ABIJAH BIGELOW
Was born in Westminster, county of Worcester, Dec. 5th, 1775. He was graduated at Dartmouth College, in the class of 1795, studied law, and was admitted to practice in 1798, and opened an office in the town of Leominster, served the town as town clerk for five consecutive years, was twice elected by his fellow citizens a member of the General Court of Massachusetts, and was elected a member of Congress in 1810, and held the position till 1815.
Mr. Bigelow removed to Worcester in 1817, was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society, and a trustee of Leicester Academy. From 1817 to 1833 he held the office of Clerk of the Courts in the County of Worcester.
In 1838 he was appointed Master in Chancery for the county of Worcester. He held the office of Justice of the Peace for about fifty years. He was admitted to this society about a year after he was appointed Clerk of the Courts, to wit, in 1818, and continued a member till 1848, when he withdrew from the society. In the evening of his life he devoted much of his time to horticulture, agriculture, literature and poetry. Some of his choice poetical productions are in print. He died in Worcester, April 5th, 1860, at the ripe old age of eighty five years, and is well remembered by most of the living members of this society.