Thomas James Bigham (February 12, 1810 – November 9, 1884) was an American politician and abolitionist. As a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

, Bigham served seven one-year terms representing Allegheny County, from 1845 to 1847 and in 1851, 1854, 1862, and 1864. He served in the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four-year terms, stagger ...

from 1865 to 1868 and was appointed in 1873 by Governor John F. Hartranft to serve as Chief of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Statistics. Once a Whig, he was later affiliated with the Republican Party. Born in Hannastown in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on February 12, 1810, he studied law at Jefferson College. Around 1837, he was admitted to the bar and began practicing law. Despite his career as a politician, his lifelong interest in science, including

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

, and work with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Statistics earned him the nickname "Old Statistics". After the Great Fire of Pittsburgh, he rallied for aid, and secured the relief in the amount of $50,000 via an impassioned speech in the

Pennsylvania State Capitol The Pennsylvania State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Pennsylvania located in downtown Harrisburg. The building was designed by architect Joseph Miller Huston in 1902 and completed in 1906 in a Beaux-Arts style with de ...

. Bigham operated two local newspapers, the ''

Commercial Journal __NOTOC__ The ''Commercial Journal'' was a mid-19th century newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Beginnings The paper was founded as the ''Spirit of the Age'' by J. Heron Foster, J. McMillin and J. B. Kennedy on 19 April 1843, wi ...

'' and the ''

Pittsburgh Commercial The ''Pittsburgh Commercial'' was a morning daily newspaper published from 7 September 1863 to 14 February 1877 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was outspokenly Republican in its political commentary. Its succession of chief editors included Thom ...

'', the latter of which he was founder. He also founded Grace Episcopal Church (now Grace Anglican) in

Mount Washington Mount Washington is an ultra-prominent mountain in the state of New Hampshire. It is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorio ...

, where he lived much of his life. He married Maria Louisa Lewis, younger sister of prominent Mount Washington mine operator Abraham Kirkpatrick Lewis and niece of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

banker William D. Lewis, on December 30, 1846 at Trinity Church. In 1850, they moved to a Kirkpatrick family property located on a wooded plot in what is now the Chatham Village section of Mount Washington, where they raised five children. The house, a stop on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

, is now designated as a Pittsburgh historic landmark.

References

1810 births 1884 deaths {{DEFAULTSORT:Bigham, Thomas Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives American abolitionists American journalists