By Jared L. Olar
October 2007
Updated September 2009
The RIGGS surname is of English origin, and etymologically "Riggs" is the same as the word "ridge." Going back to the Middle Ages, persons or families in England who dwelled at or near a line of hills or a ridge would come to be surnamed "Rigg," "Riggs," "Rigges," "Ridges," "Ryges," "Ryggys," or one of the other numerous spelling variations of this name. Consequently, the name is rather common in England, and can also be found in Scotland and Ireland -- of course, most of these families are not related to each other at all. When England began to colonise North America beginning in the 1600s, several Riggs families migrated to Massachusetts and other English colonies. One of those families came from Nazeing Parish, Essex, England, and settled at Roxbury near Boston, later moving to Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. Our Riggs genealogy traces back to that family.
To learn more about the Riggs surname and Riggs genealogy, see Geoff Riggs' Riggs Surname Study, Karen Bryant's Oxford Past website, as well as Ryan Dimmick's The Riggs Family. Geoff Riggs' superlative website is the chief source for the first seven generations and the sole source for the first two generations shown below, while Karen Bryant's website is a chief source for the first 10 generations shown. I have also consulted the Genealogy of the Riggs Family (1901), by John H. Wallace. Family records in the possession of the descendants of Albert Riggs and Mary Elizabeth Pennover (generation no. 11) are the chief sources for the last five generations shown.
1. MILES RIGGS, a resident of Roydon Parish, Essex, England, is the earliest known ancestor of this family, and was probably born during the latter part of the reign of King Henry VIII. The earliest entry in the Roydon Parish Register was in 1567, so Miles' baptism and marriage is not recorded in the parish register, nor are the baptisms of his children recorded. However, Miles' probable son Richard had his first child baptised in 1576, so Richard was probably born before 1557, which means Miles was probably born before 1536. On 15 April 1564, Miles was a witness to the will of Elizabeth Borely, which means Miles was no longer a minor and therefore was born before 1544. Miles married a woman named AGNES, who is probably the mother of his probable son Richard. Agnes was buried 26 March 1579 at Roydon, Essex, and Miles was buried 7 Sept. 1583 at Roydon. His son was:
2. RICHARD RIGGS, born probably before 1557.
2. RICHARD RIGGS, very probably son of Miles and Agnes Riggs, was probably born before 1557; died after 25 March 1603, probably at Roydon, Essex, England. In parish records, Richard Riggs is sometimes called "Richard Miles," which almost certainly means "Richard son of Miles." Richard married 5 Sept. 1575 at Roydon, Essex, to ELIZABETH CHAMBERLYN, who was buried 25 March 1603 at Roydon, Essex. The parish register entry on her burial calls her Richard's "wife," not "widow," which would mean Richard survived her. Geoff Riggs writes, "In 1589, Richard 'RIGGES' was a juror for the half-hundred of Harlow at the Petty Sessions court held there on 1 Oct. 1589. He and his fellow jurors reported that an inhabitant of Roydon 'keeps an alehouse and there sells bread and ale without licence, contrary to the form of the Statute,' but that 'in all other vill(age)s and hamlets, all is well.'" The Roydon Parish Register records the following children of Richard and Elizabeth:
-- MARY RIGGS (Mary Miles), baptised 30 July 1576.
-- ELIZABETH RIGGS, baptised 22 Oct. 1578, buried 16 Nov. 1581.
-- RICHARD RIGGS (Richard Miles), baptised 24 Sept. 1581.
-- FRANCIS RIGGS, baptised 17 April 1583.
-- MILES RIGGS, a "nurse child," buried 8 Nov. 1586.
-- RALPH RIGGS, baptised 19 June 1586, buried 8 Oct. 1586.
3. EDWARD RIGGS, baptised 30 March 1589.
3. EDWARD RIGGS, son of Richard and Elizabeth Riggs, baptised 30 March 1589 at Roydon, Essex, England; died and was buried 5 March 1672 at Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. The Roydon Parish Register does not mention Edward by name, but shows a baptism on 30 March 1589 of "The sonne of Richard Riggs," which by process of elimination has been deduced to be Edward. Edward later appears in the parish records of Nazeing, adjacent to Roydon. On 16 Sept. 1618 at All Saints Church, Nazeing Parish, Essex, he married firstly ELIZABETH HOLMES, baptised 13 Dec. 1590 at All Saints Church, Nazeing, died and buried Oct. 1635 at Roxbury, Massachusetts. Edward and Elizabeth had five known children, all baptised at Nazeing Parish from 1619 to 1632. The group of Puritans in Nazeing, which included Edward and Elizabeth and Elizabeth's brother George Holmes, left England in early 1633 and sailed to the Massachusetts Bay Colony -- in Massachusetts, their neighbors referred to them as "the Nazeing Christians." Edward and Elizabeth with their children probably sailed from London, on either the William and Jane or the Mary and Jane. They landed in Boston in the early summer of 1633, and along with other Nazeing Christians were among the first settlers of Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, where Edward was admitted as a Freeman and a member of the Puritan Church. Edward's family and their fellow colonists suffered a high mortality rate during and soon after their voyage. Three of Edward's five children and his wife all died within 30 months of their arrival. Edward married secondly ELIZABETH, probably Elizabeth Wise, but Edward and his second wife had no children, and she died and was buried 2 Sept. 1669 in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Edward's will is dated exactly one year later, 2 Sept. 1670.
4. SGT. EDWARD RIGGS, baptised 17 Oct. 1619 in Essex.
-- LYDIA RIGGS, died Aug. 1633 in Roxbury, Mass.
-- ELIZABETH RIGGS, died May 1634 in Roxbury, Mass.
-- JOHN RIGGS, died Oct. 1634 in Roxbury, Mass.
-- MARY RIGGS, married Benjamin Twitchell.
4. SGT. EDWARD RIGGS, son of Edward and Elizabeth Riggs, baptised 17 Oct. 1619 in Nazeing Parish, Essex, England; died between 10 June 1669 and 25 Jan. 1670 in Newark, New Jersey. Edward came to Roxbury, Massachusetts, with his parents and younger siblings in 1633. In Roxbury on 6 April 1635, Edward married ELIZABETH ROSE ("Roosa" or "Reosa"), born 1621 in England, died sometime after 2 July 1670, perhaps in Newark, New Jersey, daughter of Robert and Margery Rose. Edward was 15 and Elizabeth was about 14 when they married. From 1635 to 1640, Edward and Elizabeth were probably living in Wethersfield, Connecticut, near Elizabeth's parents. Edward was a sergeant in the Pequot War of 1637 and was commended for his bravery during the war, as it says in a letter from John Winthrop to William Bradford dated 28 July 1637:
". . . they gave order to surround the swamp, it being about a mile around; but Lieutenant Davenport, and some twelve more, not hearing that command, fell into the swamp among the Indians. The swamp was so thick with shrub wood, and so boggy with all, that some of them stuck fast, and received many shot. Lieutenant Davenport was dangerously wounded about his armhole and another shot in the head, so as fainting, they were in great danger to have been taken by the Indians, but Sergeant Rigges, and Jeffery and two or three more rescued them, and slew diverse of the Indians with their swords."
Samuel Drake's History and Antiquities of Boston (1856) says that action took place on 13 July 1637:
"Animated by success, the English, by the aid of their Indian allies, were able to scour the country far and wide. At length, coming to 'a small Indian town seated by the side of a hideous swamp, into which they all slipt, as well Pequots as natives of the place.' . . . Order was given to surround the swamp, but Lieutenant Davenport, rushing into the swamp with some twelve others, came near being cut off. He was 'sorely wounded,' as were two Ipswich men, John Wedgwood and Thomas Sherman. They were rescued at great peril by Serjeant Riggs of Roxbury."
According to Drake, the "hideous swamp" was located in Fairfield, Connecticut, on the borders of Long Island Sound. Due to Edward's act of bravery, he was known for the rest of his life as "Sergeant Riggs." In 1640, Edward became one of the original planters of Milford, Connecticut, where his children Samuel, Joseph, and Mary were born. Milford is about 15 miles from Fairfield, and Edward may have been granted land in Milford as a reward for his bravery during the Pequot War. Edward also helped to found the Derby Plantation in Connecticut in 1655. In Derby Plantation, Edward located his homestead on a hill which came to be known as "Riggs' Hill," which was still in the possession of his descendants as late as 1900. In 1661, the year following King Charles II's restoration to the English and Scottish thrones, Charles II sent emissaries to search along the coast of Connecticut and New Haven for William Goffe and Edward Whalley, two members of the illegal English Parliament that had condemned and executed his father King Charles I. According to tradition, Edward helped to hide and protect Goffe and Whalley. Edward later became one of the founders of Newark, New Jersey, in May 1666. A "Widow Riggs" who is mentioned in the records of the Newark Town Meetings on 25 Jan. 1670 and 2 July 1670 is apparently Edward's widow Elizabeth. She later remarried to CALEB CARWITHIE, but there were no children of that marriage. The known children of Edward and Elizabeth are:
5. EDWARD RIGGS, born circa 1636 in Roxbury, Mass.
-- SAMUEL RIGGS, born circa 1640, married twice.
-- JOSEPH RIGGS, born circa 1642, married Hannah Brown.
-- MARY RIGGS, born circa 1644, married George Day.
5. EDWARD RIGGS, son of Sgt. Edward and Elizabeth Riggs, born circa 1636, reportedly in Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Edward's date of death is unknown, but he was still living in 1700 when he was party to a deed, and Karen Bryant says he died 1716 in Newark, New Jersey. Edward's wife was certainly named MARY, probably Mary Munn, daughter of Daniel Munn of Milford, Connecticut. Prior to 13 June 1666, 'Daniell Munne' made an oral will leaving his estate to 'Mary Rigs,' apparently Daniel's married daughter, wife of Edward Riggs. If this identification is correct, then Edward and Mary married prior to 13 June 1666. Geoff Riggs writes, "In 1667, Edward and his family followed his father Edward's family from Derby, Connecticut, to Newark, N.J., where they were amongst the original settlers -- he and his brother Joseph were the first to obtain grants of outside lands from the town authorities. He was assigned a home lot in Newark and, though he was not as educated as his two younger brothers, he succeeded in accumulating other landed property there, which he subsequently distributed among his children. In his land conveyances, he was often designated as a 'planter.'" Edward and Mary had 10 or 11 children:
-- ANNA RIGGS, born circa 1662, md. J. Gage.
-- JAMES RIGGS, born circa 1664.
-- MARY RIGGS, born circa 1666, md. Joseph Lindsley.
-- EDWARD RIGGS, born circa 1668, md. Aphia Stoughton.
?? LYDIA RIGGS.
6. JOSEPH RIGGS, born circa 1675.
-- MARTHA RIGGS, born circa 1677, md. S. Freeman.
-- ELIZABETH RIGGS, born circa 1678, md. John Lyon.
-- JOHN RIGGS, born circa 1679 (1669?), md. Frances Colburn.
-- SAMUEL RIGGS, born circa 1681.
-- CHARITY RIGGS, born circa 1685, md. John Bowers.
6. JOSEPH RIGGS, son of Edward and Mary Riggs, born circa 1675 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey; died Sept. 1744 in Essex County, New Jersey. Geoff Riggs writes, "There is a tradition that he was an active member of the first church organisation at Orange, Essex Co. N.J., which was then called 'The Mountain Society.' He was buried there 11 Sept. 1744." According to Bev Peterson's "Descendants Chart of Thomas and Jane Riggs," Joseph's wife was named SARAH, born circa 1683, died 17 June 1735. He had seven sons and four daughters:
-- JOSIAH RIGGS, born circa 1703.
7. MILES RIGGS, born circa 1705.
-- HANNAH RIGGS, born circa 1707, married John Hedden.
-- MARY RIGGS, born circa 1709, md. Thomas Cushman.
-- BENJAMIN RIGGS, born 1711.
-- GIDEON RIGGS, born 1713.
-- DINAH RIGGS, born circa 1716.
-- ZEBULON RIGGS, born 23 Jan. 1719, married Elizabeth (NN).
-- JOSEPH RIGGS, born circa 1720, married Abigail (NN).
-- DANIEL RIGGS, born 29 May 1724, married twice.
-- SARAH RIGGS, born circa 1726, md. Thomas Roberts.
7. MILES RIGGS, son of Joseph Riggs, born circa 1705 in New Jersey; fell overboard and drowned in New York Harbor on Christmas Eve 1753. Miles, a sailor, married on 26 June 1735 in Norwalk, Fairfield County, Connecticut, to ELIZABETH WHITNEY, born 1717 in Norwalk, Connecticut, died Aug. 1815 in Norfolk, Litchfield County, Connecticut, daughter of Joseph and Hannah Whitney. The marriage of Miles and Elizabeth, along with the births of their first four children, are recorded in Rev. Elijah B. Huntington's Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths of Stamford Families (Stamford, 1797). Miles died without a will, and his estate was administered on 1 Jan. 1754 in Newark, New Jersey -- his widow Elizabeth and his younger siblings Joseph, Daniel, and Sarah are named in the legal records pertaining to the disposition of his estate.
Numerous wild tales and spurious traditions about Miles Riggs have been very popular among his descendants. For example, The Whitney Family of Connecticut (1878), by S. Whitney Phoenix, says:
[Miles'] grandson, Miles Riggs, had an old manuscript book, in which was recorded the fact that "he was of Irish extraction, born in the Isle of Wight, 7 June 1687; followed the sea till late in life; then settled at Norwalk, Conn., where his son Miles was born 20 May 1748." Unfortunately, this book fell into the hands of a woman who had no love for "old things," and she burned it, within a few years past.
This story is not particularly credible, and it seems very convenient that this precious old manuscript cannot be examined on account of its having been burned by an unnamed woman. But even if this manuscript actually existed at some point, the traditions it allegedly related about Miles' Irish extraction and birth on the Isle of Wight are demonstrably false. John H. Wallace's Genealogy of the Riggs Family has more to say about the spurious Miles Riggs tradition, and also gives valuable details about his life and how he came to his death:
From several causes the descendants of Miles seem to have believed he was the progenitor of all bearing the Riggs name in this country, and the wild and improbable stories told of his origin and early history have had an astonishingly wide circulation in all the different branches of the Riggs family. The story that I met with most frequently when I commenced this compilation, and often from very intelligent people, was to the effect that Miles was not only the progenitor of all the tribe, but that Riggs was not his name. That he was picked up in some foreign port and taken as a cabin boy on a ship, and he was so fond and successful in playing tricks and “running rigs” on everybody about the ship, that the sailors named him “Rigs,” and hence the supposed patronymic of the whole tribe. Now the truth is that Miles was born in Newark, and his paternal ancestors had lived there through three generations before he was born. He was a sailor, but it is not known that he ever was in a foreign port. By the merest accident I discovered in the New York Historical Society the date and circumstances of his death. He lived in Newark with his wife Elizabeth and a houseful of children, and he owned and ran a sloop for the purpose of carrying freight between New York and Newark. He was in New York on the night of December 24, 1753, and a heavy gale springing up, he left his lodging about midnight and went to look after the safety of his vessel in Peck’s slip, where she was lying. By some misstep he fell overboard and was drowned. He died intestate, and his brother Joseph administered on the estate. The names of other brothers and sisters, as well as that of his wife Elizabeth, appear in the settlement of his affairs. His sloop was his chief possession in the line of personal property. His widow returned to Connecticut with her family, and in 1759 married David Rockwell.
A deed in the Norwalk land records, dated 5 Aug. 1754, states that "Elizabeth Wriggs, widow, or Norwalk" joined her brothers and sisters in conveying land at the upper end of Clapboard Hills, to Ebenezer Benedict. Elizabeth later remarried in 1759 to ENSIGN DAVID ROCKWELL, and lived with him at Ridgebury, in Ridgefield, where he died 30 May 1788. Elizabeth then married a third time circa 1791 to AGUR FAIRCHILD, who died in 1797. She then went to live with her youngest daughter, Esther (Riggs) Rockwell, in Ridgebury, until she was 94 years old, when she went to live with her son Miles Riggs in Norfolk, Connecticut. There she died at the age of 98.
-- JOSIAH RIGGS, born 18 May 1736, md. Experience Davis.
8. JOSEPH RIGGS, born 18 May 1738.
-- SARAH RIGGS, born 22 Oct. 1740.
-- ELIZABETH RIGGS, born 17 Dec. 1742, married Mr. Stewart.
-- POLLY RIGGS, born circa 1744, married Mr. Kimberly.
-- MILES RIGGS, born 20 May 1748, married twice.
-- PRUDENCE RIGGS, born circa 1750, married Samuel Northrop.
-- ESTHER RIGGS, born Nov. 1752, married Abraham Rockwell.
8. JOSEPH RIGGS, son of Miles and Elizabeth Riggs, born 18 May 1738 in Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut; died 15 June 1805 in Norwalk, Connecticut. On 4 Aug. 1761 in New Canaan, Connecticut, Joseph married his first cousin MARY KEELER, born circa 1742 in New Canaan, Connecticut, died circa 1763, daughter of Daniel and Hannah Keeler. Joseph and Mary had one child, Daniel. Joseph married secondly on 18 Sept. 1764 in Wilton, Connecticut, to MARGARET RESSEGUIE, born 20 Feb. 1741 in Norwalk, Connecticut, died at the age of 101 on 10 Oct. 1842 in Ballston, Saratoga, County, New York, daughter of Alexander and Thankful Resseguie. Joseph and Margaret had six children.
9. DANIEL RIGGS, born circa 1762.
-- JAMES RIGGS, born 29 June 1765, married Sarah Miles.
-- MILES RIGGS, born 10 Sept. 1767, married Susan Taylor.
-- IRA RIGGS, born 24 Nov. 1769, died 23 Dec. 1771.
-- TIMOTHY RIGGS, born 29 Oct. 1772, married Candace Weed.
-- SARAH RIGGS, born 6 May 1778, married Raymond Taylor.
-- ESTHER RIGGS, born 18 June 1784, married Mr. Beckwith.
9. DANIEL RIGGS, only child of Joseph and Mary Riggs, born circa 1762 at Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut; died 6 June 1793. Daniel married SUSANNAH LOBDELL, born 9 July 1758 at Ridgefield, Connecticut, daughter of Ebenezer and Rebecca Lobdell. Daniel and Susanna resided at Ridgefield, where their four children were born. Susannah died at Ridgefield, at the home of her granddaughter Sarah Ann (Gray) Roberts on 5 Aug. 1841 at the age of 83.
10. SAMUEL RIGGS, born 20 May 1785.
-- ISAAC RIGGS, born 5 March 1787, md. Marinda Smith.
-- POLLY RIGGS, born 6 July 1791.
-- DANIEL RIGGS, born 16 May 1793.
10. SAMUEL RIGGS, son of Daniel and Susanna Riggs, born 20 May 1785 in Ridgefield, Connecticut; died 2 Feb. 1834 in St. Andrew's, Montgomery County, New York; buried at the church of Berea, about two miles from St. Andrew's. "He seems to have had good opportunity for obtaining an education, and became a teacher," says John H. Wallace's 1901 Riggs Genealogy. Samuel left Connecticut in 1809 and moved to Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York, where on 16 Jan. 1811 he married ELIZABETH HAIGHT, daughter of Beverly and Charity Haight, born 5 Jan. 1790 in Fishkill; died at Fishkill Landing on 13 Dec. 1849; buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery, Matteawan, New York. Samuel and Elizabeth settled in Philipstown, New York, near the north line, on the road leading from Cold Spring Landing to Fishkill Village, where the division of the county in 1812 left them in the new county of Putnam. Their nine children were born in Philipstown, but in 1830 they moved to St. Andrew's where Samuel died.
-- DANIEL RIGGS, born 23 Dec. 1811, md. Hannah Nelson.
-- DAVID RIGGS, born 3 Nov. 1813, never married.
11. ALBERT RIGGS, born 9 Dec. 1815.
-- ISAAC RIGGS, born 31 Jan. 1818, married Maria Height.
-- JOHN RIGGS, born 20 June 1820, twice married.
-- SAMUEL SMITH RIGGS, born 22 July 1822, lost at sea.
-- WILLIAM RIGGS, born 16 May 1824, twice married.
-- SUSAN RIGGS, born 11 July 1826, never married.
-- MARY ELIZABETH RIGGS, born 10 Feb. 1833, md. William T. Valentine.
11. ALBERT RIGGS, son of Samuel and Elizabeth Riggs, born 9 Dec. 1815 in Philipstown, New York; died after the 1880 U.S. Census. Albert married firstly to HANNAH KNAPP, but they apparently had no children, and the marriage presumably ended with Hannah's premature death. Around 1840, Albert married secondly to MARY ELIZABETH PENNOVER (called "Mary Paneer" in John H. Wallace's 1901 Riggs Genealogy), born circa 1818 in New York. The 1880 U.S. Census says Albert's father and mother were born in Connecticut. Albert and his second wife Mary Elizabeth moved from New York to Davis County, Maryland, and later moved to Illinois, where they lived successively in Chenoa, McLean County; Chicago, Cook County; Alton, Madison County; Godfrey, Madison County; and finally Murrayville, Morgan County, where they are reportedly buried in Murrayville Cemetery. In the 1850 U.S. Census, there is an Albert Riggs, age 35, born in New York, living in New York Ward 15, Eastern Half, New York City, who is probably our Albert. In the 1860 U.S. Census, Albert, age 46, and his wife Mary Elizabeth, age 43, are shown as residents of McLean County, Illinois, with six children: David, 18, Martha E., 16, Charles, 13, Albert, 8, Analaura, 5, and Mary E., 2. The 1880 U.S. Census shows Albert, age 64, a carpenter, born in New York, with his wife Mary, age 61, living in Godfrey, Illinois, with their daughters Mary, 21, and Priscilla, 18. That brings to seven the total number of known children of Albert and Mary, which agrees with the family's records that they had three sons and four daughters:
-- DAVID RIGGS, born circa 1842, md. Elizabeth E. Elliot
-- MARTHA E. RIGGS, married R. Lonsberry.
-- CHARLES RIGGS, born in Davis Co., Maryland, md. Sadie E. Ford.
12. ALBERT RIGGS, born 19 Aug. 1852 in Illinois.
-- LAURA A. RIGGS ("Analaura"), married Preston Jones (or Smith?).
-- MARY E. RIGGS, married (NN) Walters.
-- PRISCILLA MARGARET RIGGS, married John D. Lewis (or Ulrich?).
12. ALBERT RIGGS, son of Albert and Mary Elizabeth Riggs, born 19 Aug. 1852; died at age 69 on 8 Jan. 1921 while waiting for the train at the C. & A. station in Jacksonville, Illinois; buried in Murrayville Cemetery, Murrayville, Illinois. The 1880 U.S. Census says Albert was born in Illinois, but family records say Albert was born in New York City and first came to Illinois when he was 8 years old (i.e., circa 1860). In the 1870 U.S. Census, Albert is listed as 18 years of age and a resident of Madison County, Illinois. In the 1880 U.S. Census, Albert, 28, and his wife Luvenia, 23, are listed with two children, Mary, 5, and Scott, 1. Albert married on 13 May 1874 at Godfrey, Illinois, to LUVENIA LA DORA STILL, born 27 Feb. 1857 at Alton, Illinois, daughter of Jeremiah and Charlotte Still, who were immigrants from England. Luvenia died 21 April 1934 in Jacksonville, Illinois, at the home of her daughter Ida Ketner. After the marriage of Albert and Luvenia, they lived for several years in Godfrey, where their first four children were born. While they lived in Godfrey, Albert was head gardener of Monticello Female Seminary (today called Lewis and Clark Community College), and Luvenia, a gifted seamstress, did sewing for the Monticello employees and students. They moved to Murrayville in June 1885. Albert and Luvenia had eleven children, including their daughter Sada, ancestress of the Millions (a very large branch of this family), two boys, Clarence and William, who died in infancy, and an unnamed boy who died the day of his birth and is buried with his oldest sister Mary Elizabeth in Bethel Cemetery, Murrayville, Illinois. It is uncertain when Clarence and William were born, so they are listed last in order, but the other children are here listed in order of birth, starting with the firstborn child of Albert and Luvenia -- Mary Elizabeth, who was born 1875 in Godfrey, Madison County, Illinois:
-- MARY ELIZABETH RIGGS, married William Andrew Still, her cousin.
-- WALDON SCOTT RIGGS ("Walter"), married Emma Adelia Million.
13. HERBERT BENJAMIN RIGGS, born 7 Aug. 1880 in Godfrey, Ill.
-- GEORGE LONSBERRY RIGGS, married Myrtle Kent.
-- IDA MAE FRANCES RIGGS, married Basil Cameron Ketner.
-- SADA AMELIA RIGGS, married Clinton Uriah Million.
-- CLARA CLARISSA RIGGS, married Charles Joseph Roberts.
-- CHARLES VERTREES RIGGS, married Lela Ann Galloway.
-- "Infant Son", born and died 19 (XX) 1897.
-- CLARENCE RIGGS, died in infancy.
-- WILLIAM RIGGS, died in infancy.
13. HERBERT BENJAMIN RIGGS, son of Albert and Luvenia Riggs, born 7 Aug. 1880 at Godfrey, Madison County, Illinois; died at age 81 on 26 April 1962 in Passavant Hospital, Jacksonville, Morgan County, Illinois, after suffering a heart attack on Saturday, 21 April 1962; buried in Murrayville Cemetery. On 14 Feb. 1900 in Murrayville, Morgan County, Herbert Benjamin married MARGARET ELSIE MUTCH, daughter of William and Clara Mutch, born 21 July 1882 in Murrayville, died at age 82 on 30 Jan. 1965 in Greenfield, Illinois, buried in Murrayville Cemetery. Herbert Benjamin and Margaret are listed together in the U.S. Census of 2 May 1930 as living at Murrayville, with Herbert Benjamin's occupation shown as "farmer." By that time, their three children were grown and living in their own households.
14. CARL SPENCER RIGGS SR., born 26 Aug. 1900 at Ceres, Ill.
-- IVA BERNICE RIGGS, married Archie Kingsley Stansfield.
-- RUSSELL THOMAS RIGGS, married Marjorie Hope Barton.
14. CARL SPENCER RIGGS SR., son of Herbert Benjamin and Margaret Riggs, born 26 Aug. 1900 at Ceres, Greene County (near Murrayville), Illinois; died at the age of 85 on 20 June 1986 in White Hall, Greene County, Illinois; buried in Murrayville Cemetery. Around 1918, Carl married BESSIE W. CLARKSON, daughter of Caswell Bates and Ella B. (Judd) Clarkson, born 16 Aug. 1900 in Manchester, Scott County, Illinois, died 15 Jan. 1973 in Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois. Carl and Bessie had three children, but Carl divorced Bessie around 1930 after the birth of their daughter Eileen ("Alleane"). On 5 Aug. 1933 in Murrayville, Illinois, Carl married secondly to RUTH BIRDSELL (HYDE) BOHM, daughter of Charles and Thenia Birdsell, born 11 Oct. 1909, died 30 July 1976 in Covina, Los Angeles County, California. This was Ruth's third marriage. Carl and Ruth were not married very long, divorcing around 1934. Carl reportedly had a daughter around this time, and Ruth may have been her mother. The daughter is said to have been born in Springfield, Illinois, which might mean that she was born after Carl and Ruth had divorced. Ruth later remarried again in 1950 to Fred Ashley. On 22 June 1935 in Jacksonville, Illinois, Carl married thirdly FANNIE PAULINE JOHNSON ("Pauline"), daughter of Richard and Caroline Johnson, born 23 June 1914 in Brighton, Jersey County, Illinois, died 26 May 1996 in White Hall, Greene County, Illinois, buried next to her husband. Carl and Pauline had two children. During his lifetime, Carl lived at Murrayville, then Alsey, Illinois, during the 1960s, then Roodhouse, Greene County, Illinois. He was living in Roodhouse in 1918 around the time he married Bessie. In the U.S. Census of 16 April 1930, Carl and Bessie are listed as residents of Murrayville, and Carl's occupation is listed as livestock trader.
-- PAULINE ELLEN RIGGS (1920-1966), married Ralph Pate.
-- WILBERT CLARKE RIGGS, ("Bud"), married Margaret Helen Manthei.
-- MARGARET EILEEN RIGGS, ("Alleane"), married Jack Everett Florence.
?? (DAU.) RIGGS, born 1930-1935 in Springfield, Illinois (?).
-- CARL SPENCER RIGGS JR., ("Junior"), md. Wanda Jo Anderson ("Joey").
15. CAROLYN JEAN RIGGS, born 15 Jan. 1949 in Jacksonville, Ill.
15. CAROLYN JEAN RIGGS, daughter of Carl and Pauline Riggs, born 15 Jan. 1949 in Passavant Hospital, Jacksonville, Morgan County, Illinois. On 22 May 1971 in Nevada, Iowa, Carolyn married ROY ELDON SPENCER, born 31 March 1940 near Bedford, Taylor County, Iowa, son of John Howard and Helen Spencer. Carolyn and Roy, who divorced in 2003, live in central Illinois. They have two daughters:
-- CHRISTINA CARLENE SPENCER, born 7 July 1972 near Des Moines, Iowa. -- GINA LOUISE SPENCER, born 1 May 1975, married Steve Zavala.
Riggs Genealogy Resources:
Oxford Past (History of Oxford, Connecticut, incl. our Riggs genealogy)Descendants of Wolphert Gerretse Van Kouwenhoven (Incl. ancestry of Carl Spencer Riggs Sr.) Murrayville Cemetery Index Riggs Family Genealogy Forum Riggs Genealogy Message Board Riggs Genealogy Email List Archives
Children of Albert and Luvenia Riggs (with errors) Riggs burials in Murrayville