Frances Turgeon Wiggin

{{Short description|American author and composer}}

Frances Turgeon Wiggin{{Cite book|last=Hixon|first=Donald L.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28889156|title=Women in music : an encyclopedic biobibliography|date=1993|publisher=Scarecrow Press|others=Don A. Hennessee|isbn=0-8108-2769-7|edition=2nd|location=Metuchen, N.J.|oclc=28889156}} (4 October 1891 – 1985) was an American author and composer{{Cite book|last=Stern|first=Susan|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3844725|title=Women composers : a handbook|date=1978|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=0-8108-1138-3|location=Metuchen, N.J.|oclc=3844725}} who is best remembered for writing the state song of Maine{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2l4cAQAAIAAJ&q=Frances+Turgeon+Wiggin|title=Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions|date=1930|publisher=Library of Congress, Copyright Office.|language=en}} and publishing five books about Maine composers.

Wiggin was born in Lewiston, Maine. She studied at Bates, Seneca, and New York colleges, and was a member of William Smith College's charter class (1912), where she received a B.A., and in 1952, an honorary doctorate of humane letters.{{Cite web|title=Collection: Frances Turgeon Wiggin papers, 1911-1985 {{!}} Hobart and William Smith Colleges Archives and Special Collections|url=https://archivesspace.hws.edu/repositories/2/resources/124|access-date=2021-05-11|website=archivesspace.hws.edu}} Her teachers included Anne Neily, Elizabeth Quaille, and Helen Winslow.{{Cite book|last=Cohen|first=Aaron I.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16714846|title=International encyclopedia of women composers|date=1987|isbn=0-9617485-2-4|edition=Second edition, revised and enlarged|location=New York|oclc=16714846}} She composed the music for a William Smith College school song, "Charter Class Waltz."{{Cite web|title=William Smith Centennial :: The Pulteney Street Survey : Dormitories on the Hill|url=https://www.hws.edu/centennial/pss_charter.asp|access-date=2021-05-11|website=www.hws.edu}} She married Daniel W. Wiggin{{Cite book|last=Office|first=Library of Congress Copyright|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aCIhAQAAIAAJ|title=Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1959: July-December|date=1960|publisher=Copyright Office, Library of Congress|language=en}} and they had a daughter, Barbara, in 1922.{{Cite web|last=admin|date=2016-01-11|title=Barbara Gent Obituary - Death Notice and Service Information|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/rutlandherald/obituary.aspx?n=barbara-v-gent&pid=177247615|access-date=2021-05-11|website=Legacy.com|language=en}} A few years later, she wrote the words and music to "The State of Maine."{{Cite web|title='State of Maine' song, ca. 1930|url=https://www.mainememory.net/artifact/42246|access-date=2021-05-11|website=Maine Memory Network|language=en}}

Wiggin wrote five books about composers from the state of Maine:

• Directory of Maine Composers (1946)
• Biographical Dictionary of Maine Composers (1958)
• Thumbnail Sketches of Maine Composers (with Helen J. Dubbs; 1958)
• Maine Composers and Their Music (1959){{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yxY7AQAAIAAJ|title=Writings on American History|date=1959|publisher=KTO Press|language=en}}
• Maine Composers and Their Music, Book 2 (1976)

Wiggin was a board member of the Maine Federation of Music Clubs for 50 years, and chaired its Committee for Maine Composers and Their Music for 25 years. She belonged to the Kotzschmar (Organ) Club of Portland (Maine),{{Cite web|title=Wiggin, Frances Turgeon, 1891-1985. Frances Turgeon Wiggin papers, 1891-1985. - View Resource - Social Networks and Archival Context|url=https://snaccooperative.org/vocab_administrator/resources/8065293|access-date=2021-05-11|website=snaccooperative.org}} and was an honorary life member of the Maine Historical Society, the Portland Rossini Club, and the Portland MacDowell Club. In 1976 she received an award from the Maine Historical Society for her contributions to music in Maine.

Wiggins' papers are archived at William Smith College.{{Cite web|last=McEldowney|first=Tricia|title=Warren Hunting Smith Library: Archival Collections: William Smith College|url=https://library.hws.edu/archival_collections/william_smith|access-date=2021-05-11|website=library.hws.edu|language=en}} Her compositions include: