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Lettie S. Bigelow
Lettie S. Bigelow
	"A Woman of the Century"
Born	Electa Salina Bigelow; July 30, 1849; Pelham, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	March 1, 1906; Holyoke, Massachusetts, U.S.
Resting place	Forestdale Cemetery
Pen name	"Aunt Dorothy"
Nickname	Lettie
Occupation	poet; author;
Alma mater	Wilbraham Wesleyan Academy
Signature

Lettie S. Bigelow (July 30, 1849 – March 1, 1906; pen name, Aunt Dorothy)^[1] was an American poet and author of the long nineteenth century.^[2]^[3]^[4] She was affiliated with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) in Massachusetts.

Early life and education

Electa (nickname, "Lettie") Salina Bigelow was born in Pelham, Massachusetts, July 30, 1849.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[a] She was the daughter of the Rev. Increase Briggs Bigelow (1817–1901),^[6] an itinerant minister, for more than half a century an honored member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.^[3] Her mother was Sophronia C. (Hall) Bigelow (1817–1894).^[5] Lettie was a descendant in the eighth generation of John Biglo of Watertown, Massachusetts.^[2]

Her early education was in the public schools of the cities and towns where her parents lived, as they were removed from place to place every two or three years by the decrees of the presiding bishops, according to the economy of their church. In 1866, she entered Wilbraham Wesleyan Academy, and remained a student there two years. Failing health compelled her to relinquish her course of study in that institution before the completion of the regular course, and she thereafter made her home with her parents at their various appointments.^[3]

Career

Around 1889, her father left the active work of the ministry and made for himself and family a permanent home in Holyoke, Massachusetts, with Miss Bigelow living there, too, and caring for an invalid mother.^[3]

Bigelow did considerable literary work. It is as a poet that Bigelow preferred to be known. Early on, she evinced a talent for versification, and in poetry, her intense nature found the best outlet of expression.^[2] While she did not publish a book of poems, her verses appeared quite frequently in the New York City Christian Advocate and The Independent; Boston's Zion's Herald and Independent; Wide Awake^[2] and other periodicals. Her prose writings, consisting of sketches, newspaper articles, and a serial story, were for the most part under a pseudonym. She also wrote a work of Sunday school and anniversary exercises, published in New York, which had a large sale.^[3]

She was for years closely identified with the temperance movement. A member of the W.C.T.U.,^[7] in 1890, she became the editor of True Light, a monthly paper published in the interests of the Massachusetts W.C.T.U.,^[8] of which her "Aunt Dorothy" letters formed a unique feature. The routine of editorial work provided irksome, and failing health compelled her to resign the position.^[2] In 1896, she was the state superintendent of the franchise department of the Massachusetts W.C.T.U.^[9]

Bigelow was an interesting platform speaker. Her lecture on "Woman's Place and Power" found special favor and hearty commendation wherever it was delivered.^[3]

Death

Lettie S. Bigelow died in Holyoke, Massachusetts, March 1, 1906 and was buried in that city's Forestdale Cemetery.^[10]

Selected works

Poems

"A Waking Song" (1885)^[11]
"Tell Me"(1887)^[12]
"All the World's Fair" (1893)^[13]
"The Higher Life" (1899)^[14]
"The Heaviest Troubles" (1899)^[15]^[16]

Notes

^ According to Familysearch.org, Electa was born in 1848.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b The Colloquial Who's who: An Attempt to Identify the Many Authors, Writers and Contributors who Have Used Pen-names, Initials, Etc. (1600–1924), Also a List of Sobriquets, Nicknames, Epigrams, Oddities, War Phrases, Etc. W. Abbatt. 1924. p. 10. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. J. T. White Company. 1896. p. 273. Retrieved 9 December 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). "BIGELOW, Miss Lettie S.". A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life. Charles Wells Moulton. pp. 83–84. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ Manning, Helen (1893). Moulton, Charles Wells (ed.). "BIGELOW, LETTIE S." The Magazine of Poetry and Literary Review. Vol. 5. C.W. Moulton. p. 169. Retrieved 9 December 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ ^a ^b "Electa S Bigelow 1848 – 1 March 1906 • LJKR-JV9". www.familysearch.org. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
^ "Probate Court Business". Transcript-Telegram. 5 December 1901. p. 2. Retrieved 9 December 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Woman's Christian Temperance Union (1895). Report of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union ... Annual Meeting. Woman's Temperance Publishing Ass'n. Retrieved 9 December 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "Prohibition and Temperance Publications". N.W. Ayer & Son's American Newspaper Annual. N.W. Ayer and Son. 1893. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
^ "Men Are Barred Out". The Boston Globe. 16 October 1896. p. 6. Retrieved 9 December 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Obituary, Lettie S. Bigelow. Died in Holyoke, Massachusetts, March 01, 1906". Transcript-Telegram. Holyoke, Massachusetts. 1 March 1906. p. 2. Retrieved 9 December 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "A Waking Song". The Indianapolis Journal. 17 May 1885. p. 9. Retrieved 9 December 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tell Me". Boston Journal. 2 March 1887. p. 2. Retrieved 9 December 2022 – via Vicksburg Evening Post/Newspapers.com.
^ Dodge, Mary Mapes, ed. (1893). "All the World's Fair". St. Nicholas. Scribner & Company. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
^ "The Higher Life". Zion's Herald. Swormstedt & Poe. 1899. p. 9. Retrieved 9 December 2022 – via North-western Christian Advocate.
^ "The Heaviest Troubles". Bristol Herald. 26 October 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 9 December 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "The Heaviest Troubles" (PDF). The Review and Herald. Vol. 77, no. 51. Battle Creek, Michigan. 18 December 1900. p. 1. Retrieved 9 December 2022.