CHARLES H. BIGELOW AND FAMILY:

An Inventory of Their Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society

Manuscripts Collection

Part or all of this collection is restricted.
For details, please see restrictions.

OVERVIEW


	Creator:	Bigelow, Charles H. (Charles Henry), 1835-1911, creator.
	Title:	Charles H. Bigelow and family papers.
	Dates:	1862-1996.
	Language:	Materials in English.
	Abstract:	Correspondence (1883-1994), diaries (1862-1961), subject files, essays and other writings, photographs, and printed material documenting three generations of the families of St. Paul (Minn.) businessmen Joseph McKibbin and Charles H. Bigelow.
	Quantity:	5.0 cubic feet (5 boxes).
	Location:	See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

Subjects include the social, economic, and business climate of St. Paul; genealogy and history of the McKibbin and Bigelow families; Charles H. Bigelow's years (1883-1887) at Williams College; World War I activities in the United States and Europe; relief activities after the Moose Lake (Minn.) fire of 1918; Social efforts aimed at the African American community in St. Paul; and Larry Bigelow's art career.

The letters of Charles H. Bigelow (1835-1911) document his personal life and his work as president of Farwell, Ozmun, Kirk and Co. Charles Jr.'s wife, Allison McKibbin Bigelow (1881-1970), wrote extensively to her stepson Donald (1896-1974), a member of the American Counselor Corps in Geneva, as well as to Donald's son Larry (1925-1996), an artist living in Europe.

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions:

Reproduction or publication of any item in the Larry Bigelow's American Field Service personnel file requires permission of the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Bigelow, Charles H. Charles H Bigelow and family papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 13,332; 13,377; 13,386; 15,118; 15,434; 16,751

Processing Information:

Processed by: Bonnie Beatson Palmquist, May 1995. Additions by David B. Peterson, July 1999 and June 2013

Catalog ID number: 990017317360104294

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION


Location	Box
147.C.13.3B	1	Correspondence:
			Correspondence, undated.
				There are many letters from Charles and Allison Bigelow, as well as other family members.
			Charles H. Bigelow, Jr. 1883-June 1887. 5 folders.
				Charles' letters to his parents, Charles and Alida Bigelow, during his years at Williams College (Mass.).
			Charles H. Bigelow, Jr. European trip, 1887.
				Letters to his parents while traveling in England, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.
			Charles H. Bigelow, Jr., 1889-July 1891. 3 folders.
				Charles wrote to his parents to keep them informed about happenings in St. Paul while they were traveling and, later, when he was living in New York City.
			Charles and Alida Bigelow, 1890-1891. 7 folders.
				Letters from Charles and Alida Bigelow to Charles, Jr., in New York mainly about his brother George and the latter's intention to move to New York.
			Allison McKibbin, 1886-1887, 1892-1910, 1914-1932. 9 folders.
				Joseph McKibbin wrote (1886-1887) to his daughter Allison after the death of her mother, Annie Dorsey McKibbin (1859-1884). Beginning in 1892, Allison wrote to her stepmother, Mary Henderson Dorsey (1857-1938; Annie's older sister), while she and Allison's father were traveling. Allison and Charles H. Bigelow were married in 1911. The correspondence during 1914-1939 is general in nature and mainly contains letters to her father and stepmother.
			Allison McKibbin Bigelow:
				undated and 1914. 3 folders.
					There are letters addressed to her stepson Donald, many of which are undated. The letters from 1914 are from both Charles and Allison. Also included are letters from Donald's aunt, Alice Fairchild, while Donald was in Idaho and New York.
Location	Box
147.C.13.4F	2			1914-1921, 1954. 21 folders.
					Most of these letters are to her stepson Donald. She discusses politics, social activities, and war work in St. Paul, as well as news of Donald's family and the whereabouts of friends in the service. In 1917 she comments on the Northern Pacific car cleaners ("are now all girls in overalls"), Fort Snelling's gun placements and observation posts, and the street car strike. In 1918 she discusses rationing, a Y.M.C.A. women's meeting in Chicago, admittance of women into the St. Paul Association, Moose Lake fire relief committee, financial problems and opening of the St. Paul Athletic Club, and the Armistice Day celebrations. She also comments on and describes the Hostess House at the Aviation School at Fort Snelling.
					The 1954 folder contains a secret alphabet made in 1894 by Allison McKibbin, Mary Smith, and Nancy Wood. Her granddaughter Allison replied (1954) with her own letter using the original alphabet. Many of her later writings concern her interest in religion and spirituality.


Location	Box
147.J.6.5B	3	Allison Bigelow: essays and writings:
			Notes on our family for Margaret (McKibbin family), undated.
			To my husband, October 21, 1912.
				This volume was later given to Molly, October 6, 1940; it relates Allison's purported vision of and conversation with Charles' deceased wife Florence.
			Essays, 1927-1943.
			On being a grandmother, 1927.
			Dellwood: full sunlight, 1897-1914, 1931.
			The Bethlehem of Opa-locka, 1945.
			When I was five, 1886-1887, 1954.
			Tinkling cymbal, 1954.


		Allison Bigelow: Financial information, 1948-1957.


		Alida Lyman Bigelow: Memories, June 9, 1915.


		Donald Fairchild Bigelow, undated and 1914-1943. 24 folders.
			Donald Fairchild Bigelow graduated from Central High School (St. Paul) in 1914. He worked for a year at a ranch in Idaho (1914-1915) before entering Princeton University in 1915. He enlisted in the American Ambulance Corps in 1917 and sailed for France on May 26, 1917. He returned in 1919 after serving with the American Red Cross in Poland. Following World War I, he joined the American Consular Service and arrived in Bucharest on August 19, 1921. The letters document all these activities, and also include some letters of his sister Alida (1898-) and his college friends Robert Clark and MacNeil Seymour. His correspondence is scattered (1927-1940). A group of letters from 1940 to 1944 from his wife, Honor Morrisey Bigelow, writing from the United States to Donald in Geneva, relates news of the family.


Location	Box
147.J.6.6F	4	Donald Fairchild Bigelow and family:
			Correspondence, 1944, 1964-1994. 3 folders.
				Includes letters and photographs of paintings by Donald's son Larry, an artist living in Switzerland. Most of the letters (1982-1994) are from Larry Bigelow to Mary (Molly) Bigelow McMillan.
			Larry Bigelow:
				American Field Service personnel file, undated and 1943-1945.
					RESTRICTED.
					Materials in this file relate to Bigelow's service in Europe during World War II.
				Correspondence and miscellaneous papers, 1961-1996.
					Includes letters to Molly (1995-1996) discussing art, family matters, and his pancreatic cancer. There are picture postcards featuring his paintings, catalogs from some of his art exhibitions (1961, 1983), some newspaper clippings (1961), and a death announcement sent to Molly by his widow Ann Franka (1996). Some of the material is in French.
			Roger Bigelow's reinterment, 1947-1949.
				Roger Bigelow, son of Donald and Honor, was killed at Iwo Jima during World War II. The correspondence relates to his reinterment in Minnesota.
			Central High School (St. Paul), 1913-1914.
			Newspaper clippings, 1917-1918.
				Mainly relating to Donald and his friends in the armed forces.
			Miscellaneous, 1911-1943.


		Charles H. Bigelow and family: Miscellaneous correspondence, 1883-1967.


		Charles H. Bigelow: Pass cards and items from diaries, 1871-1908.


		Charles H. Bigelow: Memorials, 1911.


		Welcome Hall (St. Paul):
			Welcome Hall was a project of the Colored Work Committee, Presbytery of St. Paul. It was sponsored by the House of Hope and Zion Presbyterian congregation and offered nursery care and activities for all ages.
			Minutes, 1935-1938.
			Correspondence, 1928-1938.
			Monthly reports, 1930-1938.
			Statements, 1926-1937.


		St. Paul & Sioux City Railroad Company statement, 1870.


		St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, 1870, 1883, 1890.
			Includes Elevator Co. stockholders (1870) and statements, 1883, 1890. Charles H. Bigelow served as president of the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company.


		Facts in review, July 1940-April 1941. 2 folders.
			Issued by the German Library of Information (New York).


		Newspaper clippings.


		Printed material.


		Diaries and journals:
			Allison McKibbin Bigelow, 1904-1963. 17 volumes.
Location	Box
147.I.17.3B	5		Charles Henry Bigelow, 1862-1911. 47 volumes.
			Alida Lyman Bigelow, 1905-1919. 3 volumes.
			Donald Fairchild Bigelow, 1908, 1910-1911. 2 volumes.


		Charles H. Bigelow: Things I wish to remember. 1 volume.


		Charles and Alida Bigelow: 50th wedding anniversary, 1909. 1 volume.


		Tractor Artillery School Mess account book, 1918. 1 volume.


		Charles H. Bigelow, Jr. account books, 1926-1943. 2 volumes.


		Photographs, undated and 1886-1933, 1979.
			Photographs of various members of the Joseph McKibbin family and Charles H. Bigelow family, including a family portrait taken on October 5, 1909 on Charles and Alida Bigelow's 50th wedding anniversary. The people in portrait are identified, and it is accompanied by a negative.

CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:: African Americans -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul -- Social conditions.; Artists -- United States.; Forest fires -- Minnesota -- Carlton County.; Propaganda, German.; Spirituality.; World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Romania.

Persons:: Bigelow family.; Bigelow, Allison, 1882-1970, author.; Bigelow, Charles Henry, 1866-1943, author.; Bigelow, Donald Fairchild, 1896-1974, author.; Bigelow, Honor Morrisey, 1898-1982, author.; Bigelow, Larry, 1925-1996, author.; McKibben family.; McKibbin, Joseph, 1856-, author.; McMillan, Mary Bigelow, 1919-, author.

Organizations:: Saint Paul Athletic Club (Saint Paul, Minn.).; St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company.; Williams College.

Places:: Moose Lake (Minn.) -- Fires, 1918.; Poland -- History -- Wars of 1918-1921.; Saint Paul (Minn.) -- Social life and customs.; Switzerland -- Description and travel.

Document Types:: Diaries.; Essays.; Photographs.

Titles:: Facts in review.

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CHARLES H. BIGELOW AND FAMILY:

OVERVIEW

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

CATALOG HEADINGS