Person:Edward Riggs (7)

Another son of Richard's was baptised at Roydon, Essex on 30MCH1589. This is undoubtedly EDWARD of NAZEING, who migrated to America in 1633 to become EDWARD OF ROXBURY. I base this conclusion on the following facts:

Roydon parish is "next door" to Nazeing parish, sharing a common boundary;
The other adjacent parishes have been searched for this time period and none of their Registers contain a baptism for Edward, nor were any other entries for a Riggs/Rigges found;
As will be seen, Edward's wife Elizabeth Holmes was baptised at Nazeing 21 months later, in December 1590 [S3][S4], and therefore the timing of this baptism in March 1589 is appropriate;
As will also be seen, two of Edward and Elizabeth's daughters were named Lydia and Mary. These would then have been named after Edward's sister-in-law (Lydia, the wife of Edward's brother Francis) and his sister. [Another of their daughters was named Elizabeth but, as Edward's sister Elizabeth died in infancy before he was born, this daughter was more probably named after his wife.]

Edward Riggs was almost undoubtedly baptised at Roydon, ESS on 30MCH1589, although the entry in the Parish Register does not mention him specifically by name, merely as the "The sonne of Richard Riggs".

"Edward Ryges and Elizabeth Holmes" (see the page on variations in spelling) were married on 16SEP1618 [S3][S4] at All Saints Church, Nazeing, Essex, which is the adjacent parish to Roydon.

"Elizabeth Homes" had been baptised at All Saints, Nazeing, Essex on 13DEC1590 [S3][S4] (21 months after Edward's baptism).

In common with a number of others in Nazeing, subsequently known as the Nazeing Christians,[S5] Edward and his family were Puritans. Early in 1633 they left England to sail to America as part of the Great Migration to New England, probably sailing from London, on either the 'William and Jane' or the 'Mary and Jane'.

Edward and Elizabeth Riggs and their children landed in the early summer of 1633 in Boston, which was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They had probably sailed from London, on either the 'William and Jane' or the 'Mary and Jane'.

Edward and his family were among the very early settlers in Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, where a number of other families from Nazeing also settled, collectively referred to at that time as the "Nazeing Christians" [S5]. Roxbury, which initially became a separate township on the Boston outskirts, is now part of the city itself.

But at that time, the migrants landed in what was still a wilderness, and about one in three perished during or soon after their voyage.[S7] Within a few months of landing in New England, death started to afflict Edward's family, and three of his five children as well as his wife all died within 30 months of their arriving.

Edward was admitted as a member of the Puritan church at Roxbury "#100 on Eliot's list, near the end of those that came in 1633", [S22] and was admitted as a Freeman on 14MAY1634 [S4][S5][S22]. Freemen were the only colonists who were franchised to vote. They generally had to be mature male church-members, and had to attest to having experienced a transforming spiritual experience by God's grace, as confirmed by church leaders [S22].

According to the valuation of his land holdings in the Roxbury estate list in the 1640s [S36] Edward was one of the least affluent in Roxbury. The Roxbury land inventory around 1652 [S37] did not include anything acquired by him other than through the usual sequence of grants.

Anderson quotes Edward's death on 05MCH1672N [S40] - the burial date is quoted in the Roxbury Vital Records as the 5th day of the 1st month 1671-2 [S17][S47] (see the Methods Of Recording Dates/Years). Savage quotes Edward's burial as on 05MCH1672. [S5] Edward's Will dated 2SEP1670 [S3][S4][S5][S47], which he "signed" by making his mark, was proved on 6MCH1672N [S4][S47].

Wallace correctly states that all his children except Mary had predeceased him by the time he made his Will, based on the wording of its bequests. Savage [S5], however, theorises when discussing Edward's children that "it may be concluded that ... all died before him."

From Riggs Surname Study^[1]

Edward Riggs, the head of the family in this country, was born about 1590, in England, and probable in Lincolnshire or Yorkshire, for it is understood the name is still to be found in that region. There have been many wild stories told about the origin of the family in this country – “the three brothers that came from Wales,” etc. that we will not pretend to controvert, except by simply suggesting what is known historically. He landed in Boston, early in the summer of 1633, with his family, consisting of his wife Elizabeth, two sons, and four daughters. These children must have been young people pretty well grown, for his oldest son was married two years after arrival. They were among the very early settlers in Roxbury, then a suburb but now part of the city of Boston. It was said that the best people settled in Roxbury. Like all immigrants, they had their full share of trials and sorrows. The first death recorded in the old books of Roxbury was that of Lydia Riggs, daughter of Edward, in August 1633. In May 1634, another daughter, Elizabeth, died, and in October of the same year the son John. August 1635, the wife and mother, Elizabeth, died. Sometime after this Edward took a second wife, but there were no children from this union. She was also named Elizabeth, and all we know of her history is that she died 1669. It is wholly evident that Edward was a Puritan in belief and life, for in 1634 he was made a freeman, which means a voter, and the first step to that privilege was to be a member of the church. On a loose leaf found in the ancient transcript there is an enumeration of the inhabitants of Roxbury, made sometime between the years 1638, and 1640, in which Edward’s family consisted of four persons, and it is not violent to assume that they were himself, his wife, and two daughters, who afterward became Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Twitchell. From his will dated September 2, 1670, it appears that only three lines of descent survived him, and that all his children were dead except Mary Twitchell. His daughter, Mrs. Allen, left a daughter, Elizabeth Allen, then of age a legatee. Of the children of Mrs. Twitchell only Joseph and Mary are named, and they, as well as others not named, appear to have been minors. Mrs. Twichell was the principal legatee. His first bequest is “that to my daughter-in-law, my sonne Edward Rigges, his wife,” and “to my four grandchildren, my sonne Edward Rigges’ children.” It will be noticed that none of these is named, and as I could find only three children of the second Edward for a long time, there was some doubt as to whether Edward of Derby, Conn., and Newark, N. J., was the son of the testator. At last I found the fourth child, Samuel of Derby. The will furnishes reasonable evidence that the testator had personal knowledge of and affection for his daughter-in-law, and that she and her children then lived at a distance remote from Roxbury. It is also evident that he knew the widow and children of his “sonne Edward’ were no in needy circumstances, or he would not have assumed the possibility of their not claiming the legacies he left to them. As a quiet, Christian man, his long life came to a close 1672, leaving a good name as the inheritance of the thousands descended from him. His children were as follows: Edward, b.about 1614, m. Elizabeth Roosa, d. 1668 Lydia, b. about 1616, d. August 1633 John, b. about 1618, d. 1634 Elizabeth, b. about 1620, d. August, 1634 A daughter, b. about 1622, m. Mr. Allen, left issue Mary, b. about 1625, m. Mr. Twitchell, left issue

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

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} See Riggs Surname Study for additional discussion and sources.
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. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Edward Riggs sketch, in Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995).

   ORIGIN: Nazeing, Essex
   MIGRATION: 1633
   FIRST RESIDENCE: Roxbury
   
   ESTATE:...In his will, dated 2 September 1670 and proved 6 March 1671/2, "Edward Rigges of Roxbury ... although very crazy and weak in body..The inventory of the estate of Edward Riggs was taken 5 March 1671[/2] and totalled £128 7s., of which £93 was real estate: "his house and land at home sold in his lifetime," £80; and "more land sold by him," £13 [SPR 7:201].
   DEATH: Roxbury 5 March 1671/2 [RChR 180].