Timothy Bigelow (April 30, 1767 – May 18, 1821) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

in early 19th-century

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Biography

Born in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, to parents Timothy Bigelow and Anna Andrews, Bigelow was educated at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where he graduated in 1786. He then studied law, and from 1789 until 1807 he practiced in

Groton, Massachusetts Groton is a town in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, within the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The population was 11,315 at the 2020 census. It is home to two prep schools: Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 17 ...

. In 1807, he moved to Medford and opened a law office in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. It is said he argued 15,000 cases in the course of his 32-year legal career. In 1802, he was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

. Bigelow was also a founding member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in 1812. He served as Massachusetts Speaker of the House, 1805–1806, 1808–1810, and 1812–1820. In 1814, he was among the delegates from Massachusetts to the

Hartford Convention The Hartford Convention was a series of meetings from December 15, 1814, to January 5, 1815, in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, in which the New England Federalist Party met to discuss their grievances concerning the ongoing War of 1812 and ...

. In 1818, Bigelow purchased 10

shares In financial markets, a share is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation, and can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Share capital refers to all of the shares of an ...

of the

Suffolk Bank Suffolk Bank was a private clearinghouse bank in Boston, Massachusetts, that exchanged specie or locally backed bank notes for notes from country banks to which city-dwellers could not easily travel to redeem notes. The bank was issued its corporat ...

, a clearinghouse bank on State Street in

. He died in 1821, at age 55, in Medford. Timothy married Lucy Prescott (1771-1852; niece of

William Prescott William Prescott (February 20, 1726 – October 13, 1795) was an American colonel in the Revolutionary War who commanded the patriot forces in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Prescott is known for his order to his soldiers, "Do not fire until y ...

) in 1791 in Groton, Massachusetts. They had 7 children, including: Katherine Bigelow (married

Abbott Lawrence Abbott Lawrence (December 16, 1792, Groton, Massachusetts – August 18, 1855) was a prominent American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was among the group of industrialists that founded a settlement on the Merrimack River that w ...

); Andrew Bigelow; John Prescott Bigelow; Edward; Helen; Francis; and Elizabeth Prescott.Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, by Henry Bond, M.D., Volume I, Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1855, p. 38.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigelow, Timothy 1767 births 1821 deaths Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the American Antiquarian Society Harvard University alumni Speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts lawyers Massachusetts Federalists Politicians from Worcester, Massachusetts People from Groton, Massachusetts Politicians from Medford, Massachusetts 19th-century American lawyers