THOMAS CHILDREN

William Carroll Riggs (1823-1872)

Born: 30 October 1823

Married: 20 November 1845 married Naomi Harriett Flannery in Izard County Arkansas

Died:  22 Jan 1872 in Williamson County Texas

          On 30 October 1823 a son was born to Thomas and Rhoda Riggs.  He was named William Carroll Riggs.  If the traditional naming pattern of families in the south in that era was followed, Thomas’ father was named either William or Carroll, for the first born son was usually named after his father’s father.  Again, was William Carroll born in Marion County or in Pickens County Alabama?  Being her first child, Rhoda may have gone to stay with family who were living in Marion County for the birth of her child.

Most of the records I have say he was born in Marion County Alabama.  Because I have no documentation as to his place of birth, I am speculating that he was possibly born in Pickens County Alabama instead of Marion County Alabama.  William, age 7 years, in 1830 would fit in the family of the Thomas Riggs we find as head of household in the 1830 Pickens County Census.  In 1828 his father, Thomas Riggs, served as a Justice of the Peace in Pickens County.  More research needs to be done to prove that this is more than just a speculation.  In the 1840 Census, we find that William C. at age 17, would fit in the family of the Thomas Riggs head of household found living in Izard County Arkansas.

On 20 November 1845, William Carroll Riggs married Naomi Harriett Flannery in Izard County Arkansas.  I am not sure where I got this marriage date.  I found an Isaac Flannery and family living in Sylamore, Izard, Arkansas in the 1850 Census that I speculate is the father of Naomi Harriett Flannery.

By the 1850 Census William C., age 27, is married and living in his own home in Sylamore, Izard, Arkansas.

In the 1860 Census he is living in White County Arkansas.

William C. and Naomi’s children are Charles Riggs b. 1846, Isaac b. 1849, Thomas b. 1851 d. 1862, John Wesley b. 1853, Mary Frances b. 1855, Rhoda Jane b. 1856, William Aaron b. 1859 d. 1886, James Monroe b. 1861 d. 1867, Martha Elizabeth b. 1864, Eliza Lou b. 1866, Norma Harriet b. 1869, and Edwin b. 1872.

William C. Riggs died 22 Jan 1872 in Williamson County Texas, He is buried in the Land Cemetery, Cornhill (Jarrell), Williamson, Texas.

Rebecca Riggs (1824-1824)

Born: 1824

Married:

Died:  ??

In 1824 we believe that a daughter, Rebecca Riggs, was born.  Following traditional naming patterns, she would have been named after Thomas’ mother.  She didn’t live long and died in infancy.  In his book, “Our El Dorado”, Uncle John Riggs mentions this child.  We have not found any records about her as of this date.

John C. Riggs (1825-1859)

Born: 1825

Married: Elizabeth Jane Johnson, age 21, 9 Dec 1847

Died: 16 Mar 1859, Coryell County, Texas

A second son, John C. (Casey?) Riggs, was born in 1825.  We have no day or month of birth or place of birth for him.  It has been speculated that he was born in Marion County, Alabama, but Tuscaloosa and Pickens Counties are also possibilities. The traditional naming pattern is that the second son is named after the mother’s father.  That is why we think that the John Casey, Sr., that owned land in Marion County, near land owned by Thomas Riggs, is probably the father of Rhoda.

John C., age 23, married Elizabeth Jane Johnson, age 21, 9 Dec 1847 in Independence County Arkansas.  They had land next to his father in Izard County Arkansas.  Their children were Rhoda Elizabeth b. 1849, Margaret Ann b. 1853, William Carroll b. 1856, and John Roland b. 1858.

John and Jane moved to Texas sometime between 1856 and 1858, settling near Sugar Loaf Mountain in Coryell County.  Their home is now located on the military range of Fort Hood.  On 16 Mar 1859 John and Jane were massacred by some Indians leaving behind them 4 children.  The two girls were carried off by the Indians but later dropped by the wayside.  The two little boys were found by their dead parents.  The children were all taken back to Arkansas to be raised by their grandparents.

At the time of their deaths John and Jane were buried near their home in Coryell County.  When the area became the Fort Hood military area, their graves were moved to a cemetery in Kileen, Texas.

The history of this family is written in the book “Chicosa Bill”.  This book is a compilation of journals kept by their son, William Carroll Riggs.

(In publishing this story we do not condone the violence of this time. We are simply publishing our family history as we learned it.)

Brannick Riggs (1828-1907)

Born: 10 July 1828 Marion County, Alabama

Married: Mary Elizabeth Robbins in 1856

Died: July 4, 1907 Home Ranch, Cochise County, Arizona

On 10 July 1828, a third son, Brannick Riggs was born to Thomas and Rhoda.  There is also some conflict as to which county he was born in.  The family tradition was that he was born in Tuscaloosa, Marion, Alabama.  I am afraid that is not possible for Tuscaloosa is and always has been in Tuscaloosa County.  But, Pickens County was formed out of Tuscaloosa County, so Brannick could have been born in the part of Tuscaloosa County that became Pickens County in 1820.  More questions!  We don’t know why this son was named Brannick.  Is it a family name on the Riggs side or on the Casey side?  Was it the maiden name of one of their mother’s?  Family tradition says the name Brannick was given to him by an Indian and it means “Herdsman”.  Does the name Brannick truly mean “Herdsman”?  If so, where did it mean “Herdsman”, among the Indians or somewhere in the British Isles?  Research identifies Brannick or Brannock as a surname coming out of the British Isles, and is found mostly in South Carolina but also in Alabama and Georgia.  I have a personal theory.  It is a nice story that the name Brannick was given to him by an Indian, but I think it is just a surname in the family or of a close friend.  There are lots of interesting speculations!

Brannick and James Riggs and Families

Brannick Riggs was born in 1828, in Marion County, Alabama, to Thomas and Rhoda Casey Riggs. In 1835, Brannick’s younger brother, James Monroe Riggs was born in Monroe County Mississippi. Brannick and James came from a family of 11 children, 7 sons (William Carroll, John C, Brannick, Barney Kemp, Thomas, James Monroe and Charles) and 4 daughters (Rebecca, Margaret, Martha and Rhoda). Their growing up years were spent in Marion County Alabama, Monroe County Mississippi and Izard County Arkansas. As a young man, Brannick went to Texas where he met and married Mary Elizabeth Robbins in 1856. Mary Elizabeth was born in 1838 near Nashville, Tennessee. Her father was a teacher, who because of his bad health moved the family to Texas.
In 1859 Indians killed Brannick’s older brother, John C., and his wife, Jane, in Coryell County, Texas. John C’s parents took his four children to Arkansas to live with them.
The family was southern slave owners so, when the Civil War started the boys all fought on the side of the Confederacy. Brannick served under Sibly and was wounded in the shoulder in a skirmish the day before the Battle of Shilo. During and after the Civil war Brannick’s parents and their family had hard times so they moved to Bell County Texas where several of the children had made their homes.
Brannick, his brother James Monroe, and their father, Thomas, went to Bandera County in Texas where they began developing land and engaged in cutting large Cedar trees for timbers that they hauled into San Antonio. James Monroe Riggs became expert at making wood shingles by hand. In 1867, before their homes were finished and the families could join them, Thomas Riggs was drowned in the Medina River. After his father’s death, Brannick took responsibility for his mother and his nieces and nephews.
The lure of California was strong, so in April of 1870 Brannick and his family, James and his wife, the 2 nephews, William Carroll and John Roland Riggs, and Brannick’s mother, Rhoda Casey Riggs, started for California. They arrived in Trinidad, Colorado, in July and settled in Chicosa Canyon where they stayed for the next seven years. Again they set up a sawmill, cutting timbers for the mines, and James engaged in the making of wood shingles by hand. They ran some cattle, but mostly for family use.
In 1877, James moved with his family to Dos Cabezas, Cochise, Arizona where he ran a grocery store. James wrote to Brannick telling him of the opportunities of the Sulphur Springs Valley and Dos Cabezas areas. The reports must have been intriguing for in 1877 Brannick packed up his family and headed for Arizona, leaving behind his oldest son, his two nephews and his aged mother.
In October 1879 Brannick and his family arrived at Emigrant Canyon on the north side of the Chiricahua Mountains, about 5 miles east of old Fort Bowie. They brought a herd of milk cows with them. Not needing all of the milk and butter produced, it was sold to the soldiers at Fort Bowie. Soon the spring they had camped near dried up forcing the family to look for a permanent source of water. This was found on the other side of the mountains in the Sulphur Springs Valley about 12 miles straight south of Apache Pass. The story has been passed down through the family that grass was belly high to a horse when they moved into the valley. They had left Texas originally to go to California. When Brannick started talking again about moving on to California, Mary Elizabeth told him, “Mr. Riggs, you and the boys can go to California if you want, but the girls and I are staying here.” So they all stayed! Brannick moved up the creek about 2 miles where he found permanent water and established “Home Ranch” on Pinery Creek.
This was good land for raising cattle and it soon became apparent to Brannick, and his sons, that they could supply beef to Fort Bowie as well as milk and butter. To improve his herd, Brannick bought some good Hereford stock from Col. Henry Hooker. With lots of hard work, Brannick and his sons improved their cattle business as they acquired land, water rights and more cattle. With the closure of Fort Bowie in 1894 the Riggs family found other markets for the sale of their beef cattle.
Brannick and Mary Elizabeth also had eleven children. The first six children, Thomas, Rhoda, William, Martha, Brannick B. and James, were born in Texas and the next three, Mary, John and Lucy in Colorado. Their youngest son, Barney Kemp, was born in Emigrant Canyon and their youngest daughter, Edith Bessie, at Home Ranch. Edith Bessie didn’t live very long and was the first to be buried in the Riggs Family Cemetery in 1885. This Cemetery, the final resting-place of many of the Riggs family, is located on the south side of Highway 186, about 30 miles from Willcox. Brannick Riggs passed away in 1907, just 6 days before his 79th birthday. Mary Elizabeth died in 1935 in her 97th year.
Brannick and his family moved into the Sulphur Springs Valley a year or two after the Chiricahua Apache Indian Reservation was discontinued. Although many of the new settlers still had Indian problems, the Riggs people were never bothered. Many of the neighbors gathered at Home Ranch, whenever an Indian scare occurred, for protection. If the Indians came into their camps or to the ranch, Brannick would give them food. He always dealt fairly with the Indians.
Brannick and Mary Elizabeth Riggs believed in education and encouraged each of their children to pursue a secular education. There were no schools in the area where they settled so Brannick built a one-room schoolhouse near his home and brought teachers from the east to teach his children and the neighborhood children. Because of ranch and family responsibilities, Brannick’s two oldest children, Thomas J. and Rhoda didn’t attend college. The rest of his children attended college at the Valparaiso University in Indiana. One son studied Civil Engineering and two sons became Lawyers, practicing law in Tombstone for a few years. It was felt that education was important for the girls as well and they attended college in Indiana and Arizona.
Brannick and several of his sons were actively involved with the Masonic Order throughout their lives, as were some of his grandsons.
Each of the Riggs children was given a heifer calf and a brand when they were young. From this first calf they built herds of their own and each child obtained a ranch of their own. Arizona was open range when the Riggs family arrived. Through some homesteading and by purchasing other ranches, the Riggs ranches stretched from close to Turkey Creek along the base of the Chiricahua Mountains and the Dos Cabezas Mountains almost into Willcox. Brannick and his sons, daughters and sons-in-law could see that if they joined together in the Riggs Cattle Company, it would be beneficial to all. Brannick, Mary Elizabeth, 5 of their sons and 3 of their daughters, started the Riggs Cattle Company in 1904. It was decided it would be in the best interest of all the families involved to dissolve the company in 1922. During the time the company operated, it was one of the large cattle operations in Cochise County.
Besides the cattle business, the Riggs men were involved in several additional businesses. Brannick Riggs had a two story brick building built on the corner of Central and Main street in Safford. The bottom floor contained a clothing store and the second floor was the meeting place for the Masons. T.J. Riggs was involved with setting up the first telephone service in the Willcox and Bowie area. He helped build a phone line connecting the ranches in the Riggs settlement to each other and to Willcox. Brannick Benjamin and his brother, James Jay, bought the sawmill located in Barfoot Park on top of the Chiricahua Mountains from Mr. William Downing. They hauled timbers for the mines in Tombstone, Pearce and Paradise. Brannick and his sons were involved in the King of Lead Mine in the Chiricahua Mountains and invested in the mines in Dos Cabezas and Paradise.
Brannick taught his sons to give back to their community through service. Thomas Jefferson served on the Bowie School Board for a number of years. Thomas’ son, Edward Murray Riggs, along with his wife, Lillian Erickson, was instrumental in developing the Wonderland of Rocks, now known as the Chiricahua National Monument. William served seven years, 1904 – 1911, on the Cochise County Board of Supervisors, the last four years as Chairman. William also served as Senator from Cochise County in the State Legislature, 1915 –1916. James Jay Riggs served one term in the Territorial Legislature from Cochise County. He was involved with the Arizona Rangers helping to prosecute cattle thieves, the Territorial Livestock Sanitary Board and with the state and national Cattlemen’s Association. John Casey served in the Senate of the Eleventh State Legislature.
Three of the Riggs brothers, William M, John Casey, and Barney Kemp, established the Riggs Bank in Willcox in 1920, which they ran for several years. Thomas J. Riggs was part of the operation of the bank branch that was opened in Bowie. Although the Riggs brothers had gradually withdrawn from active management, selling the bank in 1933, it still had their name when the National Bank Holiday closed many banks. Although they were not legally obligated, the Riggs brothers felt a deep responsibility to the depositors of the Riggs Bank, so they borrowed money and made sure none of the depositors lost their money. Their father had taught them to be honest and to be men of high integrity.
Brannick and Mary Elizabeth had five daughters, Rhoda, Martha, Mary, Lucy and Edith, who died as an infant. When the family moved from Colorado to Arizona, Rhoda and Martha were old enough to help with driving the cattle. As they grew up the girls helped with the work of the ranch and were knowledgeable about the operations of a ranch. From the calves each girl was given, they developed their own herds. As they established their own ranches they were able to ride and help their husbands with the ranch work. All of the girls loved horses and were expert horsewomen. When the Riggs Cattle Company was organized Rhoda, Mary and Lucy were partners in the business.
Rhoda never married. Martha married Thomas Bell Stark and Mary married his brother, William A. Stark. Lucy married Gus L. Moore. Each of Brannick and Mary Elizabeth’s daughters, along with their husbands, established ranches in the Riggs settlement. Although the Riggs women didn’t become involved personally in the community, as did their brothers and husbands, they supported the men in the things they did. People were always made welcome in their homes.

There is a more complete history of Brannick Riggs available on the Brannick Riggs Family History web site.

Barney Kemp (1831-1863)

Born: 14 December 1831

Married:

Died: 1863,Little Rock, Arkansas (while serving in the Civil War)

14 December 1831 brought a fourth son to Thomas and Rhoda.  He was named Barney Kemp Riggs.  A traditional naming pattern would have been that Barney or possibly Kemp was the maiden name of Rhoda’s mother.  There are several Barney families and Kemp families in the area where the Riggs’ lived.  Either the first or middle name could have been given because of a special friendship with a Barney or a Kemp.  The story taken from the book “Mother Monroe”, tells that Thomas had a good friend, Mr. Tapley Kemp, in Alabama that later came to visit him in Arkansas.  Did the middle name Kemp come from their good friend?  As with the other children, we don’t know if Barney was born in Pickens or Marion County.

Barney Kemp married Louiza (Eliza) Jane Hilger on ???????  Their children were Fannie Fleunoy Pochahontas b. 1858, William Austin b. 1859 and Martha b. 1861.

Barney was a private in Company I, 27th Arkansas Regiment under Shaler.  He later became a 2ndLieutenant and was a Courier at Little Rock, Arkansas.  A sad statistic that came from the Civil War is that 2 out of every 3 soldiers who died during the war died from diseases like measles, mumps, diarrhea, pneumonia and Typhoid fever not from war wounds.  The soldiers died because they didn’t know how important it was for the camps where the soldiers lived be clean.  They didn’t have sufficient healthy food to eat and they lacked the right kind of medicine to prevent or treat the diseases.     Barney died in 1863 of pneumonia as the result of exposure.  He was buried in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Louiza later married John Frances Durham in 1868.

Thomas Riggs, Jr. (1832-1885)

Born: 9 March 1832 Marion County Alabama

Married: 1855 Hannah Felton in Texas

Died: 1885 Kimble County Texas

The Riggs family was very blessed with sons, for on 9 March 1832, a fifth son, Thomas Jr., was born in Marion County Alabama.  The traditional naming patterns would have the 5th son named after his father.  Thomas and Brannick appear not to have middle names.

Sometime in the 1850’s Thomas moved to Texas with his brother John C. Riggs.  He was at their home when the Indians attacked John and Jane and went for help, thus avoiding being killed himself.

Thomas married Hannah Felton sometime in 1855 in Texas. Their children were Brannick Riggs b. 1854, Barney Kemp b. 1856 “Yuma Barney”, Richard b. 1857, Rhoda b. 1860, Thomas b. 1862, Martha b. 1864, Jones b. 1868, Mary b. 1871 and Monroe b. 1874.

His son Barney Kemp Riggs became famous among characters of the old west when he shot his step-cousin Richmond Lee Hudson and was sent to Yuma prison with a life sentence. He saved the Warden’s life and was given a pardon. Because there are so many Riggs men with the name Barney Kemp and it is difficult to keep them identified, Barney Kemp Riggs, son of Thomas and Hanna, has become known in the family as “Yuma Barney”.  Thomas and Hanna’s daughter Mary married Tom Baker and they lived on a ranch near Bonita, AZ, north of Willcox.  His son Richard lived south of Tucson, AZ.

Thomas died in 1885 and is buried in the Junction Cemetery in Kimble County Texas.

James Monroe Riggs (1835-1912)

Born: 7 April 1835

Married: Narcisus Benton (died),  Elizabeth Drucella Hudson 11 Oct 1871 (divorced),  Sally Wilborn

Died: 10 Aug 1912

James Monroe Riggs

A sixth son arrived on 7 April 1835in Monroe County Mississippi and was named James Monroe Riggs. Often the younger children in a large family were named after someone famous such as a president and President James Monroe died in 1831.  Or some-times they were named after the County they were born in.  It is also possible that it is a family name on one side of the family or the other.  When James was born the family had possibly moved across the State line into Monroe County, Mississippi near Aberdeen.  Marion County, Alabama, and Monroe County, Mississippi, shared a common boundary, the Tombigbee River.  The country east of the river, although in Mississippi, was regarded in Alabama, and the country west was in Mississippi.  For several years the old pioneers voted with Marion county Alabama. The Alabama judges held courts and when delegates to frame the Constitution of Alabama were elected, the people living in Monroe voted with Marion county Alabama.  Had the family moved or had they been living all along in the area of controversy over the state line between Alabama and Mississippi?[1]  As a reminder, in the book “Mother Monroe” it states that Thomas Riggs operated a ferry above Aberdeen, Mississippi.  I don’t know which side of the river he lived on or exactly where the ferry was but they may not have moved at all, just the boundaries changed.

In 1862 James Monroe joined James R. Shaler’s Infantry, being recruited from Izard County Arkansas.  James was a 2nd Lieutenant and then a Lt. Colonel during the Civil war.  His brother, Barney Kemp served with him in Arkansas.  As a 1st Lt. James was captured 8 Apr 1862 and held as a POW at Alton, Illinois.  In Sept. 1862 he was taken to Vicksburg and released in a prisoner exchange.  He was age 27.

James married Narcisus Benton in Bandera County Texas. They went to Colorado with Brannick and his family and their mother, Rhoda Casey Riggs.  Not too long after they arrived in Colorado Narcisus died and is buried in the Wilcox Cemetery, Las Animas Colorado.

He then married Elizabeth Drucella Hudson 11 Oct 1871. She had a son, Richmond Lee Hudson when they married. They are the parents of Mattie b. 1872, John Dorsey b. 1874, Elizabeth (Lizzie) ;b. 1876p, Florence b. 1877 and Lula K. b. 1881.   James and Lizzie were the first to move to Arizona.  They settled in the Dos Cabezas area in what was then Pima County.   . James ran a store in Dos Cabezas called the Travelers Rest and did some prospecting.  According to his daughter, Mattie, he located the first gold mine in Dos Cabezas.  The ore from the mine had to be taken by wagon to Tucsonto be smelted.   James and Elizabeth divorced 18 Feb 1886.

James went back to Texas where he married Sarah “Sally” Wilborn.  They are the parents of Rhoda b. 1890, Ruth b. 1892, Samuel Houston b. 1894, Jessie b. 1896.

James Monroe Riggs died 10 Aug 1912 in Center, Shelby, Texas.

Tragedy seemed to be a part of the life of this family. In 1886 Lizzie’s son, Richmond Lee Hudson, was shot and killed by his step-cousin, Barney Kemp Riggs. Barney Kemp was the son of Thomas Riggs, a brother to Brannick and James Riggs, who lived in Ft. Stockton, Texas. Many bad things happened in the life of Martha (Mattie) Riggs, the oldest daughter of James Riggs. Her second husband, John Duncan, was shot and killed by Wylie Morgan at the NO ranch west of Willcox. Her third husband, Doc Goodin, injured his leg as a rotted floor gave way in his tack room. He died of blood poisoning. Lula Duncan, another daughter of James Riggs, died young in childbirth. All of the children of James and Lizzie Riggs settled on ranches in the Canello, Arizona area. Elizabeth (Lizzie) Riggs and all of her children are buried in the Black Oak Cemetery near Canello.

A descendant of his son, Samuel Houston Riggs, is included in the DNA Circle of Thomas Riggs.

[1] See the book “Tenn-Tom Country: The Upper Tombigbee Valley” by James F. Doster and David C. Weaver; The University of Alabama Press, 1987.

Margaret Riggs (1838-1903 )

Born: 14 March 1838 Aberdeen, Monroe, Mississippi

Married: Charles Stuart abt. 1852

Died: 26 Oct 1903 Salado, Bell, Texas

Margaret Riggs, the second daughter, arrived on 14 March 1838.  Her birth place is given as Aberdeen, Monroe, Mississippi.  Traditional naming would have the 2nd girl named after the Mother’s mother. (Because of information about the wedding of Thomas and Rhoda from Freda Cruse Phillips, the Margaret mentioned in the wedding announcement was possibly Rhoda’s mother.)

Margaret was raised in Izard County, Arkansas. In about 1852 she married Charles Stuart in Blue Mountain, Izard, AR.  They moved to Salado, Bell, Texas in 1861.  Charles Harrison Stuart was a gunsmith and built a blacksmith shop in Salado.  They owned land in Cedar Knob, Bell Co, TX.

Charles and Margaret were the parents of Thomas b. 1855, Isom b. 1857, Brannick b. 1860, James b. 1863, Sidney b. 1863, Lee Sterling b. 1868, Laura, b. 1870, Rhoda b. 1872, Bolden Green b. 1873, and Lily b. 1877.

Charles died 10 Mar 1855 in Salado and Margaret died 26 Oct 1903 in Salado, Bell, TX.

Martha Riggs 1840-?

Born: 1840  Mississippi

Married:

Died: ?

Martha Riggs

We find that by 1840 the family is living in Izard County Arkansas.  A third daughter, Martha Riggs, was born in 1840.  The 1850 Census says she was born in Mississippi.  I have not been able to find her on another Census to see where she gave as her birth place. I don’t know exactly when the family moved to Arkansas so this is possible.  They were in the 1840 Census in Izard County Arkansas.

It has been very difficult to find information about Martha, who her spouse was and who her children were.

In the story of John and Jane Riggs being killed by the Indians in 1859 it says that Rhoda and Margaret were taken to their Aunt, Mrs. Mack Whitehead, after they were found.  She was apparently living in Bell or Coryell County Texas at that time.

The following is a copy of a letter from her sent to her parents after the Civil War.

Carroll County Arks                             8th March 1868

Dear Father & Mother & Brothers, Sisters and all the rest.

We are all well and hopeing the lines may find you all in like blessings.  We are doing as well as could be expected.  We bought land on White River near the Missouri line but we do not like this new Constitution and I expect we will move again to where we will not be trampled upon by Negro equality, & where the Conservative Party is strongest and will soon be in power.  I expect to live in town.  I would like to see and be with you all again, but circumstances will not admit of it.  Though I hope to meet you all once in this world we are now a great way apart, and likely to get further.  I heard that about a year ago you was speaking of moving back to old Izard.  I only live about seventy-five miles above Richwoods but I will soon be about four hundred from old Richwoods.  When we get stopped again – will write.  We have plenty to live on and I hope we always will.  Byron is nearly as tall as I am and is yet growing as fast as a Butterweed.  I would like to hear from Eliza & Margaret Ann & all how & what they are doing.  Mack is not murdered yet.  He went to Louisiana last fall got me plenty of wool roles & cotton which is very scarce here.  Tell Hannah I live close by her Uncle James Glover & some of the other Glovers.

Tell all to write to me.  I am your daughter most affectionately.  Direct your letters to Lead Hill P.O. Marion County Arks if you will write.  The letters will be forwarded to me.

Martha Whitehead

From this letter I think she had at least one son, Byron.  In the book “Chicosa Bill”, William Carroll Riggs went to Cumby, Hopkins County, Texas about 3 times and visited with his cousin Jones Byron Whitehead who was a mail carrier in that area.  In the 1860 Census I find a Martha Whitehead age 20, an AM Whitehead age 32 and a J. B. Whitehead age 4 living in the home of L. J. Wallace in Clifton Post Office, Norman Hill, Bosque, TX.  Is this our Martha?  In the 1900 Census I find a Martha Whitehead age 53 born in MS and a John Whitehead age 15 born in TX in the home of Ollie J. Trotter.  Says she is his Mother-in-Law and that John is his Brother-in-law.  His wife is Katie E. Trotter age 18 born in Texas.  Is this our Martha?

In the letter she refers to her husband saying “Mack is not murdered yet.”  In Family Search Texas Death Records I find an Allen McAlister as the father in the death record of Robert F. Whitehead in Hunt County Texas, but the mother is Mary Ann Penington.  In the Find A Grave Index record for Jones Byron Whitehead it shows his birthplace as Fayetteville, Washington, Arkansas on 12 Jul 1855.  His death date is 11 Aug 1933.  It also names his father as Allen McAlister Whitehead.  Some of the records I have from other people say she married JB Whitehead.  I have not found any records for a JB Whitehead.

Possible children for Martha and her husband are Jones Byron b. 1855, Robert b. 1876, Katie b. 1882, and John b. 1885.

Martha possibly died in Greenville, Hunt, Texas.

Rhoda Riggs 1842-

Born: 18 May 1842 White River, Izard, Arkansas

Married: William D. Copeland 7 Oct 1857  (died),  Alexander R. Miller abt. 1895

Died: Blackwell, Texas

The fourth daughter, Rhoda, was born in White River, Izard, Arkansas on 18 May 1842.  She apparently was named after her mother, Rhoda Casey Riggs.

On 7 Oct 1857 she married William D. Copeland who was born in Riggsville, Izard, AR.  Some-time between 1863 and 1866 they moved to Bell County Texas.  William D. ran a hardware store in Salado.  William D. died 21 Apr 1879.

They are the parents of Franciole Decalb b. 1858, Frances Marion b. 1860 d. 1865, Shaler b. 1863 d. 1864, Florence b. 1866 d. 1870, Commodore b. 1869, Emma b. 1871, Charlie b. 1873, Tilden b. 1875, and Billie b. 1878 d. 1902.

Rhoda’s mother, Rhoda Casey Riggs, was living in her home in the 1880 Census in Cedar Grove, Bell, TX.  William Carroll Riggs, the grandson of Rhoda Casey, brought her to live with Rhoda Copeland and her family after her sons James and Brannick Riggs had left Colorado for Arizona.  She was living with her daughter, Rhoda, at the time of her death in January 1881.

Some-time around 1895 Rhoda married Alexander R. Miller.

Rhoda died 17 July ???? in Blackwell Texas.

Charles Riggs 1845-?

Born: 1845 White River Izard County Arkansas

Married:

Died:

The last child of Thomas and Rhoda was the seventh son, Charles Riggs.  He was born in 1845, also in White River, Izard, Arkansas.In his book, “Our El Dorado”, Uncle John Riggs says that Charles died during or just after the Civil War.  I have not been able to find any additional information on him.

He is in the family in the 1850 Census, age 5, and in the 1860 Census, age 14.  He was 16 when the war started.

There has been some confusion with this son of Thomas and Rhoda’s and their grandson, Charles Riggs, son of William Carroll Riggs.  There is only about 2 year’s difference in their age.  Charles, son of Thomas, was born in 1845 and Charles, son of William Carroll, was born in 1846.  The 1850 Census of Izard County, Arkansas, has a Charles in the family of Thomas Riggs, age 5, born in Arkansas.  The same Census has a Charles in the family of William Carroll Riggs, age 3, born in Arkansas.  The 1860 Census has both Charles’ age 14, one living with Thomas in Izard County, Arkansas and one living with William Carroll in White, County Arkansas.

Civil Ward records are becoming more readily available.  With research it may be possible to find more information about Charles the son of Thomas and Rhoda.