I know I have neglected this page, there are just so many things going on in life. I still do plenty of research, I had just let this blog slip away. But what I found yesterday I think is worth sharing, since I know there are lots of other Riggs' descendants out there in this big, small world.
The other day I had gotten an email invitation to a Riggs family reunion back in Kansas. They have one every year for descendants of James Daugherty Riggs and Lucinda Barker, who are my 3rd great grandparents. I know I won't be able to attend the reunion, and I'm sure there wouldn't be a familiar face in the whole crowd anyway. But it got me to thinking about the line again and I started to dig around for new info. Well, new information is exactly what I found. Most of the information I had found before, was found by other researchers. The folks who run the reunion have shared lots of work with me, and it was a huge help is growing my family tree.
This bit I'm about to share I found, sort of, through Ancestry as a hint from browsing records for Samuel Riggs, so then I ran a Google search for him, and came upon a text document on ebooksread.com. We all know how garbled that can be, so back to the search until I found the same book on Archives.org. (the following link will take you directly to the PDF if anyone would like to read it or download it for themselves. But I did my best transcribing the relevant content and am sharing that here.)
Here is my transcription of two separate entries in the book concerning Samuel Riggs. There were a couple errors I noticed, and several places where I had a hard time reading the fading pages. I was particularly excited to see that a large portion of the second entry was originally written by Samuel Riggs himself!
Early and Civil History
Page 667- Douglas
Township
Frank Bruning and
Asa Ames came to Union
County at the same time,
May 1853. Bruning settled on the southwest quarter of section 37 and Ames on section 27. In
September Samuel Riggs arrived at their shanty. They were not aware of any
neighbors nearer than Missouri,
except Indians. John Green had a band of Pottawatomies, about 100 braves, on
Grand River, ten miles southeast of Afton.
Previous to Bruning
and Ames’ settling on the Platte, they had made
a selection on Grand River, and started from Missouri
for their lands, they followed the divide between Platte and Grand Rivers.
A very dark night coming on they got lost, and in their wanderings fell into Platte River.
Coming out, they located as above stated.
Bruning at that time
had never seen a map of Iowa,
and did not know what county he was in, but was pleased with the country and
satisfied to locate here.
On the 12th
day of October 1853, Mr. Riggs commenced work on a cabin of the ‘Tippecanoe’ style, on section 30. H. Pitman, John Snow, Reuben and Mahlon Riggs
came with Riggs and took claims. By February following many others had taken
claims; among them were Henry Cline, Jonathan Coons, and James Howard.
Early in march 1854,
Reuben Riggs and Reuben Madden moved into the county, and Madden bought Ames’ cabin.
Mr. Riggs writes in
Colby’s Atlas: “When we were here in November we staked out a road leaving the Mormon
trace where Afton now stands. Soon after our
return two surveyors, from Glenwood came along surveying a state road from
Glenwood to Chariton. At the time there was
not even an Indian trail leading east and west; but there were several running
northwest and southeast. They intended to mark out the road so that it could be
followed. A few days afterward four travelers undertook to follow the trace,
going west past our camp about three o’clock, pm., it soon became very foggy,
and they lost their way and wandered around until two o’clock in the morning
when they got back to Platte, a mile below our camp. There one of the party, an
old man seventy-two years old, gave out and said he must rest before he could
travel further; he was as comfortably cared for and bedded as saddle and
blankets would allow, and then two of the party started to find our camp, while
one remained with the old man and horses. The two came in sight of our campfire
and commenced hallooing. We answered them that they had passed our camp the
evening before. They at once started back for their horses and companions. On
returning, they found that their hallooing had frightened their horses who had
broken loose and run off, and they were left to foot it back to our camp,
hungry and very much fatigued. We at once commenced preparing breakfast. We had
plenty of cornmeal and coffee, but fried all our bacon.
“After breakfast,
the proposition was made to get us and our two horses and one of their number
to hunt their horses. The morning was still foggy; on striking the trail we
found they had started off at full speed; about ten o’clock the fog blew off
and we came in sight of the run-aways; they had crossed their trail several
times, running in a circle; as soon as they discovered us they were as wild as
elks; they were between us and our camp and ran in that direction, coming up to
it, they became more tame and we caught them.
“The strangers now
proposed to stay until the next morning and as ___ us in raising our cabin. We
showed them our stock of provisions. It was found we had plenty of cornmeal and coffee, and some dried fruit, but
if they would stay we would send down to neighbor Bruning’s only eight miles
distant, and get some meat. We accordingly, started a boy off to Bruning’s on
horseback, while we went to putting up house logs. In due time the boy
returned, bringing back the word that neither Bruning or Ames had either beef,
pork or bacon, but they had just finished dressing two fine coons, and they,
with pleasure, sent us the best one.
I mention this
incident more to show the fraternal spirit which governed the pioneers in their
dealings than for any other purpose. The hardships and privations endured by
the first settlers were, in great measure, modified by an open-hearted
liberality, not found in more densely populated communities.
“On the 13th
of April, 1854, I moved my family into our log cabin. At that time there were
about eight families in what is now Platte
Township, but there was
no township organization. In June 1854, we carried a petition to Judge Nun,
asking for a township organization, which he granted and included the whole
southwest fourth of the county in one township, which we called ‘Platte’. The first election was held at the house of H.
Prentice, on the first Monday in August 1854, at which fourteen votes were
cast, and necessary township officers were elected.
“The next accession
to our settlement was William Moore, who settled on section 28; then came
“Uncle Jimmy” Lytle who was located on section 17 and the Meyers family, on the
same section, about July 1854. In August, 1854, a man settled on section 6 who,
in the spring of 1855 sold to William H. Terpenning.
“In 1857 Platte Township
was reorganized taking from her territory township 72, 30, now Highland
(sic); 71, 30, now Grant; and in 1860 Douglas Township
was organized. The writer of this sketch carried the petition for organization
to the then county judge Hon. J.W. McDill, who granted the prayer of the
petitioners, and as no name was indicated, the judge conferred the
responsibility of christening the new township upon the writer, who
unhesitatingly named it Douglas, in honor of Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. At the first
election but seven votes were cast, to wit:
J.S. Lytle, Robert Davis, D.M. and Samuel Riggs, William Morrow; and for
four years subsequently the vote did not exceed fourteen at any election.
“The first years we
were here, we had either to go to Compton’s,
near Winterset, or to Hawleyville (sp?), Page County, to get milling done,
except that a small mill at Petersville would crack corn for us, provided we had
any to crack.
“Blacksmiths were
scarce; Frank Bruning had a few tools and with a black oak tree for a shop, and
a rude forge, improvised for the occasion, he sharpened our plows and shod our
horses, as necessity compelled to patronize him.
“The first
school-house in this part of the county was erected in 1855, on Reuben Madden’s
land, and was built of logs. It was probably more highly appreciated than are
the commodious and attractive school buildings of to day.
“The settlements
during the years 1855-‘6 were quite rapid on Platte—Joseph
Roberts, B. R. Baker, James Wisherd, The Blisses, E. Orr, and others.
“The first post
office in the west part of the county was established in 1854, S. M. Riggs,
postmaster. A mail route was established from Pisgah to Glenwood the same year,
and the writer was the contractor for the mail service on the route, which was
carried weekly, and supplied the offices of Afton, Platte, Scioly (sp?), White
Cloud, Indian Creek, and Glenwood; the distance was one hundred miles and not a
bridge the entire distance and very little road.
“The writer was the
first justice of the peace in the west part of the county, being commissioned
in 1854.
“The first saw mill
was a portable one, and located on section 10, and was built by Tarpenning
& Company, in the summer of 1855. They completed their saw mill, sawed
some, quarreled more, and spent more money at the law than they made at the
saw.
“The first
school-house in Douglas Township was a frame 18x26, built of native lumber,
sawed at Sharpe’s Mill in Ringgold
County, and was located
on section 30. The first teacher was Miss Mary Lambert. Religious meetings were
not of frequent occurrence at our first settlement, but only occasionally an
itinerant preacher would call the neighbors together and preach to them. The
first sermon was preached in this township by Isaac Sidewell, at the house of
the writer, in 1855, the next was by Moses Case, in 1861, at the school house.
“The first store in Douglas Township was started by Lemon & Cresswell,
in Cromwell, in November 1868; they were soon followed by J.C. Williams, in
January 1869.
Good fortune and
natural advantages together have given to Douglas the largest city in
Southwestern Iowa, except Council
Bluffs. Creston has grown up on wild prairie in
seventeen years.
