Deacon David Bigelow

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David Bigelow was born on September 19, 1730 to Daniel and Elizabeth (Whitney) Bigelow.  Like his brother, Colonel Timothy Bigelow, he was born on the family farm in Worcester, the land of which is now in Auburn.  Working as a carpenter in his teenage years, he fell from the roof of a barn on which he was working and badly broke his leg.  He had a good surgeon but remained crippled for the rest of his life. 

David married twice. He and his first wife, Sarah Eaton, were married by the Rev. Mr. Thaddeus Maccarty on May 21, 1752. They had five children. Sadly Sarah died on October 22, 1761 a week after the birth of their youngest child. The child did not survive. On March 8, 1764 David married Deborah Heywood, and they had seven children.

Though he could not fight as a soldier David did work for American independence; he was a member of the Committee of Safety, a representative in the General Court, and a Selectman.  He was also a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He and Daniel Baird, the other Worcester delegate, voted against the ratification of the US Constitution, mostly because they felt as though the conversations surrounding the issues did not include everyone. They later voiced objections to the 3/5 Compromise. 

He left public service in the early 1790s and became a Deacon of the Unitarian Church.  He married twice.  He married his first wife, Sarah Eaton in 1752, and had five children: David, Sarah, Azubah, Elizabeth, and Lydia.  Lydia and Sarah died shortly after Lydia’s birth.  With his second wife, Deborah Heywood, he had seven children: Lydia, Lucretia, Dorothy, Silas, Levi, Walter, and Tyler. 

David died in Worcester on May 10, 1810.  He was originally buried in the Mechanic Street Burial Ground but was moved to Hope Cemetery in 1878.