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- Lockport NY Union Sun Journal - 6/20/1944
Fatally ° shot Sunday at.
Pekin by a Tonawanda war
worker whom he attempted to
take into custody, Fred A. Bigalow,
59, of Wilson, Niagara
County sheriff for 8'/2 years,
died at 11:15 Monday night
in Lockport City Hospital.
After two blood transfusions and
an emergency operation for an abdominal
shotgun wound, the sheriff
appeared slightly stronger Monday
afternoon, but at night his condition
took a rapid change for the worse.
At his bedside when the end came
was his wife, Mrs. Jennie H. Bigalow,
who had been with him almost
constantly since the tragic shooting.
The body was taken Monday
night to the Hamilton and Clark
Undertaking establishment, Wilson
and this afternoon was brought here
to the sheriff's residence, 151 Niagara
St., where the funeral will be
held Thursday at 2:30 Burial will
be in Greenwood Cemetery, Wilson.
By coincidence, Sheriff Bigalow
°was the second of his family to die
while holding the office of sheriff.
His father, Alanson C. Bigalow, died
here in the Summer of 1923 after
holding the office of sheriff for two
and one-half years.
Muisiner Acting Sheriff
With the death of Sheriff Bigalow,
Undersheriff Arthur Muisiner, Nia-
gara Falls, ° became the acting
sheriff and will serve until the end
of the term on Dec 31 or until a
temporary .appointment Is made by
Governor Dewey.
Sheriff Bigalow was shot about
10:30 Sunday night when he responded
with Deputy Fred Strauss
to the call of Mrs. Charles Zuch,
Upper Mountain Road, Pekin, who
reported her estranged husband had
come by bus from Tonawanda, had
loaded a 20-gauge shotgun and
had threatened to siioot her.
The sheriff knew Zuch, who
served a ten-day term m jail last
Spring for driving an automobile
while intoxicated. Learning that
Zuch had retired to the loft of the
barn with the gun, the sheriff
climbed to the loft, calling to Zuch
to be sensible and come down.
Instead, Zuxh shot the sheriff in
the abdomen at point-blank range
when the sheriff reached the head
of the stairs.
Hemmed in by a cordon of
sheriff's deputies and state Police
who quickly surrounded the area,
Zuch shot himself through the head
with the same gun early Monday
morning at the edge of a small
woods abaout half a mile away. Dr.
Lemuel R. Hurlbut, coroner, issued
a certificate of suicide.
Was Livestock Dealer
Sheriff Bigalow was born in the
Town of Wilson, Aug. 22, 1884, son
of Alanson and Emma M. Bigalow.
He was educated in the district
schools and for many years was a
farmer and livestock buyer Dur-
ing World I he also did butchering
for the wholesale trade, gaining the
sobriquet of "Butch."
Always a Republican in politics,
Mr. Bigalow was elected a supervisor
in the town of Wilson in the Fall
of 1928 and served in that capacity
for three terms of two years each.
While on the board he was chair-
man of the sheriff's Committee and
was a member of other important
committees.
In 1935 Mr. Bigalow was elected
sheriff by a large majority for a
three-year term. Before the term
ended the law which prevented a
sheriff from succeeding himself in
office was repealed and Sheriff
Bigalow was elected for two addi-
tional terms. He was a candidate for
re-election this Fall and his pri-
mary petitions were already in cir-
culation.
Headed County Conference
For several years Sheriff Bigalow
had been president of the Judges
and Police Executives Conference of
Niagara County. He was popular
throughout the state in law en-
forcement circles and was a director
of the state Sheriff's Association.
He was a past president of the Ni-
agara County Pioneer's Association.
Fraternal and service organiza-
tions with which the sheriff was
affiliated included Ontario Loige,
376 F&AM, Wilson; Wilson Lodge
881, IOOD; Niagara Falls Lodge, 356,
BPOE; Lockport Aerie, 825, FOE
the Wilson Lions club, the Buffalo
Trap and Field Club and the Lock-
port Automobile Club. He was an
honorary member of the Niagara
Falls POlice Club and the Tenth
Ward Republican Club of Niagara
Falls.
Surviving besides his wife, are
his mother, Mrs. Emma M. Bigalow,
Lockport; a brother, Ellsworth M.
Bigalow, Wilson, and several nieces
and nephews.
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