Wigman Family - Revision history

Jrudiak: /* More Photos From the collection of Katherine Martin, William Wigman's granddaughter */

2013-09-04T15:56:12Z

‎More Photos From the collection of Katherine Martin, William Wigman's granddaughter

Jrudiak at 00:56, 27 January 2013

2013-01-27T00:56:20Z

Jrudiak at 00:30, 27 January 2013

2013-01-27T00:30:49Z

Jrudiak at 00:30, 27 January 2013

2013-01-27T00:30:05Z

Jrudiak: Created page with "== At home with the Wigmans == January 26, 2013 12:17 am File:4-Gwendolen August 1892 rs.jpg Undated photo Gwendolen Wigman [[File:17-Dorothy 1915 High School Graduation ..."

2013-01-27T00:08:19Z

Created page with "== At home with the Wigmans == January 26, 2013 12:17 am File:4-Gwendolen August 1892 rs.jpg Undated photo Gwendolen Wigman [[File:17-Dorothy 1915 High School Graduation ..."

New page

== At home with the Wigmans ==

January 26, 2013 12:17 am

[[File:4-Gwendolen August 1892 rs.jpg]] Undated photo

Gwendolen Wigman

[[File:17-Dorothy 1915 High School Graduation Pic rs.jpg]]

Dorothy Wigman 1915 Graduation Picture

[[File:Donald and dorothy on front porch.jpg]]

Donald and Dorothy on the front porch 1902

By Marylynne Pitz / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In March 1896, William Henry Wigman and his wife, Gwendolen, moved into their elegant Queen Anne-style home in Carrick. A highly skilled carpenter and successful businessman, Mr. Wigman owned a South Side lumber company that had been co-founded by his father, also named William. He designed the spacious home and was involved in its construction.
Two years later, Mrs. Wigman, a teacher of Welsh ancestry, gave birth at home to the couple's first child, Dorothy. The baby received gifts such as dresses trimmed in lace, a golden ring, a set of gold pins, a silver mug, a bank book with $5, a fancy rattle and a gold spoon.

Mrs. Wigman's detailed diaries, kept for three years, chronicle the close-knit family's lives and the growth of their daughter and son. At 4 months of age, Dorothy Wigman was fingering the family's piano and organ. At 5 months, she accompanied her parents on a two-week summer stay in a cabin in the the mountains at Point View, Blair County.

As her second birthday approached, Dorothy loved to dance near the piano while her father played a song called "Nellie Bly." That early childhood passion blossomed into a career. Dorothy Wigman began teaching music at Taylor Allderdice High School in 1931 and also sang in the Mendelsohn Choir.

Her brother, Donald Prosser Wigman, was born in 1901. Mrs. Wigman wrote that her newborn son "is a great fellow for catching cold when the weather changes. Dr. Martin said he was as good as a barometer."

For his first Christmas, Donald Wigman received a bank book with $5, a white dress, a drum, a pair of silver mugs, a pair of booties and a white petticoat. On his first birthday, he received a wagon. He went on to work in the marketing department of Pure Oil Co.

When Mr. Wigman played the organ or piano, his children liked to sing and dance in the front parlor. When the children were older, they learned how to shoot rifles by aiming at muskrats and groundhogs. In the summer, the Wigmans decamped to Chautauqua, a summer retreat in western New York.

In her Nov. 23, 1902, entry, Mrs. Wigman wrote that Dorothy could sing "God Is Always Near Me," while her father played the organ. "Has a very sweet voice," Mrs. Wigman wrote.

With the coming of World War I, anti-German sentiment ran high in the United States and the Wigmans fell on hard times. The family left the house in 1917, taking records, diaries and photographs as well a bronze statue that adorned the newel post in the front staircase. Today, that bronze statue belongs to Kitty Martin, the daughter of Donald Prosser Wigman, who grew up in the house. It may have originally been used as a gas lamp.

Mrs. Martin, who lives in Minneapolis, never knew her grandfather, the lumber mill owner, because he died in 1930. But she treasures all of the family heirlooms, including a miniature sewing machine her Aunt Dorothy used to make doll clothes.

Marylynne Pitz: mpitz@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1648.

First Published January 26, 2013 12:00 am

'''[http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/life/home/at-home-with-the-wigmans-672070/#ixzz2J81SMXIF Read more]'''

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:56, 4 September 2013
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	[[File:1-Wigman Family circa 1905 rs.jpg]] Wigman Family 1905		[[File:1-Wigman Family circa 1905 rs.jpg]] Wigman Family 1905
		+
		+	Katherine (Wigman) Martin writes:
		+
		+	The Wigman family picturing Caroline and William Wigman with their grown children: Back row, left to right: Edward Ahlers (b. 11/5/79) - note, I'm assuming this is Edward because he was the youngest and looks the youngest in this picture; Harry Frederick (b. 9/16/2873); William Henry Wigman - my grandfather (b. 6/15/1869); Anna - note, I do not have any information on her as to birth date, but she is referenced in some family notes: Front row, left to right: Caroline Logemann Wigman (b. 10/22/1839, Provence of Prussian, Germany); Caroline Harriett (b. 2/11/78); William Wigman (b. 7/16/1832 - Provence of Hanover, Germany - note he was named William Henry Wigman, but he dropped the Henry at some point when living in PIttsburgh.

	[[File:2-Newel Post Statue rs.jpg]] Bronze statue which used to be on the Newel post stairway		[[File:2-Newel Post Statue rs.jpg]] Bronze statue which used to be on the Newel post stairway

@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 == More Photos From the collection of Katherine Martin, William Wigman's granddaughter ==
 [[File:1-Christmas circac 1904 rs.jpg]]Christmas circ. 1904
@@ Line 68: / Line 70: @@
 [[File:2-WHW 1891 rs.jpg]] Son William H. Wigman 1891
-[[File:3-Decoration Day 1899(1) rs.jpg]] Taking a break after Decoration Day 1899
+[[File:3-Decoration Day 1899(1) rs.jpg]] Taking a break in the hammock under the apple tree after Decoration Day 1899
 [[File:3-Decoration Day - view from tower porch(1) rs.jpg]] View from front tower Decoration Day
-[[File:3-Don's Room & Chrystal Set - 1916 rs.jpg]]
+[[File:3-Don's Room & Chrystal Set - 1916 rs.jpg]] - Donald's Chrystal Radio set he was forced to dismantle during WWI

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:30, 27 January 2013
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	[[File:3-Decoration Day - view from tower porch(1) rs.jpg]] View from front tower Decoration Day		[[File:3-Decoration Day - view from tower porch(1) rs.jpg]] View from front tower Decoration Day
		+
		+	[[File:3-Don's Room & Chrystal Set - 1916 rs.jpg]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:30, 27 January 2013
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	'''[http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/life/home/at-home-with-the-wigmans-672070/#ixzz2J81SMXIF Read more]'''		'''[http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/life/home/at-home-with-the-wigmans-672070/#ixzz2J81SMXIF Read more]'''
		+
		+	== More Photos From the collection of Katherine Martin, William Wigman's granddaughter ==
		+
		+	[[File:1-Christmas circac 1904 rs.jpg]]Christmas circ. 1904
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		+	[[File:1-Wall Hanging - seen in Christmas Pix to left of tree rs.jpg]] Wall hanging seen to the left of the Christmas tree photo.
		+
		+	[[File:2-Christmas circa 1904 rs.jpg]] Christmas Tree circ. 1904
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		+	[[File:1-Front Proch July 4, 1898 rs.jpg]] Front Porch 1898 looking toward [Brownsville Road] southbound
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		+	[[File:1-Decoration Day Wigman Lumber Company Wagon rs.jpg]] Decoration Day William Wigman Lumber Company wagon outside the front of the house.
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		+	[[File:2-Front Porch pix dated on the back(1) rs.jpg]] Back of photo above with date
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		+	[[File:1-Wigman Family circa 1905 rs.jpg]] Wigman Family 1905
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		+	[[File:2-Newel Post Statue rs.jpg]] Bronze statue which used to be on the Newel post stairway
		+
		+	[[File:4-Newel Post Statue rs.jpg]] Back side of the statue
		+
		+	[[File:3-Newel Post Statue rs.jpg]] Side view of the statue
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		+	[[File:6-Base of Statue Showing Ferrand Name rs.jpg]] Base of statue illustrating the Ferrand name.
		+
		+	[[File:2-WHW 1891 rs.jpg]] Son William H. Wigman 1891
		+
		+	[[File:3-Decoration Day 1899(1) rs.jpg]] Taking a break after Decoration Day 1899
		+
		+	[[File:3-Decoration Day - view from tower porch(1) rs.jpg]] View from front tower Decoration Day