Bitgood family
The key to the plan was that even though one of the matched bells would be on display at the Center, the Niemenens would still have a match to the one on display at the University of Texas.
The Nieminens are intelligent, thoughtful people, and they listened carefully to what we had to say. When the call did come from the Nieminens, they said they had decided that they believed our plan would allow Elmer Bitgood and his Bells to be known about by a great many people, which they thought was a good thing.
The next thing that had to be decided was how to get the pound Bell from their front yard to the 5th floor of the North End Zone of the Texas football stadium.
We offered to pay Arthur to make a heavy crate and then ship it down to the Stark Center as freight, and Arthur agreed, with the stipulation that it would be adequately insured.
Arthur, as mentioned early, is a very handy man, and he constructed an ingenious rack that can be seen in one of the photos accompanying this blog. At this moment the majestic, daunting weight is resting in a prominent place underneath a large portrait of the bodybuilder Larry Scott, who in his prime would almost certainly have been unable to deadlift it.
Conversely, a pound man who could assume a non-Sumo deadlift position would have to be uncommonly strong to be able to raise such a stiff and unbending weight. Arthur Nieminen of Voluntown, Connecticut getting ready to release the plus pound Boulder Bell from his Rec Vee so that it could be trailered over to the Stark Center. In any case, the great old weight will have a place of honor inside the Weider Museum of Physical Culture when we open later this spring, and the many thousands of people who will see it in the coming years will have Arthur and Mary Anne Nieminen to thank.
Plus, of course, Elmer Bitgood. I was told there was a photo on the Internet of him using them, but have yet to come across it. Does anyone know of such a photo? I have just begun diggin into my Bitgood Family history and family tree. I have spent a lot of time researching my mothers side and am just starting on my fathers.
Interested in making connections with other Bitgoods and sharing info. My mother was Delila Bitgood who was a cousin of Elmer. She had a special interest in genealogy.
In with her genealogy info was an original Yankee magazine which featured article on Elmer. I will forward you a copy if you would like. Thank you for the post. Thank you so much for sharing this information. My husband, Robert Bitgood, and I have talked often about visiting Voluntown in search of the family history. I had done a little research years ago on a genealogy website where another. Bitgood family member contacted me and sent me the very newspaper articales you refer to.
Thanks again for yet another confirmation of the family history for us. I lived in Voluntown for several years and saw those bells with several others on the front lawn many times. I was first told the story of Elmer Bitgood by John Saari who I believe wrote the story of which you refer which was subsequently published. Standing between the two boulders I immediately noticed how short the bar was and just about impossible to lift with two hands, especially with someone the size of Elmer.
Officially retiring in , Bitgood returned to Connecticut, where she continued to work as an organist in local churches and synagogues. She accepted the position of organist, choir and music director for Waterford United Presbyterian in The church ran out of Mary Harkness Chapel on the Connecticut College campus until , when it moved to its own location in Waterford, Connecticut.
She continued work in the area until her death in Carl Medal in , [10] and the Connecticut College Medal in ; becoming the first graduate with a music degree to do so. Bitgood was known for Sacred music , Anthems , Cantatas and Hymns.
She studied composition throughout her entire secondary education career. First published in , many of her works were published by H. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Pan Pipes of Sigma Alpha Iota. Retrieved 28 January He had some experience riding a horse, but no experience with electrical machinery. There visitors will find large homemade stone barbells, the heaviest of which reportedly weighs 1, pounds.
Owner Arthur Nieminen, who acquired them from the Bitgood homestead, has refused offers to sell them and maintains that they should remain a part of the local heritage. Documentation that Elmer used them is lacking, however. With the resources currently available to family historians, now more than ever we can attempt to uncover the truth about local legends such as Elmer, allowing us to get a better understanding of the time in which they lived. Elmer has been revered as a local legend for more than years, and perhaps the evidence that Elmer Bitgood did exist and was a man of great size will fuel the search for solid evidence of his great feats of strength.
Bitgood household, U. Census, Voluntown, New London, Conn. Bitgood of Vernon, Conn. The Bitgood Family is still here today and Elmer rests in the local cemetery in the center of town.