Poultney Bigelow

Poultney Bigelow as a Yale graduate 1879

Poultney Bigelow (born September 10, 1855 in New York City , † May 28, 1954 in Saugerties , New York) was an American journalist with strong contacts to Germany.

Life

Poultney was the son of the "society lady" Jane Tunis Poultney (1829-1889) and the politician John Bigelow . When US President Abraham Lincoln appointed his father as ambassador to Paris, the son was three years old and was learning French. In 1870, at the age of 15, he went to Potsdam with his father and went to school there. In Potsdam he met two brothers who later became famous: Prince Heinrich, who later became Grand Admiral Heinrich of Prussia ; and Prince Wilhelm, the later Kaiser Wilhelm II . The young men played, inspired by Bigelow's stories from his adventure novels, Indians and Cowboys. Bigelow had been friends with both of them for decades. Between him and the German Kaiser there was a rift for several years in 1896 because of the Kruger telegram and Bigelow's book on German history. He visited the emperor while he was still in exile in the Netherlands after the First World War .

In 1873 Poultney Bigelow began studying law at Yale . With a break for health reasons (he went on a boat trip to Japan) he graduated there in 1879. He only practiced as a lawyer for a short time and from 1880 turned to traveling and writing. His journalistic oeuvre was massive. Bigelow moved the center of his life to London, where he became a correspondent for several American newspapers and the London Times . He had lively correspondence with many personalities of his time, such as the novelist Mark Twain , the feminist Israel Zangwill and the Irish nationalist Roger Casement . His eleven books were analyzes of German imperial politics, British and Japanese colonial politics; they dealt with the demarcation of China and the dominance of the "white man" in Africa; a two-volume autobiography was also created. Bigelow founded what is believed to be the first American magazine for amateur sports in 1885: Outing . In 1892 his book "Paddles and Politics - Down the Danube" was published, for which he walked the Danube from source to mouth in a paddle boat.

At the beginning of the 20th century Bigelow increasingly published articles of a provocative nature, which often lacked the basis. In 1906 he had a dispute with the environmental engineer Rudolph Hering about the sewer systems and sewage treatment plants on the Hudson River: Bigelow thought the New York system was “poor” in relation to that of Berlin. Hering argued against it with scientific facts for which Bigelow was not accessible, for example that the Spree could not be compared with the Hudson - if only because of its enormous amount of water. In 1907 he drew the ire of US President Theodor Roosevelt because he criticized details of the construction of the Panama Canal and personally attacked Roosevelt and his Secretary of War Taft . In the 1920s he briefly sympathized with the rising fascist dictators Hitler and Mussolini, but soon distanced himself because of their aggressive power politics. His autobiography Seventy Summers, published in 1925, was considered amusing to read, but it was full of false facts.

At the age of 74 he wrote: "It is hell to live so long". He was sent to the Glenn Dale Tuberculosis Sanatorium at the age of 98 and died in the Saugerties Hospital (near Woodstock) in New York State. The New York Times titled her obituary: "Journalist, oldest Yale alumnus, author and world traveler, a lifelong friend of Kaiser Wilhelm II, views that sparked controversy."

Individual evidence

↑ Jane "Biggy" Bigelow's ancestors came from England. She was 21 when she married 33-year-old John Bigelow and became a scandal-ridden society lady. She provoked the German emperor by putting her servants in the box of the opera, she hit the Prince of Wales on the backside, etc. At the age of 38, she met the then world-famous writer Charles Dickens in 1867, who felt so pestered by her. that he let her shield him. Annie Fields, wife of Dickens' publisher James Fields, wrote in her diary that Dickens had “great sympathy for men who were improperly married. His special sympathy went to John Bigelow, our former ambassador in Paris, who is now here [in New York] because his wife is such a nightmare. ”On the one hand, this was based on Dickens' contempt for his wife and the assumption that the US president had John Bigelow's natural ascent from ambassador in Paris to ambassador in London prevented because of his wife. See, inter alia, Matthew Pearl: Bleak House . Published in Slate on May 17, 2009
^ Cambridge Scholars Publishing. The Life and Times of Mary, Dowager Duchess of Sutherland. Retrieved December 23, 2018 .
↑ Bigelow was a supporter of British colonial policy and therefore an opponent of the German emperor's South Africa policy.
^ Roger Casement, Poultney Bigelow: LETTERS FROM CASEMENT to Poultney Bigelow Telling of His Plans Against England; Prisoner to be Tried for Treason Outlined Them in This Country Two Years Ago, After War Began. Retrieved December 23, 2018 : “[World War I] is the greatest crime of all time. I do not blame the German Kaiser for this, but primarily England. [...] I pray day and night God help Germany ! "
^ Poultney Bigelow: Paddles and politics down the Danube . Cassell & Co, London 1892 ( loc.gov [accessed December 22, 2018]).
↑ Mr. Poultney Bigelow . Obituary in the Times of London, May 29, 1954, p. 8
↑ "TRUTHFUL CANAL RECORD."; "Poultney Bigelow Finds the Government Organ Sustains His Criticism. Retrieved December 22, 2018 .
^ Charles Willis Thompson: Poultney Bigelow Wields A Literary Shillalah; In His Recollections of Seventy Years He Lays Lustily About Him SEVENTY SUMMERS. By Poultney Bigelow. Vol. I, 332 pp. Vol. II, 290 pp. New York: Longmans, Green & Co. $ 10. Retrieved December 23, 2018 (English, the work became a bestseller. The reviewer calls it a "breathtaking autobiography. [...] If, however, Mr. Bigelow had paid the slightest attention to accuracy instead of dipping his pen in bile , he would have become the ideal autobiographer. "Thompson reveals essential parts of the books as hair-raising false and ends with the words:" The two volumes are worth more than their money. [...] Perhaps it adds to Bigelow's charm that he is so wrong and spreads his hatred so well. ”).
^ Poultney Bigelow IS Dead at 98; I Journalist, Oldest Yale Alumnus J; Author and World Traveler, a Lifelong Friend of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Succumbs Upstate - Views Stirred Controversies. Retrieved December 22, 2018 .

personal data
SURNAME	Bigelow, Poultney
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American journalist
DATE OF BIRTH	September 10, 1855
PLACE OF BIRTH	New York City
DATE OF DEATH	May 28, 1954
Place of death	Saugerties , New York

[1] Jane "Biggy" Bigelow's ancestors came from England. She was 21 when she married 33-year-old John Bigelow and became a scandal-ridden society lady. She provoked the German emperor by putting her servants in the box of the opera, she hit the Prince of Wales on the backside, etc. At the age of 38, she met the then world-famous writer Charles Dickens in 1867, who felt so pestered by her. that he let her shield him. Annie Fields, wife of Dickens' publisher James Fields, wrote in her diary that Dickens had “great sympathy for men who were improperly married. His special sympathy went to John Bigelow, our former ambassador in Paris, who is now here [in New York] because his wife is such a nightmare. ”On the one hand, this was based on Dickens' contempt for his wife and the assumption that the US president had John Bigelow's natural ascent from ambassador in Paris to ambassador in London prevented because of his wife. See, inter alia, Matthew Pearl: Bleak House . Published in Slate on May 17, 2009

[2] Cambridge Scholars Publishing. The Life and Times of Mary, Dowager Duchess of Sutherland. Retrieved December 23, 2018 .

[3] Bigelow was a supporter of British colonial policy and therefore an opponent of the German emperor's South Africa policy.

[4] Roger Casement, Poultney Bigelow: LETTERS FROM CASEMENT to Poultney Bigelow Telling of His Plans Against England; Prisoner to be Tried for Treason Outlined Them in This Country Two Years Ago, After War Began. Retrieved December 23, 2018 : “[World War I] is the greatest crime of all time. I do not blame the German Kaiser for this, but primarily England. [...] I pray day and night God help Germany ! "

[5] Poultney Bigelow: Paddles and politics down the Danube . Cassell & Co, London 1892 ( loc.gov [accessed December 22, 2018]).

[6] Mr. Poultney Bigelow . Obituary in the Times of London, May 29, 1954, p. 8

[7] "TRUTHFUL CANAL RECORD."; "Poultney Bigelow Finds the Government Organ Sustains His Criticism. Retrieved December 22, 2018 .

[8] Charles Willis Thompson: Poultney Bigelow Wields A Literary Shillalah; In His Recollections of Seventy Years He Lays Lustily About Him SEVENTY SUMMERS. By Poultney Bigelow. Vol. I, 332 pp. Vol. II, 290 pp. New York: Longmans, Green & Co. $ 10. Retrieved December 23, 2018 (English, the work became a bestseller. The reviewer calls it a "breathtaking autobiography. [...] If, however, Mr. Bigelow had paid the slightest attention to accuracy instead of dipping his pen in bile , he would have become the ideal autobiographer. "Thompson reveals essential parts of the books as hair-raising false and ends with the words:" The two volumes are worth more than their money. [...] Perhaps it adds to Bigelow's charm that he is so wrong and spreads his hatred so well. ”).

[9] Poultney Bigelow IS Dead at 98; I Journalist, Oldest Yale Alumnus J; Author and World Traveler, a Lifelong Friend of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Succumbs Upstate - Views Stirred Controversies. Retrieved December 22, 2018 .