Josiah, b 10 Sept 1890; d 09 Dec 1962 Milwaukee, WI; m (1) 1908 Theodora "Dora" Galczynski (div); 1 child; m (2) Norma Meta Hoar; 3 children.
 
15198.5325     Sybil, b _ May 1895; d _____ ;.
 
15198.5326     Jeanette, b _ April 1896; d _____ ;.

Sources:
Bigelow Family Genealogy Vol II , p 341;
Howe, Bigelow Family of America; not listed;
Records of Bigelow Society from Jackson county records;
correspondence:
 From: Email
I am a volunteer with the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust in Oak Park, Illinois, and I am doing research into a house for an annual fundraising event we have coming up in a few weeks.  My research intersects with your Bigelow family genealogy, so I wondered if you might have some additional information.
The house I am researching was once owned by Americus B. Melville.  His wife Belle Watson Melville was previously married to William Frances Bigelow (on your website, she is identifed as Emma Isabel, but she went by the name Belle).  I know from your website that Belle and William were married in 1878 and that they divorced, but I wondered if you might know more information about the circumstances and timing of the divorce.  Belle married Americus B. Melville in the Dakota Territories in 1886 (Melville would go on to become a state senator of South Dakota in 1891-92) and they moved to Oak Park, IL, around 1893.  (Belle was a performer on the national Chautauqua circuit whose name appeared relatively often in local newspapers in both South Dakota and Oak Park, IL.)  I wondered if she moved to the Dakotas after the divorce or if she and William Bigelow moved there prior to divorcing.  I know that William and Belle had twins Jessie and Bessie Bigelow in 1880, and I am also curious about what happened to them, particularly Bessie.  Jessie Melville (she apparently took her step-father's name) was married to Henry Benton Howard in 1899, and Americus and Belle Melville built a house for Jessie and her husband in Oak Park, IL.  I have not found any record of Bessie, however.  Belle did pass away in 1923 and following that Americus moved to California.  According to a newspaper article, he had a daughter living there.  As I don't believe that Belle and Americus had children of their own, and I think Jessie was still in the Chicago area, I wonder if Bessie may have been living in California, perhaps with a married name that I haven't yet discovered.

Modified - 08/26/2011
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Rod Bigelow
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Dannemora, N.Y. 13662   
rodbigelow@netzero.net
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