Anna Bigelow as given by Bond

Watchers
Browse
Article Covers
Surnames
Bigelow
Year range
1770 - 1790

Source:Bond, Henry. Family Memorials. Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Including Waltham and Weston (1855) appears to conflate several Anna Bigelows. To straighten this out, we start with the following information given by Bond.

  • p. 35: Abraham Bigelow m. (2) 24 Oct 1751 Anna Fiske
  • p. 35: Anna Bigelow, d/o Abraham Bigelow, b. 4 Nov 1754, m. 30 Oct 1773 Rev. Thomas Haven
  • p. 37: Anna Bigelow, d/o Josiah Bigelow, b. 23 Aug 1751, m. 19 Aug 1784 Mr. Thomas Hubbard of Boston.
  • p. 37: Anna, d/o Joshua Bigelow, b. 25 Mar 1740, (?)m. 3 Jan 1771 Nathan Hagar
  • p. 38: Miriam, d/o Nathaniel Bigelow, b. 21 Mar 1738, m. 10 Feb 1757 Nathan Woolson.

The will of Abraham Bigelow [Middlesex Probate 1683] does name his wife Anna, and daughter Anna Haven. His wife Anna Bigelow on 5 Apr 1784, countersigns the division of Abraham's estate that sets off to her her third part of his estate.

In the Weston VRs, p. 155, the intentions between Mr Thomas Hubbart of Boston and "miss Anna Biglow of Weston" are dated 4 Jul 1784. The marriage is found recorded 3 times:

  • Weston VRs, p. 162: Town records: Tho's Hubbart of Boston and Anna Biglow of Weston aug 19th 1784.
  • Weston VRs, p. 326: Marriages from the record of Mrs. Rebecca Baldwin: Aug'st 19, Mr Thomas Hubard of Boston & widw Anna Biglow.
  • Boston Marriages 1752-1809, p. 322: Marriages in Weston: Thomas Hubbart of Boston & Anna Bigelow of Weston by Rev. Mr. Samuel Kendall Aug. 19, 1784.

Bond was clearly misled by the intentions saying "Miss". This appears to have perturbed his allocation of the remaining Anna Bigelows. But the record of Rebecca Baldwin identifies Thomas Hubbard's wife as a widow, which makes her the widow of Abraham Bigelow: Anna (Fiske) Bigelow. Her gravestone as reported in Weston VRs, p. 343: "1810, Oct. 23'd. Mrs. Anna Fiske, Relict of Mr. Abraham Biglow and also of Mr. Thomas Hubbard in the 79th year of her age". Correcting this error allows us to fix Bond's mis-allocation of the various Anna Bigelows. Note, incidentally, that the death of Thomas Hubbard of Weston was reported in the Columbian Centinel of 16 Jun 1790 at age 79y. (See Family:Thomas Hubbart and Judith Ray (1), unfortunately, at the time of writing, very sparse).

In its addendum "Bits of Genealogy", the Weston VRs, p. 568, notes that the "Hagar Bible" gives Nathan Hagar's wife birthday as 3 Sep 1751, which is the new style equivalent of 23 Aug 1751, which suggests she is the daughter of Josiah. Bond, instead, has the daughter of Josiah mistakenly paired with Thomas Hubbard, but correction of that error allows her to be considered again. The age at death of Nathan's wife gives her birth around 1752. Not only does this match pretty closely the daughter of Josiah, but it strongly suggests Bond's identification of Nathan's wife is incorrect, since it is 12 years off from the age of Joshua's daughter.

Bond believes that Joshua Bigelow is the same one later found in Worcester, citing his service there as a selectman, etc. In 1788 Joshua Bigelow of Worcester was placed under a guardian's care as a person non compos mentis, and in 1790 he died. His will was written in 1787, and names his daughter Anna Bigelow (Worcester Probate 5477 here). The probate contains claims made by Nathan Woolson "for Services of Anna Bigelow now my Wife by nursing the s'd Joshua from August 7: 1786 to May 25th: 1790". It would appear that Nathan's first wife Miriam died and Nathan m. probably just after 1790 Anna Bigelow, clearly not yet married as of 1787, and about the same age as Miriam.

Note: Source:Howe, Gilman Bigelow. Genealogy of the Bigelow Family of America : From the Marriage in 1642 of John Biglo and Mary Warren to the Year 1890, p. 67, in its careless abstract of Joshua Bigelow's will, claims it names "daughters Anna and Esther Moore", dropping that her name is specified as "Anna Bigelow" (or that he mentions daughter Hannah Wesson and other people not named by Howe in his abstract). Like Bond, Howe shows Anna, b. 1740, m. 1771 Nathan Hagar. Since Nathan and Anna Hagar had a child as late as 1797, when Joshua's daughter would have been 57, this pairing is unlikely on the face of it, much less that it is contradicted by the evidence.