Edward Riggs II (bef. 1619 - 1668)

Born before 17 Oct 1619 in Nazeing, Essex, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1 Jun 1668 after age 48 in Newark, Essex, New Jersey [uncertain]

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Biography

Edward Riggs II immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Edward Riggs II was baptized at Nazeing, Essex, England on 17 October 1619 and migrated to America with his parents, landing in Boston in the early summer of 1633 and settling in nearby Roxbury.^[1]

Perhaps as early as 1635, Edward married ELIZABETH, born 1621 in England. by 1636, their first child was born. They had the following children:

1. Edward Riggs III, Born in Roxbury MA about 1636.^[2]
2. Samuel Riggs, Born in Milford CT about 1640.^[2]
3. Joseph Riggs, Born in Milford CT about 1642.^[2]
4. Mary Riggs, Born in Milford CT about 1644.^[2]

Elizabeth died some time after 2 January 1669/70, perhaps in Newark, New Jersey. (Several genealogists misidentified this Elizabeth as Elizabeth Roosa, who actually married Edward Riggs' father Edward.) ^[3][4][5][6]

After he married, he probably moved to Wethersfield, CT. They were in Milford, CT by 1646, and later he helped establish the Derby Plantation, CT in 1655, before finally moving to Newark, NJ which he helped to found in 1666.

MOVE TO MILFORD, CT, 1646.

It has been claimed that In 1640 Edward became one of the original planters at Milford, CT.^[7] No records were found for him at Milford, Connecticut prior to 1646.^[3][4][5][6]

Edward is shown in the text accompanying the "Plan of the Original Town Plot of Milford in 1646" ^[8] as occupying 3 acres on Lot 63, and Atwater's ^[9] 1646 map of Milford identifies this as the west side of West Town Street. Atwater states that he was considered an "after planter", meaning he came after the original founding settlers. Based on his October 1619 baptism, by October 1640 Edward of Newark had reached the age of 21 and was legally able to receive a grant of land or to purchase property in his own name.^[2]

Plan Of The Original Town Plot

Key To Lot Numbers Allocated

MOVE TO DERBY PLANTATION, CT, 1655.

According to Wallace, in 1655 Edward, with Edward Wooster, John Browne, Robert Dennison and others, bought land from the Indians on the Naugatuck River and established a plantation called Derby some 10 or 12 miles above Milford ^[7] (the town of Derby wasn't created until 1675). A more accurate account of this is given in the note on the Derby Plantation, based on the facts according to the Derby Historical Society ^[10]. Edward located his homestead on a hill which came to be known as "Riggs' Hill" and this was still in the possession of his descendants in 1900. ^[7][2]

THE DERBY PLANTATION, CT

At the time Milford contained the area northwest of the actual town proper first called the Plantation of Paugassett, which later became the separate Township of Derby. A trading post was established at Derby Docks in 1642 by John Wakeman of New Haven, but fur traders from New Haven had been in the area previously. The first year-round houses were built around 1651, at which time the New Haven Colony recognized it as a town, but the residents of nearby Milford protested so vehemently that the order was rescinded and the settlement returned to Milford jurisdiction until 1675 when the former plantation of Paugassett was admitted as the township of Derby by the state legislature.^[11]

"Edward Wooster (nick-named Wolf Killer), the first permanent white settler in the Housatonic and Naugatuck river valley, arrived in 1654 and built his house north and west of Division Street Bridge" (which crosses the Naugatuck from east to west, placing Wooster on the west side of the river). ..."In 1655, Edward Riggs, also of Milford, built a stockaded house, a mile east of Wooster's, on the hill, at what is now Pulaski Highway, across from Upland Terrace." This is now within the boundaries of the Town of Ansonia, on the east side of the Naugatuck River, which in 1893 became separated from Derby on the west side of the river.

Derby is not only Connecticut's smallest city but its "Olde Uptown Burial Ground" is reputedly the United States' oldest public burial ground (i.e. not associated with a church organization), the oldest stone remaining being dated 1687. Photos and inscriptions of the graves of some of Edward's early descendants can be viewed on the Derby web site.^[2]

THE NEW HAVEN COLONY

New Haven Colony consisted of the townships of New Haven itself, Branford, Guilford, Milford and Stamford, as well as Southampton, Long Island (Derby was considered part of Milford until 1675). It practiced the Puritan beliefs far more strictly than the separate Connecticut Colony, insisting that only members of Puritan churches had the right to vote or reside in its towns ^[12].

The Restoration of Charles II led to a royal charter unifying the colonies of New Haven and Connecticut, in direct opposition to the expressed wishes of the New Haven Colony. A constitution was imposed which conflicted with the practices of the strict New Haven Puritans; for example, it allowed children of non-members of the church to be baptized, whereas the Puritan faith permitted baptism only for children of 'the elect' ^[12].

The original settlers ... came to Newark because they opposed the absorption of their communities by the Colony of Connecticut. Newark was founded with its laws based on the Scripture and with full citizenship granted to only church members.^[13]

Prior to this, Capt. Robert Treat of Milford and Jasper Crane of Branford - anticipating the consequences of royalist rule being imposed - had begun negotiations with the Dutch of New Netherland so that their strict Puritan colleagues could find sanctuary there, as the English puritans had done originally in Holland ^[12]. In 1664, New Netherland was captured by the English, part of the territory was appropriated and renamed New Jersey, and Capt. Treat resumed negotiations with the new proprietors of the Province who were offering land on easy terms ^[14].

Wallace reports that Edward visited New Jersey, with some of his colleagues from the Derby Plantation, in 1665 and the site of Newark was decided upon [S3]. The first founders, from Branford and Milford, sailed from the New Haven Colony and settled in Newark in May 1666 ^[12] - please see the separate note on the First Settlers of Newark, NJ.^[2]

"The first church building had the following dimensions: 'Four or six and Twenty Foot wide, and thirty Foot Long and Ten Foot Between Joists, which for the Better Carrying it to an end, the Town hath made choice of Five Men, Viz: Deacon Ward, Sarj.Harrison and his son John, Sarj. Obdh (Edward) Rigs and Michael Tompkins'. The church was Newark's first public building. It stood, on Broad Street, opposite the present First Presbyterian Church...For the next forty years all affairs of the town were held in this church."^[15] All of the first settlers were ardent Congregationalists stressing purity of religion inexplicably interwoven with the local government. and this first church was Congregational. However, it became the First Presbyterian Church in 1720. It is today referred to as the founding church of Newark.

The Lots Of The Early Settlers

Map of Town by "Ye Pesnyak River"

Newark, NJ

MOVE TO NEWARK, NJ, 1666.

In May 1666, Edward, his wife and Joseph his son left New Haven Colony with other families from Branford and Milford and sailed for New Jersey. According to Wallace, in 1666 Edward's wife Elizabeth was the first white woman to spend a summer in Newark ^[7], but he may have confused her with Elizabeth Swaine (the affianced bride of another founder Josiah Ward), who by tradition was the first of the party to set foot on New Jersey soil ^[16]. To learn the political and religious reasons which forced this move, please see the note on the move to Newark, New Jersey.^[2]

On October 30, 1666 the men of these families signed an agreement to form a common township at "New-Ark on Pesayack" and this contains the signature of Edward Riggs and that of his son Joseph ^[17] (according to Wallace ^[7], the "fundamental agreement" was executed on June 24 1667). Edward, Joseph's brother, arrived with his wife and children later in 1667.^[2]

Edward received the 6th lot awarded in the first drawing ^[18] in the creation of "New-Ark" in 1667. The following diagram shows the plots occupied by the early settlers based on the original map made by Samuel H.Conger ^[19]. It identifies the plots of Edward's two sons Edward and Joseph and the plot of his daughter Mary and her husband George Day. The original map, identifying the rest of the occupiers including Edward's probable brother-in-law Lt.Samuel Rose (who had moved there from Branford), can be seen in the separate note on First Settlers of Newark, NJ.^[2]

Death

Edward Riggs died in Newark, New Jersey between 10 January 1669/70 and 25 January 1669/70, only a few years after he moved there from Connecticut. His widow subsequently married CALEB CARWITHIE.^[3][4][5][6]

Records of the Newark Town Meetings of 25 January 1670 and 02 July 1670 both refer to a 'Widow Riggs' (for details, see the note on Edward Riggs's death). Furthermore, Edward of Roxbury's will dated 02 September 1670 makes a bequest to "my daughter-in-law my son Edward Riggs his wife". Admittedly, none of these mention her christian name, and it might be argued that Edward could have remarried, but no evidence has been found to prove Elizabeth pre-deceased Edward or that he married a second time.^[3][4][5][6]

According to Wallace, Edward Riggs died in 1668, whereas Savage ^[7] merely states that he died before his father (who died 05 March 1672.)^[20][2]

"Ten lots were drawn - Imprimis, Zachariah Burwell had the 10th lot, John Brown Senr the 1st, John Brown Jnr. the 4th, Ephraim Burwell the 9th, George Day the 8th, Henry Lyon the 6th, Widow Riggs the 7th, and Nathaniel Wheeler the 2nd."

Incidentally, there is a further reference to 'Widow Riggs' in the record of the Town Meeting 02 July 1670:^[2]

"Item--…Jno. Crane and Sam'l Rose are Chosen Viewers of the Fences. Ths. Richards and the Widow Riggs Her Son, are Chosen to Warn the Town Meetings, each of them his Part as they did the Last Year…"

An Edward Riggs is the only Riggs that is on the initial "quit-rent" tax list dated 25 March 1670, but in an agricultural context land rent in the United State has been paid "in arrears" (at the end of the tax year), so this probably refers to Edward Riggs, even though he had died before then.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ pp 1583-1585 of The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. Vol.III (P-Z) by Robert Charles Anderson, pub by New England Historic Gen Soc, Boston, c1995 [SISBN 0-8808-2044-6] - copy examined in SOG Lib. Online: Ancestry.com; AmericanAncestors.org.
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13} Riggs Surname Study, Edward of Roxbury, Charting the Immediate Descendants of Edward Riggs 1589-1672, of Roxbury, Suffolk County, MA. http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~riggs/USAEdw_S.htm.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Anderson, Robert Charles (F.A.S.G) and Alvy Ray Smith. “The Genealogy of Edward Riggs of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Revisited“, final version as it appears in The Genealogist 23(2009):131-73, with correction of the brief erratum reported in The Genealogist 24(2010):72. http://www.alvyray.com/Riggs/printpapers/RiggsRevisited_finalTGversion.pdf.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} Alvy Ray Smith, FASG. Edwardian Riggses of America III: Edward Riggs (1593–. 1672), Immigrant in 1633 to Roxbury, Massachusetts Through Twelve Generations Part I: the Connecticut Branch. Berkely, Ars Longa, 2016. Please also specify the version number on the title page. Retrieved from http://alvyray.com/Riggs/vol3/EdwardRiggs3i_v8.12.pdf.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} Alvy Ray Smith, FASG. Edwardian Riggses of America III: Edward Riggs (1593–. 1672...Retrieved from http://alvyray.com/Riggs/vol3/EdwardRiggs3ii_v8.29.pdf.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} Alvy Ray Smith, FASG. Edwardian Riggses of America III: Edward Riggs (1593–. 1672), Immigrant in 1633 to Roxbury, Massachusetts Through Twelve Generations Part III: the New Jersey Branch (Problematical). Berkely, Ars Longa, 2016. Please also specify the version number on the title page. Retrieved from http://www.alisongopnik.com/Riggs/vol3/EdwardRiggs3iii_v14.61.pdf.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5} Genealogy of the RIGGS FAMILY (described as Vol.1 but no further vol pub), by John H.Wallace and pub by the author 1901
8. ↑ History of Milford Connecticut 1638-1939 by Federal Writers' Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Connecticut, pub The Milford Tercentenary Committee, Inc, 1939.
9. ↑ History of the Colony of New Haven to its Absorption into Connecticut by Edward E. Atwater: p639 Vol 2 concerning "Personnel of Milford (Wepowaug), 1636-1646
10. ↑ Guide to a Walking Tour of the Ansonia Historic District, Derby Historical Society, publ 1979, trans available on the Electronic Valley Project web-site: viewable on-line at www.lnvalley.org/ansonia/elmtour/index.htm#Mapl
11. ↑ "Derby Quick History" page on the City of Derby web-site: viewable on-line (as at APR2000) at electronicvalley.org/derby/historyquick.htm
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3} The History of Newark, New Jersey, Being a Narrative of Its Rise and Progress, From the Settlement in May, 1666, by Emigrants from Connecticut, to the Present Time; Joseph Atkinson, Thomas Moran et al, Newark, NJ, William B. Guild, 1878, - summarized comments of Beverly Crifasi viewable on-line (as at AUG2000) at www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/newark.htm
13. ↑ A History of the City of Newark, New Jersey, embracing Practically Two and a Half Centuries 1666-1911, p950, pub Lewis Historical Publ Co, NY 1913.
14. ↑ The American Nation: A History of the United States, John A. Garraty. 7th edit pub Harper-Collins Publishers Inc 1991 [SISBN 0-06-042312-9 student edit 0-06-500035-8 teacher edit]
15. ↑ A History of the City of Newark, New Jersey, embracing Practically Two and a Half Centuries 1666-1911, p950, pub Lewis Historical Publ Co, NY 1913.
16. ↑ Historic Newark: A Collection of Facts & Traditions; publ 1916 Fidelity Trust Co., NJ - extracts viewable on-line (as at AUG2000) at www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/newark.htm
17. ↑ "The New Plantation of New-Ark (Newark, NJ)" web-page viewable on-line (as at AUG2000) at www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/newark2.htm
18. ↑ Abstracts of Essex County, New Jersey, Partitions and Divisions of Estates 1793-1881 Recorded at Newark, New Jersey, abstracted by Virginia Alleman Brown, 1981- info suppl Bruce Woodworth
19. ↑ "Newark 1666, Town Lots of the First Residents" web-page viewable on-line (as at AUG2000) at virtualnewarknj.com/imagepages/maps/lots1666.htm
20. ↑ Entry 180 Roxbury Land & Church Records, pp 14-19 in 6th Report of the Boston Record Commissioners pub Boston 1884 - cited by Anderson, The Great Migration Begins

• Find A Grave: Memorial #111924411
• Complete Book of Emigrants 1607-1660, Peter Wilson Coldham, GPC 1988. Also on CD#350 The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1605-1776 & Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1775 © 1996 Broderbund Software, Inc.- info orig suppl Lynn Riggs
• Nathan Grier Parke II, The Ancestry of Rev.Nathan Grier and his Wife Ann Elizabeth Gildersleeve, ed.Donald Lines Jacobus, pub Woodstock 1959, p107 - cited by Anderson, Genealogy of the RIGGS FAMILY
• The Pioneers of Massachusetts, Charles Henry Pope (Pastor, First Church, Charlestown, Boston), orig pub Boston 1900, repr 1965-1977 - copy examined in SOG Lib
• pp 1583-1585 of The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. Vol.III (P-Z) by Robert Charles Anderson, pub by New England Historic Gen Soc, Boston, c1995 [SISBN 0-8808-2044-6] - copy examined in SOG Lib
• "Savage's Dictionary" Full title:- A Gen Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those who Came before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register by James Savage, former President Of The Mass. Historical Soc, Vol.III, K-R. Orig pub Boston, 1860-1862, repr GPC 1965, 1969, 1977, 1981, 1986, 1990 [SISBN 0-8063-0309-3]. Electronic version adapted under the direction of Robert Kraft © July 1994 - this is viewable on-line at www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/savage/.
• Roxbury Vital Records - info suppl Bob Bowers USGenWeb MA Look-up Volunteer
• "Hiding the Regicides WHALLEY & GOFFE In Early New Haven" web-page viewable on-line (as at APR2000) at www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/regicide.htm
• The History and Antiquities of Boston, Samuel G.Drake, Boston, orig pub 1856, p216 - copy examined in SOG Lib
• Founders of Early Milford Connecticut, Susan Woodruff Abbott, pub Gen Publ Co.Inc, Baltimore, 1979 - copy examined in SOG Lib
• Descendants Chart of Thomas Riggs (of Southampton, England) compiled by Charles L. Riggs
• Historic Newark: A Collection of Facts & Traditions; publ 1916 Fidelity Trust Co., NJ - extracts viewable on-line (as at AUG2000) at www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/newark.htm
• "The New Plantation of New-Ark (Newark, NJ)" web-page viewable on-line (as at AUG2000) at www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/newark2.htm
• "Newark 1666, Town Lots of the First Residents" web-page viewable on-line (as at AUG2000) at virtualnewarknj.com/imagepages/maps/lots1666.htm
• The History of Ancient Wethersfield by Sherman W. Adams and Henry R. Stiles (pub orig 1904), Vol. 1, pp27-29 & p72 (facsimile copy pub New Hampshire Publ Co., Somersworth, in collaboration with the Wethersfield Historical Soc, 1974)
• History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts by Samuel Adams Drake, pub Boston 1880, p440 Vol 2.
• Ancestors Of American Presidents, p233, comp Gary Boyd Roberts, pub Carl Boyer in cooperation with NEHGS, Boston, 1995.
• Smith, Alvy Ray. The Probable Genetic Signature of Edward¹ Riggs, Immigrant to Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1633, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 2010) Vol. 164, WN 654, Page 97.
• Sherwood, Albert Fowler. Memories of Old Derby (Sarah Riggs Humphreys Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Derby, Conn., 1924) Page 86-87.

• He "was a soldier in the Pequot war, where he gained the rank of sergeant, by which title he was known the rest of his life."

• http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~riggs/USAEdw_S.htm