John Bigelow (1817-1911) was the American consul in Paris during the Civil War, and later he was minister to France. Also a journalist and editor, he took an active part in public affairs for more than 70 years.

John Bigelow was born on Nov. 25, 1817, in Bristol (now Malden), N.Y. He graduated from Union College in 1835. While studying law in New York City, he wrote political essays and reviews for newspapers and became involved in Democratic party politics. His friend Samuel J. Tilden secured him an appointment in 1845 as an inspector of Sing Sing Prison, where he won a reputation as an advocate of penal reform. In 1848 William Cullen Bryant invited Bigelow to become part owner and editor of the New York Evening Post, a liberal Democratic paper strongly committed to free trade and humanitarian reform. In 1855 the editors broke with the Democratic party because it supported the extension...