Wilbur F. H. Bigelow, Sr., Dayton Wright Company Collection (SC-347)

Wilbur Francis Hinman Bigelow, Sr., was born June 26, 1897, in Vernon County, Missouri. He moved to Dayton, Ohio, with his mother Anna and siblings in 1907. He attended Patterson School through the eighth grade but did not attend high school. He learned woodworking at the Ritchie-Wertz Company and also worked at National Cash Register Company for a while after leaving school.

During World War I, Wilbur was employed at the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company, which had in three locations: Moraine, Miamisburg, and the two former buildings of The Wright Company off West Third Street in Dayton. Wilbur worked at the Moraine location (Plant 1), ultimately becoming the supervisor of the Mill department (wood shop). Because Dayton-Wright (and by extension Wilbur Bigelow) was engaged in vital war work, having contracts to produce 4,000 De Havilland 4 aircraft and 400 J-I trainers, Wilbur was exempted from the draft.

On April 20, 1918, Wilbur married Helen Irwin, whom he had first met in 1916. Her brother, Charles Irwin, also worked at Dayton-Wright, as a mechanic. Wilbur and Helen had 5 children, the first four of whom were born in Dayton.

After World War I, Wilbur worked at National Cash Register and later manufactured and sold dollhouses, as part of the firm Golter, Poock, and Bigelow. In the spring of 1928, Wilbur accepted a new job at RCA Victor in New Jersey, as production manager in the cabinetry department. The family later moved to Pennsylvania in 1933.

Wilbur F. H. Bigelow, Sr., died on June 19, 1968, in Danville, Pennsylvania. He is buried at Greenlawn Cemetery in Montgomery, Pennsylvania.

Charles Henry Irwin, the younger brother of Helen (Irwin) Bigelow, was born June 12, 1899, in Dayton, Ohio, to Otho Joseph Irwin and Mary Dorothea (Kirchner) Irwin. He attended a co-op high school for two years. When he was only about 18 years old, he went to work at the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company’s Moraine factory (Plant 1) as a mechanic, working on DH-4 aircraft. He also worked briefly at National Cash Register. Shortly after his marriage to Alvia Spivey Avery on February 14, 1920, he went to work for the Dayton Power and Light Company and worked there most of his life. After retiring at age 62, he and his wife moved to Florida but returned to the Dayton area later, where Charles died on June 21, 1970.