Timothy Bigelow Memorial, (sculpture).

Timothy Bigelow Memorial, (sculpture).

Snell, George,d1820-1893, sculptor.

Timothy Bigelow Memorial, (sculpture).

Colonel Timothy Bigelow Memorial, (sculpture).

Bigelow Memorial, (sculpture).

1860. Dedicated April 19, 1861.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: Tuscany marble; Base: granite.

Sculpture: approx. 20 ft. x 6 ft. 9 in. x 6 ft. 9 in.; Base: approx. W. 9 ft. x 9 ft.

(On front of sculpture:) TIMOTHY BIGELOW/Born Aug. 12, 1739 Died March 31, 1790 (On back of sculpture:) In memory of the colonel of the 15th Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Army in the War of Independence, this monument is erected by his great-grandson, Timothy Bigelow Lawrence, Anno Domini 1861 (On left side of sculpture:) Quebec/Saratoga/Valley Forge/Monmouth/Verplanck's Point/Yorktown unsigned

The memorial consists of a Gothic spire rising above a structure of four decorative gables, mounted on a square pedestal that is engraved with names of battles in which Colonel Bigelow served. Columns flank the gabled areas; rams heads and the Bigelow family crests adorn the cornice areas.

Architecture -- Detail -- Steeple

Architecture -- Detail -- Column

Homage -- Bigelow, Timothy

Occupation -- Military -- Colonel

History -- United States -- Revolution

Outdoor Sculpture -- Massachusetts -- Worcester

Administered by City of Worcester, Parks, Recreation, and Cemetery Department, 125 Green Hill Parkway, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605

Located Worcester Common, Worcester, Massachusetts

The memorial was commissioned by Timothy Bigelow Lawrence, great grandson of Revolutionary War hero Colonel Timothy Bigelow (1739-1790). A time capsule buried beneath the monument contains documents pertaining to colonial history and the life of Timothy Bigelow. Captain Bigelow led Worcester's Minute Men through Concord to Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. In 1777, Bigelow became Colonel of the Fifteenth Massachusetts Regiment, which served under General George Washington at Valley Forge, West Point, Yorktown, Verplanck's Point, and Saratoga. Originally, the monument was twenty-five feet tall, but the upper courses of stone were replaced at some point with shorter stones. An undated plaster model of the memorial is owned by the Colonel Timothy Bigelow Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (140 Lincoln Street, Worcester, MA 01605).

IAS files contain a copy of the City of Worcester Parks and Recreation Department / Massachusetts Historical Commission Form C "Monuments" questionnaire dated March 31, 1986; the Supplement for Form C "Monuments" questionnaire which includes a condition assessment; and a Sept. 1986 Dennis and Craine Associates condition assessment.

Beall, Pamela E., "Artworks in Our Parks: An Inventory of Public Memorials," Worcester, MA: City of Worcester, 1986.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Massachusetts survey, 1994.

SOS Assessment Award, 2000.

Inventory staff, 2001.

Beall, Pamela E., "Artworks in Our Parks: An Inventory of Public Memorials," Worcester, MA: City of Worcester, 1986, pg. 15.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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