Historic Bigelow House

Historic Bigelow House. . , Pioneer lawyer and territorial legislator Daniel R. Bigelow (1824-1905) crossed the Oregon Trail and arrived in the new town of Olympia in late 1851. A Harvard educated attorney, he established a law practice, filed a 160 acre land claim east of town, and threw himself into politics. Ann Elizabeth White (1836-1926) came west with her family in 1851. They settled on Chambers Prairie southeast of Olympia. By 1853 Ann Elizabeth worked as a school teacher near Olympia one of the first in the territory. Ann Elizabeth and Daniel married in 1854. They lived here in a two-room cabin while they built this home, completed by 1860., Daniel was an early advocate for the creation of a new territory north of the Columbia River. After Congress established Washington Territory in 1853 he served as a legislator from 1854-56 and in 1871. He also held several additional public offices during his long career. The Bigelows were devout Methodists and helped organize the Methodist Episcopal Church in Olympia. They were also active leaders in political and social causes including public education, rights for nonwhites, woman suffrage and temperance., Generations of Bigelow descendants lived in the house until 2005. Restored in 1995, it is listed on national, state and local historic registers and retains more than an acre of the original land claim. The home represents one family's participation in important community, state and national level causes since the founding of Washington.