Charles Henry Bigelow (July 13, 1814 – April 15, 1862) of

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

was a 19th-century engineer and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. Born in

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End. Waterto ...

, Bigelow was a graduate of

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

, ranking second in the class of 1835. He married Harriet Briggs, daughter of the late Massachusetts Governor

George N. Briggs George Nixon Briggs (April 12, 1796 – September 12, 1861) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. A Whig, Briggs served for twelve years in the United States House of Representatives, and served seven one-year terms as the 1 ...

. He died in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1862 at the age of 47. On March 31, 1847, Bigelow was one of a group of influential citizens in Lawrence, Massachusetts that founded and chartered the Franklin Library Association, now the Lawrence Free Library. Bigelow was the Association's first president.

Career

Bigelow served in the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

until April 25, 1846, working as an assistant engineer during the construction of Fort Warren and Fort Independence at Boston Harbor and leaving active duty as a captain. Bigelow was the

chief engineer A chief engineer, commonly referred to as "ChEng" or "Chief", is the most senior engine officer of an engine department on a ship, typically a merchant ship, and holds overall leadership and the responsibility of that department..Chief engineer ...

of the

Pemberton Mill The Pemberton Mill was a large factory in Lawrence, Massachusetts. It suddenly collapsed and occupants were crushed or burned alive on January 10, 1860, in what has been called "the worst industrial accident in Massachusetts history" and "one of ...

,"The Disaster at Lawrence; Additional Testimony-Further Subscriptions-Progress in Relieving the Sufferers"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' (January 21, 1860) the collapse of which "is likely the worst

industrial accident A work accident, workplace accident, occupational accident, or accident at work is a "discrete occurrence in the course of work" leading to physical or mental occupational injury. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), more tha ...

Massachusetts history The area that is now Massachusetts was colonized by English settlers in the early 17th century and became the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the 18th century. Before that, it was inhabited by a variety of Indian tribes. The Pilgrim Fathers who ...

""Pemberton Mill Collapse, 1860"
on the Celebrate Boston website and "one of the worst industrial calamities in

American history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...

".Oickle, Alvin F
"Disaster in Lawrence: The Fall of the Pemberton Mill"
on the HistoryPress.net website According to one account:

Jesse Glover, overseer of repairs testified at the inquest that he had always considered the building weak. John B. Tuttle, superintendent of brick work testified that he had complained to the architect, Bigelow, that he thought the walls were insufficient. Mr. Bigelow in turn blamed the owners. Bigelow said that it was the owners who were responsible for all the purchasing and the approval of the iron castings.

Bigelow also worked as a consultant on the

Augusta Canal The Augusta Canal is a historic canal located in Augusta, Georgia, United States. The canal is fed by the Savannah River and passes through three levels (approximately total) in suburban and urban Augusta before the water returns to the river at ...

."Historic American Engineering Record of the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service"

References

;Notes 1814 births 1862 deaths People from Watertown, Massachusetts United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Massachusetts United States Army officers United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel Architects from Massachusetts Artists from Lowell, Massachusetts {{US-architect-stub