Hobart B. Bigelow

Bigelow was born in North Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut, on May 16, 1834. He was educated in the South Egremont Academy in Massachusetts. On May 6, 1857, he married Eleanor Lewis and they had four children;[1] Frank Lewis, Eleanor Mary, Walter Pierpont, and Philo Lewis, who died at two weeks.[2]

In 1851 Bigelow left there and afterward learned the machinist's trade at Guilford, Connecticut, with local companies. He became a leading manufacturer of boilers and heavy machinery. He purchased the Bigelow Manufacturing Company in 1861, which later conducted business under the name of the H.B. Bigelow & Co. He served as the company's president for life.

Bigelow served as councilman of New Haven from 1863 to 1876. He then served as mayor of New Haven from 1879 to 1881. He also served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1875.[3]

Bigelow was the Republican nominee and was elected the Governor of Connecticut on November 2, 1880. He was sworn into office on January 5, 1881. During his term, legislation was enacted that disallowed deceptive election registration procedures and a bill was constituted that regulated companies of 12 or more employees to install fire escapes. The Storrs Agricultural School was founded and assessments were cut back on mutual life insurance companies.

Bigelow left office on January 3, 1883 and retired from public service. He was a delegate to Republican National Convention from Connecticut, 1880.[4]

On October 12, 1891, Bigelow died at the New Haven House hotel on October 12, 1891). He is interred at Evergreen Cemetery, New Haven, Connecticut.

• Sobel, Robert and John Raimo. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978. Greenwood Press, 1988. ISBN 0-313-28093-2
• "Hobart B. Bigelow". RootsWeb.com. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
• National Governors Association
• Hobart B. Bigelow at Find a Grave
• The Political Graveyard
• Bigelow Society, Inc.
• The governors of Connecticut: biographies