Daniel Bigelow (24 March 1824 – 15 September 1905) was a pioneer lawyer and politician in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

Biography

Daniel Richardson Bigelow was born March 24, 1824, in Belleville, a hamlet in the township of Ellisburg, New York, a part of

Jefferson County, New York Jefferson County is a county on the northern border of the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 116,721. Its county seat is Watertown. The county is named after Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United S ...

. His parents were Jotham Bigelow (1784-1860) (son of Joel and Sarah (née Stowell) Bigelow) and Celinda Bullock ( d. 22 Apr 1824). He graduated from

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

in 1846 and attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

from 1847 to 1849. After graduation, he began practice in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. News of the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

sparked Bigelow's interest in relocating to the Pacific Coast. In 1851, Bigelow joined a

wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the ...

headed west and crossed the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

with his law books and desk, arriving in Portland in September. After determining Portland already had enough lawyers, he sailed up the coast in the schooner ''Exact'' to

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

in November 1851 on the same voyage that carried the Denny Party. He continued south to Smithfield (later renamed Olympia), then part of the northern

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Oreg ...

. There he established a law office. At the time, there were fewer than 200 American settlers. Bigelow was a gifted

orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14 ...

whose July 4, 1852, speech in Olympia contributed to the movement to create

Washington Territory The Washington Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

out of the part of the Oregon territory north of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

. Bigelow also served as one of the three commissioners who revised the laws of

at Salem during the summer of 1853. Daniel served as the first Treasurer of Thurston County, a member of the first legislature of

in 1854, the first Superintendent of the Olympia School, and President of the Board of Trustees of Puget Sound Wesleyan Institute, the forerunner of the University of Puget Sound. On June 18, 1854, Bigelow married Ann Elizabeth White, one of the first school teachers in the area. Ann was born November 3, 1836, in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and settled with her family on Chambers Prairie, now part of

Lacey, Washington Lacey is a city in Thurston County, Washington, United States. It is a suburb of Olympia, Washington, Olympia with a population of 53,526 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Washington, 24th mos ...

Thurston County, Washington Thurston County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 294,793. The county seat is Olympia, Washington, Olympia, the ...

, southeast of Olympia in what is now Lacey Township, in late 1851. Her father, William White, was one of two casualties in Thurston County of the 1855-56 Indian War. Daniel and Ann Elizabeth were devout Methodists and helped found the ME church in Olympia. They were also strident advocates of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

. Bigelow supported extending the right to vote to women in the 1854 legislature and in 1871, while serving as a Territorial Representative, gave a speech to the Washington Legislature advocating voting rights for women. Suffragist Susan B. Anthony visited Olympia to promote the cause and dined with the Bigelows at their home. The Bigelows were also instrumental in promoting public education in the territory. Daniel helped found the

Olympia School District Olympia School District is a school district (Washington school district number 111) serving 9,829 students (as of the 2020-2021 school year) in the city of Olympia in Thurston County, Washington. The school district has approximately 1200 sta ...

and assisted in the construction of the first school in the early 1850s. Bigelow also served as a regent of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1866 and later founded the Olympia Collegiate Institute, forerunner of the University of Puget Sound. Daniel Bigelow died September 15, 1905, at Olympia, the last surviving member of the first territorial legislature. Ann Elizabeth Bigelow died February 8, 1926. The Bigelows had 9 children.Bigelow House Museum: History
Retrieved 10 April 2010.

References

External links

Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House MuseumBigelow Family Mementos available from the Washington State Library
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigelow, Daniel History of Olympia, Washington 1824 births 1905 deaths Members of the Washington Territorial Legislature Oregon Territory officials Union College (New York) alumni Harvard Law School alumni Regents of the University of Washington People from Ellisburg, New York Politicians from Jefferson County, New York Delta Upsilon members

Biography

See also

References

External links