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TIMOTHY BIGELOW 1767-1821

TimothyBigelow1915.jpg

Junior Grand Warden, 1803
Senior Grand Warden, 1804-1805
Grand Master, 1806-1808, 1811-1813


TERM

1806 1807 1808

1811 1812 1813

BIOGRAPHY

MOORE'S FREEMASON'S MONTHLY, 1867

From Moore's Freemason's Monthly Magazine, Vol. XXVI:6, April 1867, Page 172:

Pepperell, Feb. 14, 1867.
Br. C.W. Moore,

"In looking over the records of Saint Paul's Lodge, I find the next W.M. (after W. Oliver Prescott, Jr.,) was the Hon. Timothy Bigelow, who was chosen Dec. 28, 5801, and held the office to Dec. 27, 5802. He was the son of Col. Timothy Bigelow, of Worcester, who commanded one of the Massachusetts regiments in the Revolutionay War. My uncle, Col. Jonathan Bancroft, of this town used to tell me, when I was young, that he was an excellent officer, as he served as waiter to him for a number of months, in those days that "tried men's souls." As this distinguished man and brother Mason deserves a notice in your Magazine, I have tumbled over records and books to obtain what I have committed to paper.

Brother Timothy Bigelow was born April 30, 1767; graduated at Harvard College in 1786;* read law with Hon. Levi Lincoln, Senr.; and opened an office in Groton in 1789. He was eminently successful in the practice of his profession, a sound lawyer, and distinguished advocate and counsellor. He was chosen representative of the town in 1798, and in each of the next succeeding thirteen years, except 1803. In 1802 he was chosen one of the Executive Council, and taken from the House of Representatives to fill that station, in which he served two years. In October, 1806, he removed with his family from Groton to Medford, and opened an office, for practise, in Boston. He represented the town of Medford in General Court, most, if not all the years, from his removal there to that of his death.

He possessed an admirable talent for presiding in deliberative and other assemblies, and had opportunity to exercise that talent by being Speaker of the House of Representatives for eleven years, as well as by presiding in numerous literary and charitable societies, of which he was a member. Law and politics were not the only sciences in which he excelled. He was a great student and general reader. Books in all the liberal arts and sciences were his familiar acquaintances. His conversation in private and social circles of his friends was highly exhilirating, and none ever spent an hour in his presence on such occasions without enjoying a rich feast of intellectual entertainment. (He died May 18, 1821, aged 54.)

In 1798, April 4, he delivered an oration at Amherst, N.H., at the interment of Hon. Samuel Dana, W.M. of Benevolent Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, at which were present delegations from St. Paul's, and other Lodges, who had assembled to pay their respect to him who, but a few weeks before, was seated in the East, "affording light and instruction to his brethren." He closes his oration in these words: "But the testimonial roll shal long remain incorruptible, and the sprig of sweet remembrance shall flourish on his grave. While with funeral pomp and Masonic honours we transfer the remains of our departed brother to the house of silence, in imitation of the wise Solomon, the second founder of our Order, let us resolve to serve our Supreme Grand Master on high with a perfect heart and a willing mind, that so being duly prepared, when we shall be transferred from the Lodge here below, we may gain admittance into the Sublime Lodge above, there to meet our departed brother, and perfect that affection which had its origin on earth." What a noble mind! Soon ripe for immortality! He wielded the mallet of St. Paul's, and the M.W. G. Lodge of this State, with order, law, and religion. As a brilliant orator, freemason, and statesman, his name will remain on perpetual record. I hope if there is another Lodge formed in this State, that it will be named Timothy Bigelow Lodge.

Yours in the bonds of Freemasonry,
Luther S. Bancroft.

The Hon. Timothy Bigelow delivered a eulogy on the character of Washington, before the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, on the 11th of February, 1800. His language is as follows: "The information received from our brethren, who had the happiness to be members of the Lodge over which he presided for many years, and of which he died the Master, furnishes us abundant proof of his persevering zeal fo the prosperity of the institution. Constant and punctual in his attendance, scrupulous in his observance of the regulations of the Lodge, and solicitous at all times to communicate light and instruction, he discharged the duties of the chair with uncommon dignity and intelligence in all the mysteries of our art."

MOORE'S FREEMASON'S MONTHLY, 1871

'From Moore's Freemason's Monthly Magazine, Vol. XXX:3, January 1871, Page 99:

". . . the following note . . . is in answer to one from Dr. Lewis, as chairman of the [portrait] committee, to Rt. Wor. Bro. John P. Bigelow, ex-Mayor of Boston, asking for the portrait of his father, the late Hon. Timothy Bigelow. We deem it valuable as a concise and reliable biographical sketch of the distinguished brother who is the subject of it: -"

REVERE HOUSE, June 24th, 1855.

My Dear Sir,

My father was born at Worcester, April 30th, 1767, and died May 18th, 1821, fifty-four years and eighteen days old. He graduated at Harvard College, 1786, commenced the practice of law in Groton, 1789, married the daughter of Judge Oliver Prescott (brother of the Bunker Hill Prescott) in 1791, and removed to Medford in 1806. He was, during most of his adult life, a member of some branch of the State Government - Council, Senate or House, and was eleven years Speaker of the last named body - he was the last Speaker, 1820 (winter), of Massachusetts and Maine UNITED. He twice had the nomination of the legislative caucus of the Federal party (then dominant in our State) for the Senate of the United States, but declined. He was also pressed by the caucus to stand for Governor in 1816, but declined and recommended his friend and physician General Brooks of Medford, whose subsequent official career shed so much lustre on the State, and his profession. My father had also repeated offers of a seat on the Supreme Bech, as vacancies occurred; but adhered to his rule, - never to accept any office which would interfere with his accumulating an honorable competency for his family, a matter which he accomplished to his satisfaction several years previous to his decease. He was in full practice for many years of his life, not only in Middlesex, Suffolk and Worcester, in this State, but also in Hillsboro and Cheshire in New Hampshire, - the law reports for all those counties indicating the fact. An article in Lempriere's biographical dictionary, American edition, sketched by an eminent lawyer (deceased). estimates that my father argued fifteen thousand cases during his life! Be that the exact fact or not, it is quite certain (in the opinion of lawyers competent to judge) that no lawyer in this country has, within the same space of time (30 years), argued more causes or enjoyed greater patronage in his profession than my father.

His attachment to the institution of Freemasonry was ardent and sincere. The records of its Chapters and Lodges attest to his labors to promote its welfare.

I have thus answered your inquiries more fully perhaps than you desired or expected, and am with sincere regard,

Your friend and serv't,
John P. Bigelow.

MOUNT CARMEL CENTENNIAL, 1905

From Proceedings, Page 1905-85, Address by Past Grand Master and Corresponding Grand Secretary Sereno D. Nickerson:

To Timothy Bigelow belongs the distinction of having been the only Grand Master, since the union, who served two full terms, namely in 1806, 1807 and 1808, and again in 1811, 1812 and 1813. Between these two terms the office was filled by Isaiah Thomas in 1809, and by a scarcely less distinguished Revolutionary patriot, Josiah Bartlett, in 1810. John Abbot served in 1824, 1825 and 1826, and again in 1834. In 1825, on the fiftieth anniversary, he laid the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument, assisted by General LaFayette, in the presence of two hundred soldiers of the Revolution, forty of them being surviving veterans of the battle. In 1834 it became the same Grand Master's sad duty to announce to his Brethren the death of the illustrious Marquis.

The strong character, the marked ability and consequent powerful influence of Isaiah Thomas are further attested by the fact that two of his apprentices succeeded him as Grand Master, Timothy Bigelow and Benjamin Russell. With the exception of a single year these three Brethren presided over the Grand Lodge from 1803 to 1816 inclusive. During the year 1810 the chair of Solomon was filled by Dr. Josiah Bartlett, a famous Revolutionary soldier, who had served as our Grand Master in 1798 and 1799, but then felt obliged to decline a third year's service on account of the pressure of professional duty, greatly to the regret of his Brethren.

Timothy Bigelow was one of the most distinguished lawyers of his time, the eldest son of a gallant officer of the Revolutionary War, of the same name. He was born in Worcester, April 30, 1767. As a boy he served for two years in the printing office of Isaiah Thomas, and in 1779 in the quarters of the Continental Army posted to watch the British forces in Rhode Island. In such apparently unsuitable schools he managed to pick up enough of the rudiments to obtain admission in 1782, at the age of fifteen, to Harvard College, where he gained high rank in a distinguished class and was graduated in 1786. The pious bent of his mind may perhaps be inferred from the fact that on his Commencement Day he took part in a discussion of the question Whether Religious Disputation Promotes the Interest of True Piety.

He at once entered upon the study of law, varying its monotony by a few weeks' service as a volunteer in the small force hastily enlisted for the suppression of Shay's Rebellion. On his admission to the Bar in 1789 he began the practice of his profession in Groton; where he is said to have sat in his office for six weeks without earning a fee, his patience being at length rewarded by a service for which the compensation was a pistareen, a small Spanish silver coin then in common circulation and worth about eighteen cents.

This day of small things was of short duration. Even then it was said of him: "His acquirements are great, his studiousness indefatigable, his fluency astonishing." Of course his business soon became widely extended. For years he was one of the leading counsel in Middlesex and Worcester Counties, and later became prominent at the Suffolk Bar. It is believed that in a practice of thirty-two years he tried more cases than' any lawyer we have ever had in the Commonwealth — the number being estimated at fifteen thousand.

For a long series of years he served either in the Senate or House of Representatives of the Commonwealth. In 1805 he was chosen Speaker of the House, an office which he filled for eleven years — eight of them in succession — a longer service than is recorded of any other Speaker. It was in that office that he is said to have given a striking illustration of his remarkable memory. Although the House numbered more than three hundred members, it is related that within three days after they came together he could call them all by name — a feat requiring a recollection of faces as well as names. He presided over that branch of the Legislature with signal ability and popularity, although he entered warmly into the strenuous and exciting politics of the times as an opponent of the policy and measures of the General Government, particularly the embargo.

He married, Sept. 30, 1791, Lucy, the daughter of Hon. Oliver Prescott, an officer of the Revolutionary Army and for many years Judge of Probate for Middlesex County. They had a numerous family. In 1806, the first year of his Grand Mastership, he removed to Medford and opened an office in Boston. He took great delight in horticulture and his grounds on the banks of the Mystic river were famous for their beauty. He died there, of typhus fever, May 18, 1821, at fifty-four years of age. His wife survived him thirty-one years, dying on the fifteenth of December, 1852, and retaining in a remarkable, degree to an advanced age her youthful freshness and beauty.

Brother Bigelow was initiated in St. Paul Lodge, of Groton, in July, 1797, and served as Worshipful Master in 1802, and perhaps longer; he was Senior Grand Warden in 1804 and 1805, but at the Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge held on the tenth of June in the latter year, when the charter of Mount Carmel Lodge was granted, he occupied the chair of the Deputy Grand Master. The charter, however, does not bear his signature, Brother Joseph Laughton signing as Senior Grand Warden pro tem.

In those days, so different from our own, in most matters, especially those Masonic, the motto was Festina lente — hasten slowly. Probably the charter was not engrossed until several weeks after it was voted. In the meantime Brother Bigelow had set forth on what was considered a great journey. On the eighth day of July, 1805, in company with four other gentlemen, he started from Boston to visit the Falls of Niagara, intending to return by way of Montreal and Lake Champlain, a trip of 1355 miles, occupying exactly six weeks. He kept a daily journal while on the journey, which was lost sight of for many years. In 1876 it was discovered among some old family papers and published by a grandson, who kindly furnished a copy for our Grand Lodge Library. During the summer of 1815 he kept a " Diary of a Visit to Newport, New York and Philadelphia," which was published in 1880. Probably the charter was prepared while Brother Bigelow was absent on the first-named journey, and signed by a predecessor as Senior Grand Warden.

Grand Master Bigelow officiated in person at the important ceremony of the constitution of Mount Carmel Lodge on the twenty-fourth of June, 1807, two years after the charter was granted. The practice at. the present day is to have the ceremony performed within two or three weeks after the charter is voted, but one hundred years ago the practice in this respect seems to have been very irregular.: We have recently observed an instance reported in the Grand Lodge Records where the constitution of a Lodge took place more than seven years after its charter was granted.

Probably these delays were largely owing to the lack of the necessary facilities for travelling and the consequent difficulty of assembling the considerable number of competent Grand Officers needed for the service. It seems hardly credible to us, but the carrying through of such a ceremony in that day, even in a locality no farther distant from headquarters than Lynn, was an achievement to be regarded with pride.

FROM 1916 PROCEEDINGS

Hon. Timothy Bigelow was born April 30, 1767, the son of Col. Timothy Bigelow, of Worcester, who commanded the Thirteenth Massachusetts Regiment in the Revolutionary War. M.W. Brother Bigelow graduated at Harvard College in 1786; read law with Hon. Levi Lincoln, Senior; and opened an office in Groton in 1789. He was eminently successful in the practice of his profession, a sound lawyer, and a distinguished advocate and counselor. He was chosen representative of the town in 1798 and in each of the next succeeding thirteen years, except 1803. In 1802 he was chosen one of the Executive Council and taken from the House of Representatives to fill that station in which he served two years. In October, 1806, he removed with his family from Groton to Medford and opened an office, for practice, in Boston. He represented the town of Medford in the General Court, most, if not all of the years, from his removal there until his death. He was Senator from Middlesex from 1797 to 1801, and Councillor again in 1821. He possessed an admirable talent for presiding in deliberative and other assemblies, and had opportunity to exercise that talent by being Speaker of the House of Representatives for eleven years, as well as by presiding in literary and charitable societies of which he was a member. Law and politics were not the only sciences in which he excelled. He was a great student and general reader. Books in all the liberal arts and sciences were his familiar acquaintances. His conversation in private and social circles of his friends was highly exhilarating, and none ever spent an hour in his presence on such occasions without enjoying a rich feast of intellectual entertainment. He died May 18, 1821, aged 54.

He was Master of Saint Paul's Lodge from December 28, 1801 to December 27, 1802. He was a noted orator and among his various orations which have been published is his eulogy on the character of Washington, delivered before the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts on February 11, 1800. (Note: this oration is mentioned in the Proceedings but is not reproduced.)

CHARTERS GRANTED

1806-1808

1811-1813

RULINGS



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