Samuel Marion Riggs (1806 - 1895)

Born 20 Apr 1806 in Christian, Kentucky, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Rhoda (Belcher) Riggs — married 23 Aug 1825 (to 1 Jan 1836) in Howard County, Missouri

Descendants

Died 27 Jul 1895 at age 89 in Florence, Marion, Kansas, United States

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Biography

Samuel Marion Riggs, son of Daniel and Nancy Riggs, was born on April 30, 1806 in Christian County, Kentucky. His birthplace is about 166 miles from Louisville in the rolling hills of southwestern Kentucky.

In 1817, Samuel’s family migrated 400 miles from Kentucky to the Missouri Territorial County of Howard. He spent his youth working with his father to clear 100 acres of land. On August 23, 1825, he married Roady Belcher:

Marriage License: Samuel and Roady

“State of Missouri | County of Howard } I Hereby certify I Joined together on the 23d day of August 1825 Samuel Rigs and Roady Belcher in the Bonds of Matrimony. Given under my hand this 18th day of February 1826 | John M. Thomas | a minister of the gospel | Recorded this 19th February 1826 | Gray Bynum | Clk.”

Roady name appeared on their marriage license and we assume on her tombstone, but not at any other time that we have discovered. She was 15 when she married 19-year-old Samuel and she died when she was just 26.

Roady’s Belcher ancestors arrived in England from France in 1066 A.D. as part of William the Conqueror’s army. Due to the fact that only the head of the household was listed on the Federal Census forms, there is no way to know who Roady’s parents were.

There is strong circumstantial evidence for John Belcher being her father: In 1817, John is living in Howard County, Missouri Territory at the 5th Principle Meridian which is where the Riggs lived. On February 8, 1819, John received a land warrant/patent for 160 acres of land in the Missouri military tract reserved for veterans of the War of 1812.

John is listed on the reconstructed 1820 census for Howard County plus there are also four Belcher men listed on the tax list for adjacent Boone County in 1825 - John Sr., John Jr. and Islam Belcher who may be John’s brother or even another possibility for Roady’s father.

In 1830, the population of Boone County, Missouri is 8,809. Samuel, 24, Roady, 20, and their son James Daugherty, 4, live near his parents and John Riggs who may be Samuel’s brother or perhaps his sister Martha’s husband.

While living in Missouri, Roady gave birth to three children: James Daugherty was born on November 22, 1826, Elijah was born in Howard County right after the census was taken on January 22, 1830, and Nancy Jane was born three years later on November 12, 1833. At various times, Samuel and his family lived in the Missouri counties of Howard, Chariton, Boone, Monroe and Scotland.

Samuel’s parents moved back to Kentucky before 1833. Samuel’s sister Rhoda Riggs Hughes and her husband, Joseph, had moved from Missouri to Graves County, Kentucky before 1830 and his sister Mary Riggs Mobley and her husband, Richard, never left Kentucky and were also listed on the 1830 census as living in Graves County.

In late 1835, Samuel and Roady loaded their three young children (two, five and nine) into a wagon that was most likely pulled by a mule and traveled 350 miles to join their relatives in Graves County, Kentucky. Mules were considered better than horses or oxen for travel up to 1,000 miles if on good roads with grass for forage. One mule could pull a 750 lb. wagon for ten hours a day so the trip would have taken at least two weeks. The family story is that the journey was made even though Roady was pregnant because Samuel’s father was quite ill.

Roady gave birth to her third son Hasel/Hazel Peter on January 1, 1836, and died a week later. The odd name for the baby was probably given in honor of Samuel’s older cousin, Hazel Petree Mobley.

According to the family story, Roady was buried in the Bayou De Cine Cemetery as were Daniel and Nancy, but there is no record of their burial.

The Cumberland Presbyterian Bayou De Chine Church Cemetery has just 22 burials and seven tombstones with all of the burials after 1870. The graves are in an arc surrounding a large “empty” area. One of the seven tombstones is for Rhoda Riggs Hughes who died on Joseph Hughes Tombstone

September 7, 1875, and a second is for her husband, Joseph, who died on January 22, 1876. How can it be that since 1826 there have been so few burials and why would Roady, Nancy and Daniel not be buried there since their farm was nearby? Why would Rhoda and Joseph choose to be buried in this cemetery if her parents are not buried there?

In 1866, the Bayou De Chine Church was moved about half a mile to its present location. The original church and cemetery were in existent for a total of almost forty years before it was moved and yet, there is nothing but an empty field where the church and cemetery were once located.

Many of our questions were answered by the Bayou De Chien-Church marker. Bayou De Chine is pronounced by the locals as, “By De Shay” or “Bio De Shay.” The original log church was used as a hospital by the Confederate Army during a measles epidemic in the winter of 1861/1862. Between 1,000 and 1,500 soldiers died in just five months. The camp was abandoned and burned to the ground in March of 1862. There is a “community” burial site at nearby Camp Beauregard Cemetery where “many” of the soldiers who died in the epidemic are buried. It is interesting to note that Camp Beauregard was located on a wooded ridge known as “The Old Mobley Campground.” It is very likely that this property belonged to Richard Mobley and is further evidence that the Riggs, Hughes, and Mobley were living nearby.

We think it is very likely that the original Bayou De Chien-Church Cemetery became part of a convenient second mass burial site for the Confederate soldiers who died in the church hospital. Whether the Riggs and other neighbors were moved to the present cemetery is open to speculation, but it may account for the large open empty area.

It is no surprise that Samuel, father of a newborn and three other very young children, married again the same year Roady died. His new wife, Marina Piper, was the 21-year-old daughter of nearby neighbors of the Riggs.

In 1840, Samuel and his family are living in Graves County, Kentucky near Marina’s father, Abraham Piper, and several other Piper families. Samuel and Marina have six children. Samuel M. was born earlier that year and Pete is now 4. Eli is 7, James is 11, and Nancy Jane is 5. The youngest girl is Mary, 3.

Shortly after the 1840 census, Samuel and his family moved about 500 miles to the Iowa Territory. This was considered to be the American Frontier and it included most of Minnesota, the Dakotas and all of what would become the state of Iowa.

They arrived prior to 1841 and settled in Wyacondah, Davis County in the southeastern part of the state where they were considered to be pioneers. Settlers from Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, and Virginia dominated the early settlement of Iowa.

James was 15 and Eli was 11 when they arrived in Davis County and the boys very likely took on adult responsibilities immediately. The family would have lived in their wagon or camped on the ground for weeks while Samuel selected and marked his claim. Knowing that so many steps each way equaled the legal Iowa land claim of 320 acres, Samuel and his two older sons stepped his claim lines off by using the sun as a guide. Many years later, when the land was officially surveyed, any discrepancies were righted.

After the claim was staked, a crude shelter was built which served as their home until there were the time and the money to build a real home. A 14 or 15 square foot cabin roofed with bark or clapboards and using packed dirt for the floor was typical. The fireplace made of stone and earth probably took up one wall. Samuel and Marina would have had pallets on the floor for sleeping and their kids would have slept in the loft.

Their cabin had to have one window opening to be considered legal. The opening was most likely covered with greased paper over “sash crossed” sticks. There was a door opening, but until there was time to build a door, it was probably covered with a blanket. The front door faced south to help everyone keep their directions straight and to let in the most daylight possible. The shadows moving across the floor was a rough way to tell time.

Samuel was a self- educated frontiersman, who attended school for just three months. An old school teacher, who knew the family well, described the Riggs as, “short, but fine people who were very decided in their opinions.” Samuel was very highly thought of and held a number of public offices. From 1841 to 1845, he was the Assistant Sheriff for the Iowa Territorial County of Davis. In 1844, in the second election ever held for Davis County, he was elected Sheriff and held the office from 1845-1849. Due to some poorly made maps, Iowa and Missouri had argued for years over a 13-mile strip of highly valued land on the northern border of Missouri and southeastern border of Iowa. The long-standing dispute over whether this farm land would become a slave or a free state came to a head in 1839 when the Honey War erupted. It was initially caused by the destruction of three hollow honey filled trees on the strip.

Missouri called out its militia of 600 men to defend the border. They had six wagon loads of provisions with five of them being full of booze. Fortunately, Iowa’s ragtag militia was so spread out that it could not be assembled quickly, so by the time the 1,200 pitchfork armed members of the Iowa militia reached the border, the Missouri militia had grown tired of waiting for them and had gone home.

In the spring of 1845, Sheriff Samuel Riggs was involved in a heated confrontation with his cousin, Jonathan Riggs, Sheriff of Schuyler County, Missouri. Both men lived in the disputed strip of land. Sheriff Samuel Riggs crossed the Iowa border into Missouri to serve a warrant writ of attachment against a property that the Territory of Iowa believed a squatter had settled on. Sheriff Jonathan Riggs arrested Samuel for “attempting to execute the functions of his office in Missouri.” Samuel was required to put up bail and was expected to return to Schuyler County to be tried when the court met again.

Samuel did not wait very long before he crossed the border again, served the writ and took control of the property. He was so angry with his cousin for arresting him that he arrested Jonathan and put him in the Van Buren County jail for two months “for living in Iowa and holding office in Missouri.

A special law was passed by the Iowa Legislature authorizing Governor Clark to use $1,500 in the defense of Samuel. Even though Samuel was found guilty, the charges were later dropped and he was reimbursed for all of his expenses. In 1849, the Supreme Court ruled on the border boundary in Iowa’s favor. Many early settlers thought they had made their home in one state and once the boundary was settled, they found they lived in the other state

Iowa officially became a state on December 28, 1846. In 1849, Samuel was elected to the Iowa Legislature mainly due to a Mormon elder having a vision the night before the election that the Mormons should vote for the Democrats. He served just one term although his cousin Reuben Riggs served several terms in office.

In 1850, Samuel, 41, is farming near Fox, Davis County and he has $1,000 in real estate. Living with him are his wife Marina, 43, and seven of his nine children: Eli is 17 and Hasel P. is 15. Mary, 13, Samuel M., 10, and Rebecca, 9, were born in Kentucky, and Jasper, 6, and Daniel A., 4, were born in Iowa. Nancy Jane, 14, is not listed - she will marry her 23-year-old cousin Garret Riggs in October. Garret was the son of Samuel’s cousin Jonathan who had arrested him some years before. By 1853, Garret and Nancy Jane will be living in Oregon and considered to be pioneers of the Oregon Territory where they spent the rest of their lives. James, 18, lives with his wife, Lucinda Barker, near Rueben Riggs in Appanoose, Iowa.

Samuel has been farming in Davis County for about ten years. He owns 200 acres of land with 40 acres improved and 160 acres of unimproved land. He values his farm at $1,000 and his farm implements at $75. He owns 2 horses, 2 milk cows, 2 other cows, 2 sheep, 2 swine, and values his livestock at $172. He has 50 bushels of wheat, 400 bushels of Indian corn, and 520 bushels of oats. He also lists 50 lbs. of butter, 150 lbs. of honey, 300 lbs. of maple sugar and values homemade manufactures at $15.

Just two families had settled in Platte, Union County, Iowa before Samuel and his family arrived. "On the 12th day of October 1853, we commenced work on a cabin of the Tippecanoe style on [Section, 30, Township 72 N, Range 3] where we have continued to reside to the present time.” H. Pitman, John Snow, Reuben and Mahlon Riggs also took claims.”

“Soon after our return, two surveyors from Glenwood came along surveying the state road from Glenwood to Chariton [Missouri]. At that time there was not even an Indian trail leading east and west, but there were several running northwest and southeast”.

“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, Union County but there was no township organization". In 1854, a post office was established in Platte Township, Union County. Samuel was appointed the Postmaster on January 29, 1856. This is the only time that he used the middle initial “M”.

Samuel carried the mail weekly on horseback from Afton to Platte, to Scotia, to White Cloud, to Indian Creek, to Glenwood, to Red Oak and to Pasqual, the Mormon settlement. Samuel wrote that the round trip was 100 miles without one bridge and few roads. The same year he was appointed as the first Justice of the Peace for the western part of the county and also served as County Supervisor.

In 1855, “County Order No. 44, dated July 25, 1855, shows Samuel Riggs was paid nine dollars for assessing Platte township, which at that time included the present township of Platte, Douglas, Grant, and Highland.” In 1856, Samuel is 50, living in Platte, Union County with Marina, 40. The four children living with them are Mary P., 18, Sam’l M, 17, Rebecca, 14, Jasper, 12, and D.A., 11.

Samuel was issued 200 acres of land in Union County, Iowa on June 3, 1856. [Section 30 and 31, Township 72 N, Range 1 W.]

The seven debates between Republican Abraham Lincoln and Democrat Stephen Douglas, the incumbent senator from Illinois running for his third term, centered on the issues of slavery and states’ rights. Douglas believed that the question of slavery should be decided by the states individually and Lincoln saw it as a moral issue and believed that it should be abolished. Lincoln felt that having the nation divided on the question of slavery would cause a civil war. Douglas felt that slavery would be restricted by economic, geographical and agricultural reasons and should not be made a moral issue. Douglas won his third term.

In 1860, Samuel is farming near Union City, Platte Township, Union County, Iowa with his wife “Manerva”. They are both 53. Samuel is listed as having $4,400 in real estate and $1,298 in his personal estate. The children living with them are Rebecca, 20, Jasper, 18, and Sarah Piper, 5. His son, Eli, 28, and his wife, Lucinda McGaughey Riggs, are living nearby.

Samuel and his family have lived in Union County for about six years. At this time he owns 95 acres of improved land and 345 acres of unimproved land. He values his farm at $4,400 and his farm implements at $200. He owns 5 horses, 4 milk cows, 5 other cows, 50 sheep, 10 swine with a value of $245. He has 4 bushels of peas & beans, 15 bushels of Irish Potatoes, 250 lbs. of butter, 12 tons of hay, 2 bushels of grass seed, and 63 gallons of molasses. He values the animals slaughtered for food during the year at $25.

In 1860, a new township was carved out of Platte Township and Samuel was given the honor of naming it. He chose to name it after his idol, Stephen A. Douglas. His home in Riggs Grove in 1854 was the first permanent settlement in what was to become Douglas Township as it is now drawn. One can see the grove in the lower left-hand corner, just above the name Riggs, on the Douglas Township Map.

In the twenty years that Samuel and his family have lived in Iowa, the population trends can be summarized as follows: In the four years preceding 1840, the population of Iowa grew from 10,531 to 43,112. By 1850, the population jumped to 192,214 and by 1860, it was 674,913. The frontier line shifted as the population expanded – by 1850 the frontier had moved out toward the center of the state. By 1860, most of the state of Iowa was settled. In 1840, the Territory had just 18 counties but by 1850, there were forty-nine counties. There were ninety-seven counties by 1860.

The state of Iowa voted Republican in the Presidential Election of 1860, but it is very likely that Samuel voted for Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas, a Northern Democrat from Illinois, won just the state of Missouri. He received 12 electoral votes, but a total of 1,380,202 popular votes. Lincoln received 180 electoral votes with a popular vote of 1,865,908. John C. Breckinridge, a Southern Democrat from Kentucky, received 72 electoral votes and 848,019 popular votes. John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party from Tennessee received 39 electoral votes and 590,901 popular votes.

The Civil War began in 1861 and 1,023 Riggs men fought on both sides - 639 were Union soldiers and 384 were Confederates. Kentucky and Missouri, although southern slave states, remained “neutral” throughout the war even though many of their men fought for both sides.

With so many Riggs relatives on both sides of the conflict and his relatives living in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Kentucky, it is no wonder that Samuel bitterly opposed the war. He was very outspoken in his views which made him quite unpopular with some people.

On November 8, 1862, Samuel and Marina’s sons Samuel Marion, 22, and Daniel Abraham, 17, traveled to Council Bluffs, Iowa and joined the Union Army’s 29th Iowa Infantry. The 29th Infantry traveled to St. Louis, MO where his son Samuel, 23, died of small pox at the Jefferson Barracks on February 15, 1863. 42 soldiers of the 29th infantry were killed in battle and 433 died of a disease which means that over 90% of the soldiers, who died from this unit, died of disease. Daniel went on to fight in fifteen battles in Arkansas and Alabama. He was mustered out in Mobile, Alabama on August 10, 1865.

Samuel’s son Eli and his nephew Mahlon registered for the draft in 1863. It was legal to hire a substitute or pay a $300 computation fee. Eli was never drafted so we have to wonder if after having lost one son in the war if Samuel paid the $300 computation fee or hired a substitute.

In 1870, Sam’l, 65, is still living in Platte Township, Union County, Iowa with his wife, “Manerva”, 53. He now has an estate of $4,400 in real estate and $1,950 personal. Two of their sons live in the same dwelling as Samuel and Marina. Daniel, 24, is not married and works on the farm with his brother, Jasper, 25. Jasper’s wife, Acenath, and twin 4-month-old boys make up the rest of the household.

On July 29, 1873, Samuel’s son Eli, your three times great grandfather, died of Tuberculosis. He left a family with six children ranging in age from one year old to seventeen. Samuel served as the administrator of the Will which took until July 1885 to file the final papers.

Samuel was often written about in the newspaper: "Mr. Riggs served as county supervisor, was a man of far more than ordinary ability and experience in public affairs and exceptionally well informed and of decided convictions. The writer has listened to many of his stirring addresses at Riggs Grove and John A. Rogers implement wareroom in Cromwell, 1876-80, in advocacy of the Grange and Greenback movements in which he was a prominent local leader.”

“In 1876, after the nomination of Samuel J. Tilden, he became very much dissatisfied with the course being taken by that [Democratic] party. He was a radical anti-bank man, having instilled his intense opposition to bank notes from the teachings of Jackson and Jefferson and when the Democratic party became the apologist and defender of the national banks, a gold standard, and government bonds, Mr. Riggs transferred his allegiance to the Populist party, and for the past fifteen years his voice, his can’t read], and his great logical mind has been given to the reform cause. He was a firm, devoted and steadfast friend of the American and its editor, and has contributed many articles to the columns every one of which has been sound, logical, and poignant, and has always been read with great interest.“

In 1880, Samuel, 74, lives in Platte Township, Union county, Iowa with his wife “Marilla” who is also listed as 74. Their son, Daniel, 35, is living next door.

Marina died on August 30, 1884. She was buried on September 1st in the Grove Chapel Addition S; Block 12; Grave 1 in Union County, Iowa.

By the spring of 1885, Samuel is living with his daughter Mary and her husband J. D. Lambert in Lincoln Township, Ringgold, Iowa. He is recorded as 77 and a widower.

On March 9, 1889, Samuel married Elizabeth Ellaker in Ringgold, Iowa. Within a year they separated, but there is some question about whether he actually divorced her since his will left her his estate and there is no record of a divorce.

"Samuel Riggs and wife have concluded by mutual consent to dissolve the partnership, and Uncle Sammy has rented his house in Kent.”

Evening Advertiser, Creston, Iowa, April 24, 1890

"Uncle Sammy Riggs was thrown from his buggy while driving from Lenox to James George’s, where he makes his home at present. The colts he was driving became unmanageable, throwing him out, breaking one arm and bruising him considerably. Uncle Sammy is past eighty-three but has a strong frame and hopes soon to be around again ready for duty.

In 1892, Samuel, 86, moved almost 300 miles to Florence, Kansas to live with his son J. D. Riggs and his family.

From "THE FLORENCE BULLETIN", Florence, Kansas, August 2, 1895:

"Uncle Samuel Riggs died in Florence last Saturday and was buried Sunday. He was ninety-odd years of age, and was, until a few days before his death, in pretty vigorous health. His mind was wonderfully clear for one of his age. Some weeks ago we referred to an article he had recently written on the financial question for an eastern paper, which we had read, which was exceedingly well written. The old gentleman was an old-time Democrat, took great interest in public affairs, was well posted in history, and was altogether a strong character. Eld. Hendrix, of Wichita, preached the funeral sermon from a text selected by the deceased himself a few days before his death. The text was Ephesians, second chapter, eighth verse, which reads as follows: ‘For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God’."

Marion Record: Marion, Kansas, August 2, 1895: Samuel Riggs died at the home of his son, J. D. Riggs, about one and a half miles north of Florence, Saturday, July 27th, at 5 o’clock p.m., and was buried in the Florence cemetery Sunday afternoon, Dr. Hendryx conducting the services. The funeral was attended by a large number of relatives and friends. The deceased had been troubled with chronic diarrhea for several years but was seriously sick only eleven days before his death.

The deceased was born April 30, 1806, in Todd County, Ky. While yet a small boy he moved with his family to Sheridan County, Mo. He was married in Missouri to Rhoda Belcher, who died about nine years afterward, and who gave birth to four children, three of whom are still living. He then married Marina Piper. Five children were born of this union. This wife also died, and the deceased afterward married a third and fourth wife. The last wife survives him. He moved to Davis county, Iowa, in 1840, and was elected sheriff three terms, and a member of the legislature one term. He then moved to Union county, where he served as county commissioner, and held several minor positions of trust. He had been making his home with J. D. Riggs about five years before his death. Several years ago he was a member of the Predestination Baptist Church and always held to that faith. He died in this belief, and last spring selected a text for the sermon to be delivered at his funeral. The pallbearers were his grandsons, all of whom were sons of J. D. Riggs, and they are middle aged men, one being 46 years old.

The deceased was a man of unblemished honor and sturdy character, and his life, though marked with reverses, was a successful one. His influence was felt in the different communities where he resided, and it was for the improvement of his fellow men." Samuel was a true pioneer in Missouri, Iowa, and Kansas. He lived a very productive 89 years.”

Morning American: “The many friends of Uncle Sammy Riggs will regret to learn that he died on Saturday, July 26th at the home of his son J. D. Riggs at Florence, Kansas.

. . . Uncle Sammy Riggs as he was familiarly known was a remarkable man. His radical democratic proclivities during the war made him somewhat unpopular, but everyone had implicit confidence in his integrity and honesty of purpose and for many years he was a member of this county’s board of supervisors and several times was elected Justice of the Peace.

Mr. Riggs was a democrat of the Jackson- Jefferson order of democracy. He was thoroughly conversant with the political and official history of these great founders and enjoyed recounting their devotion to the people and their opposition to anything plutocratic or aristocratic.

. . . He was a great commoner and his noble works will live after him. The principles he so nobly advocated are stronger because of his advocacy and his co-workers while lamenting the loss of so great a man, will push on with renewed courage. He died as he lived, the warm untiring friend of the common people.”

Samuel Riggs, Sr. moved to Kent in 1890 and in 1892 to Marshall (should be Marion) County, Kansas, where he died in 1895, at the age of eighty-nine years. Peace to the ashes of this pioneer."

Samuel died July 17, 1895, at 5:00 p.m. of Coronary Thrombosis. In the petition for probate court the beneficiaries listed were:” Elizabeth Riggs, widow, 60; J. D. Riggs, son, 68; Eli, son, deceased at 54; Nancy J., daughter, 62; H.P., son, 55; Mary J., daughter, 50; Rebecca, daughter, 48; Jasper, son, 46; D. A., son, 44.”

In Probate Court, Marion County, Kansas, the estimate and appraisal of the personal property and effects of the estate were as follows: one sorrel mare, $15.00; one single harness, $5.00; buggy, $10.00; one watch, $2.00. Set aside for the use of the widow were one bedstead, one feather bed, and two quilts.

There are over sixty Riggs graves in the Hill Crest Cemetery including Samuel’s oldest son James Daugherty Riggs and two of his wives. James’s wife, Lucinda, was the first person to be buried in the cemetery on May 4, 1871. Mahlon Riggs, cousin of James, Eli, and Pete was also buried in the Hill Crest Cemetery.

Afton, Oct. 5, 1905, By Hon. W.H. Robb: "Why my friends if the world was peopled by such men as Ira Seeley, David Bliss, Uncle Sammy Riggs, Uncle Billy Locke, Henry Robb, R.S. Carter and James Doty, John Ickis and Frank Bruning, Ham Borteman and other old Union county pioneers who now sleep the last long sleep of death, there wouldn’t be need of criminal laws. These men came as near obeying the scriptural injunction to "love thy neighbor as thyself" as any men that ever lived."

Judge McDill was a United States Senator who lived in Afton. The following was taken from his writings in Pioneer Days in Union County published by the Afton Star Enterprise, Afton, Iowa, 1924:

"Samuel Riggs was, and yet is, a man of mark in Union County. All his life a frontiersman, coming from Davis County here, he has always been an active man and has been connected with some of the most thrilling and interesting scenes connected with the early making of Iowa. An intense partisan in politics, while Mr. Riggs has always made his political foes fear him, they would all unite in styling him as an honest man. He still lives in Union County, if I mistake not, well up towards ninety years of age, still strong, determined, and aggressive in his political views, and warm in his friendships. He is a splendid type of man, often produced from the mountains of Kentucky or Tennessee."

"Born in Dodd (sic) County, Kentucky, in 1806, and is a son of Daniel and Nancy Riggs. In 1817 the family settled in Missouri, remaining in that State twenty-five years. Samuel Riggs then lived in Davis County, Iowa, for thirteen years when in 1853, he settled in what is known as Riggs' Grove, in Douglas Township, where he entered and bought 400 acres of land, and remained a resident there till 1876. He was the third settler in the Western half of Union County, and experienced many of the hardships and privations of pioneer life. He was married in Howard County, Missouri, in 1825, to Rhoda Belch. Since his residence in Iowa. Mr. Riggs has represented the people of Davis County in the State Legislature for one term. He was also sheriff four years, and held the office of deputy sheriff the same length of time. He has voted the Democratic ticket the past fifty years, missing but one election. He is classed among the influential citizens of Douglas Township, where he made his home so many years." (from Iowa State Legislature. see source below: )

Samuel Marion Riggs had several spouses.

Sources

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27074370

• Edwardian Riggs of America by Alvy Ray Smith: Vol. 8 Timothy Riggs, p. 96
• http://alvyray.com/Riggs/vol8/TimothyRiggs8_v12.25.pdf
• History of Union County Iowa, From the Earliest Historic Times to 1908 by George A. Ide: Chapter XXIV by Charles H. Thomas, p. 156-7
• Alvy Ray Smith's interpretation of marriage record, Dec. 31, 2011
• U. S. Census, 1830, Rocky ForkTownship, Boone County, Missouri. R 73, p. 174
• Kentucky Tax lists, Graves County, 1833 and 1834

• Bayou De Chine Church Marker – Photo by John Walters, April 2013
• Bayou De Chine Church Cemetery - Photo by John Walters, April, 2015
• http://www.covenant-pres-churches.com/Bayou%20De%20Chien.html

• geneas.com/forumd/index.cgi/md/read/id/15170
• R.Wayne McGaughey: William and Prepare McGaughey
• U. S. Census, 1840, Graves County, Kentucky, r. 111, p. 126
• http://www.campsilos.org/mod2/teachers/r3_part2.shtml
• THE MARION RECORD", Marion, Kansas, August 2, 1895: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Iowa/_Texts/journals/IaJHP/17/1/American_Occupation _of_Iowa*
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_Territory
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Iowa
• http://www.123rf.com/photo_231271_preserved-1800-s-log-cabin.html
• http://iagenweb.org/history/counties/PIONEERS.htm
• Horn, H. B., (1864) “History of Davis County, Iowa: Chapter I”, The Annals of Iowa 1(7), 292-308. doi: https://doi.org/10.17077/0003-4827.1847
• http://iagenweb.org/history/soi/soi32.htm
• http://daviesscountyhistoricalsociety.com/
• The Iowa Journal of History and Politics
• The Annals of Iowa: a quarterly publication, by the State Historical Society at Iowa City
• http://iagenweb.org/history/hoi3/officials-5.htm
• U. S. Census, 1850, Fox Twp., Davis County, r. 182, pp. 281-282, dw. 66, fam. 67
• Selected U.S. Federal Census Non-population schedule 1850-1880; Samuel Riggs, Sept. 21, 1850
• Ancestry.com. U. S. Appointments of U.S. Postmasters, 1832-1971
• http://iagenweb.org/union/history/historyabs.html
• Iowa State Census, 1856, Platte, Davis County, r. 119, line 6
• Alvy Ray Smith: Edwardian Riggs of America, Vol. 8, Timothy, p. 98
• U.S. Census, 1860, Platte Twp., Union County, Iowa, r. 342, p. 40
• Selected U. S. Federal Census Non-population schedule 1850-1880; Samuel Riggs, June 15, 1860 https://archive.org/stream/kentuckyguidetob00federich/kentuckyguidetob00federich_djvu.txt
• http://www.riggs.org.uk/Forces/EnlistedUSA.htm https://www.legis.iowa.gov/DOCS/LSA/History_Docs/3rd%20GA/Riggs,%20Samuel%20M.pdfMorning: Obiturary: American: July, 1895
• http://www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/uniainf3.htm#29thinf
• U. S. Census, 1870, Afton PO, Douglas Twp., Union County, Iowa, r. 421, p. 104, dw. 2. 211, fam
• Probate Records, 1871-1952, Index 1864-1925, Author: Iowa Probate Court (Decatur County), Probate Place; Decatur, Iowa
• U. S. Census, 1880r. v115_89, line 9, fam. 23
• History of Union County Iowa, From the Earliest Historic Times to 1908 by George A. Ide: Chapter XXIV by Charles H. Thomas, p. 156-7
• Speech given by the Editor of the Creston American at the Old Settlers Reunion.
• Findagrave.com
• Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925 Marion, Kansas,
• https://www.legis.iowa.gov/DOCS/LSA/History_Docs/3rd%20GA/Riggs,%20Samuel%20M.pdf
• Photos taken by John Walters in November, 2012
• Madon Record, Madon Kansas Friday, August 2, 1895
• Plaque at Hill Crest Cemetery
• Descendants’ of Edward Riggs (The Immigrant) by Marilyn Binford Hergert, August 28, 1999
• 1880 United States Census. Platte, Union, Iowa, United States.
• Samuel Riggs Self Male 74 Kentucky, United States
• Marilla Riggs Wife Female 74 Tennessee, United States

• The Iowa Legislature.

• Biographical and Historical Record of Wayne and Appanoose Counties, Iowa: Containing ... a Condensed History of the State of Iowa; Portraits and Biographies of the Governors of the Territory and State; Engravings of Prominent Citizens in Wayne and Appanoose Counties, with Personal Histories of Many of the Leading Families, and a Concise History of Wayne and Appanoose Counties ...
• Page 507- Representatives: Reuben Riggs and Samuel Riggs 1850-1851.