Major Jonathan Bigelow
Birth:
November 20, 1739, Hartford, Connecticut
Death:
June 26, 1780 Hartford, Connecticut
Marriage:
Hannah Wadsworth who born on April 8, 1750 and died on February 26, 1801. They married on June 30, 1771.
Children:
Four sons and one daughter. James born June 10, 1774; John born Dec 6, 1775; Henry born December 19, 1777; Richard born December 29, 1779. Nancy [no information to be found on her birth or death]. His son Richard was lost at sea in 1797.
Education:
Information regarding his education is unknown.
Military:
He first served as a volunteer under Benedict Arnold at Ticonderoga in May 1775. He was a captain in an independent company, Connecticut artillery, January – December 1776. Served subsequently as Major in the Connecticut artillery military. He supplied uniforms to officers in the State of Connecticut.
Occupation:
Besides his military career there is no known occupation.
Discussion:
He was taken prisoner by the British on July 8, 1777 in the West Indies. He was sent to New York under a flag of truce to negotiate an exchange of Capt. Judd of the Antelope for Capt. Manly of the Hancock. He was commissioned a Major in 1778 and appointed to oversee the manufacture of clothing for the soldiers of the Continental Army, and the same year appointed by the Governor and Council to purchase cloth suitable for officers in Connecticut. He held other positions of trust, according to Howe’s Bigelow genealogy, which does not specify. Major John Bigelow received a letter from George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. Both of these letters were in regard to the garments he was providing the soldiers of the war. His widow married James Tiley. She died February 26, 1801 at Windsor, Connecticut.
Reference:
Bigelow Family Genealogy, Volume I, page 85.
Biographical information provided by Alfonso Ferrentino.