Rensselaer R. Bigelow

Rensselaer Roscoe Bigelow (February 28, 1848 – February 18, 1907)[1][2] was a justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada from 1890 to 1897.

Early life, education, and career

Born in New York City, Bigelow served in the American Civil War as a teenager and moved to the West while still a young man. Taking up residence in Nevada, he studied law,[2] and became involved in Republican Party politics, being a candidate to serve as a presidential elector in 1880.[3]

Judicial service

In 1882, Bigelow was appointed a district court judge by Governor John Henry Kinkead.[1] He served in that capacity for a number of years, and was elected to the state supreme court in 1890. Shortly after his election, but before the start of his elected term of office, he was appointed by acting governor Frank Bell to fill out a vacancy on the court for the remainder of the year.[4] After finishing his term on the court, he moved to San Francisco, California, and returned to the private practice of law until his last illness and death.[2]

Personal life and death

On January 5, 1876, Bigelow married Roxanna C. Gooding,[1] with whom he had one daughter and one son.[2]

He died at his home in San Francisco at the age of 58, after a lingering illness that kept him bedridden for a month and a half.[2]

References
  1. J. P. O'Brien, History of the Bench and Bar of Nevada (1913), p. 36, 51.
  2. "Death Claims Former Judge: Rensselaer R. Bigelow, Once of Nevada Supreme Court, Passes Away", San Francisco Chronicle (February 20, 1907), p. 16
  3. "Candidates", Eureka Daily Sentinel (August 3, 1880), p. 3.
  4. "All Sorts: Judge Bigelow was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court", The Carson City Daily Appeal (December 3, 1890), p. 3.
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