Person:Edward Riggs (5)

Edward Riggs was allegedly born in Roxbury MA about 1636.

Neither Wallace nor Abbott [S48] found any record of a marriage, but both reported that Edward's wife's name was MARY. Torrey [S45] reported her as "MARY [MUNN]?". This is probably based on the fact that a 'Daniell Munne' of Milford made an oral will prior to 13JNE1666 leaving his estate to Mary 'Rigs' [S72] which, if one makes the reasonable assumption that Mary was Daniel's married daughter, implies that Edward married MARY MUNN(E) prior to 13JNE1666.

This casts doubt on a statement made by a recent researcher [S33] that Edward married twice: that a MARY BROWN, born in 1639 at Roxbury, was the mother of his ten children and that MARY MUNN his second wife, also born in 1639, died in 1689. The first child was born about 1662 and the last about 1685 (see below), so if MARY MUNN married Edward prior to 13JNE1666 and did not die until 1689 as the researcher states, she would have been the mother of at least 7 of these children. The statement may have been an attempt to reconcile the probability that Edward married MARY MUNN with a possible reference elsewhere to him marrying a Brown (if so, he could have been confused with his brother Joseph who married Hannah Brown).

In 1667, Edward and his family followed his father Edward's family from Derby CT to Newark NJ, where they were amongst the original settlers - he and his brother Joseph were the first to obtain grants of outside lands from the town authorities. He was assigned a home lot in Newark and, though he was not as educated as his two younger brothers, he succeeded in accumulating other landed property there, which he subsequently distributed among his children. In his land conveyances, he was often designated as a "planter"

No record has been found of his death, but he was still alive in 1700 when he was party to a deed.

Wallace states that "In Mr Conger's collections he gives the following children from tradition, but their order and approximate dates are arranged here as circumstances and a few known facts seem to direct":

From Riggs Surname Study^[1]

Edward Riggs was born in Roxbury about 1636. There is no intimation as to where or to whom he was married. His wife’s name was Mary, and from the number of their children we may infer they were married early in life. He was not educated as his brothers were, but he was energetic and successful in accumulating property. He seems to have been specially careful about the titles to his lands, and was not content with a grant from the town of Newark alone, but secured a patent from the proprietors also. He had a home lot assigned to him like other original settlers, and in his conveyances of lands he was often designated as “planter.” This designation occurs in a deed from him in the year 1700, and this is the last positive date we have concerning him. He and his brother Joseph were the first to obtain grants of outside lands from the town authorities, and his accumulations in this direction seem to have been quite extensive. There is no record of his death nor that of his wife.

From "Genealogy of the Riggs Family"^[2]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Anderson, Robert Charles, and Alvy Ray Smith. The Genealogy of Edward¹ Riggs of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Revisited. Genealogist (American Society of Genealogists). (2009)
   23:158-173.

   "5 Edward³ Riggs (Edward^2-l) was born say 1652. probably in Milford, the date based on his receiving his home lot in Newark on 26 May 1673. He came to Newark with his father but was too young to have signed the Fundamental Agreements in 1666 or 1667. Edward married say 1673 Mary _____, who was born say 1655. She died after 6 August 1700, when she was mentioned as Edward's wife in a deed, and Edward died after 7 February 1705[/6?], when he acknowledged the deed."

2. ↑ Wallace, John H. (John Hankins). Genealogy of the Riggs Family: With a Number of Cognate Branches Descended from the Original Edward, through Female Lines, and Many Biographical Outlines. (New York: The Author, 1901).
3.   See Riggs Surname Study for additional discussion and sources
   Accessed 8 Aug 2013.