Bigelow House, where Susan B. Anthony visited
The historic Bigelow House in Olympia has played host to an eclectic set of visitors over the years, everyone from Confederate Gen. George E. Pickett, he of the ill-fated assault on Union forces at Gettysburg, to former South Korean president Syngman Rhee.
Oct. 18 marks the 140-year anniversary of another famous guest at the home of pioneer lawyer and Washington Territory legislator Daniel R. Bigelow and his schoolteacher wife, Ann Elizabeth White Bigelow – women’s rights leader Susan B. Anthony, who was in town in 1871 for an unprecedented address to the Washington Territorial Legislature.
In recognition of the Bigelow dinner visit by Anthony, South Sound historians have scheduled a public ceremony at what is now the Bigelow House Museum for 1 p.m. Oct. 16 to dedicate a new heritage marker. It will remind future museum-goers that some serious discussions about women’s right to vote took place that evening in the home, predating by nearly 40 years the campaign that secured voting rights for women in this state.
The handsome historical marker is a gift from the Washington State Society of the National Society Daughters of the American Colonists. This is not an easy society to join; members must be able to prove their ancestry back to colonists who, in turn, had to have performed at least one of 26 civil and military services before 1776 to qualify as a colonist.
The state society has installed numerous markers around the state, noted Carole Holt, an Olympia-area resident and society member. This is the third in South Sound. Another is in Tumwater Historical Park, marking the end of the Cowlitz Trail used by pioneers who settled the Olympia-Tumwater area. The other marker placed in front of the old Capitol in downtown Olympia marks the 100-year anniversary of the legislative vote in 1909 that granted women the right to vote.
At the dinner party on the eve of Anthony’s address to territorial lawmakers, which included Bigelow, Anthony was among kindred spirits. Daniel Bigelow, often called the father of Washington state for his determined work to separate Washington from the Oregon Territory, was an ardent supporter of women’s suffrage, education, civil rights for nonwhites and temperance.
Ann Elizabeth Bigelow, one of the first schoolteachers in South Sound, shared her husband’s views on these same issues.
By all accounts, alcohol has never been served in the Bigelow House, which was built in the 1850s and remains one of the oldest homes in the state – albeit added to and remodeled over the years by the continuous five generations of Bigelows who lived in the two-story house until 2005.
But lack of alcohol didn’t seem to dampen Anthony’s fond memories of the night. Here’s what she wrote in her journal about the dinner party:
“Dined at Judge Bigelow’s – his wife splendid – met some members of the Legislature – voluntary vote invites me to address Legislature tomorrow at 2 p.m.”
Anthony was escorted, along with fellow women’s rights leader Abigail Scott Duniway, into the legislative chambers by Bigelow and two other legislators. It was Bigelow who had persuaded his colleagues to pass a joint resolution allowing Anthony to speak.
South Sound historian Shanna Stevenson, who serves as coordinator of the women’s history consortium at the Washington State Historical Society, has written an account of Anthony’s visit to the Pacific Northwest. Here’s how she describes Anthony’s speech to the Legislature, which was witnessed by a number of Olympia women:
“Turned out in a gray silk gown, Anthony lauded the group, saying: ‘This was the first time in the history of our nation that a woman has been allowed the privilege of addressing the lawmakers in session.’”
In her speech, Anthony referenced the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, adding that “the withholding of the ballot and representation while taxes are imposed is the most abject of servitude.”
The day after Anthony’s speech, a suffrage bill was introduced in the House but failed on an 11-13 vote. Incidentally, Bigelow voted “no” because he favored authorizing women to vote on whether or not they wanted the right to vote. That proposal failed on a 16-11 vote.
Anthony returned to Washington state in 1896 and visited Portland in 1905 at age 85. But she never returned to Olympia or the home of the Bigelows.
Those attending the dedication next Sunday will have a chance to take guided tours of the Bigelow House Museum, which is typically open for tours noon-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays from Memorial Day through Labor Day and 1-3 p.m. Sundays from November through March. The address is 918 Glass Ave. N.E.
In the family parlor sits the chair that Anthony sat in during her visit with the Bigelow family.
Mounted on the wall in the formal parlor once used for weddings and funerals is an 1868 photograph of Olympia looking east from the west side. It’s the oldest photo of Olympia, and the Bigelow House sits solitary on the hillside, a waterfront home before dredging and filling reshaped downtown Olympia.
Priceless family artifacts are everywhere throughout the house, arranged carefully following their thorough inventory by South Sound historians Roger Easton and Karen Johnson. Especially awe-inspiring is the desk in Bigelow’s library. It’s a stand-up desk with a broad top for lawyerly work. Bigelow brought it west with him from New York on the Oregon Trail.
“This is the desk where Bigelow drew up papers on territoryhood and statehood,” Easton said.
If you have never visited the Bigelow House Museum or considerable time has passed since your last visit, check it out. It’s a special place that played host to a special woman 140 years ago.
John Dodge: 360-754-5444
jdodge@theolympian.com
This story was originally published October 9, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Bigelow House, where Susan B. Anthony visited."