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Charles Rigg Recently acquired photo from Lauren Dale Rigg's estate. On the back it says "Charlie Rigg". This was my grandfather's uncle.
| Charles Rigg was the brother of Thomas Townley Rigg.
Charles was born to Townly and Phebe Rigg on June 5, 1826. He died on November 18, 1902. He was married to Gabrella C. Brown. Her date of birth was August 22, 1835. I do not have a date of death on her or their marriage date nor the names of their children if they had any. Anyone out there with that information please email me with it so that I can update this page. The following is a transcript of a letter written by Charles to his brother, George Franklin Rigg. They landed at Sawnee Town, Ill., on the Ohio River just below the mouth of the big Wabash River and most of the younger part of the family were girls walked through the wilderness by land 60 miles to Wabash County, and settled, the men pulled and rowed the boats. Grandfathers[Charles Rigg b. 1779] first child was Cathrine [Rigg] she married Hiram Dunlap, they raised quite a family and lived in Iowa. Townly [Rigg] was next (named after his grandfather, he was our father) He married Phebe Maria Cory on the 25th day of June 1825. 3rd, John [Rigg], who lived to be 82 married Mary Hunter, they raised 5 children, she died and he married Rebecca Middleton and she died, he married Deliah Beard, they have one child. 4th brother, Arthur [Rigg], married Sarah Dyer, his 2nd cousin, they raised a large family, I do not know there where abouts. 5th , Nancy [Rigg], married Curtis Saterly, they raised a large family. I visited them at Rockville, Park Co., Ind. 6th, Charles [Rigg] married Mary McClure they moved to Oregon where they raised a large family. 7th, Mary [Rigg], married Harvy Thir, they lived at Rockwell, Ind. 8th, Benedictine [Rigg], named for her aunt married Samuel Brown, she was living with a daughter at Alendale, Wabash Co., Ill. 9th, Harrison Barker [Rigg], married Fannie Crackle, his widow lives on their homestead. I forgot Arthur B. married a second wife Eliza Naylor, they had 4 children. Both Charles Rigg’s sleep in the Beachamp Grave yard, about the same year 1818, another cousin of grandfather came, Thomas Rigg, he was a brother in law of Andrew Dyer, with him came his boys. Most of them are dead. There are 80 of the family named Rigg in Wabash Co. This will refresh your memory for your boy. I forgot to say mothers history, Grandfather Cory was killed by a tree. He had 3 children Phebe Maria, Mary and Alanson William. Mother [Phebe] was put out to live, bound out, to a Mr.
Gill. They lived 4 miles from the lake when Perry fought his great battle mother heard the fighting when she went to get water from the spring, she [The wording in the "narrative" is so muddled that it looks like he is saying that Phebe was married to Mr. White. Judy Hempel assures us that it was Phebe's mother, Sarah Knap Cory who was married to Mr. White. I trust Judy on this one as she has so much documentation and has researched for many years.] married a Mr. White, they raised 5 children, they left their New York home and came across country to Evensville Ind. Mother walked most of the way. They lived in the fort for months because of the indians. Mary Cory married. Their family, that of mother and father [Townly and Phebe] were, John, Charles, William, Catherine, Caroline, Mary, Frank, Maria and Tom. Both father and mother lay in the Quito Cemetery near Leon, Kansas. [Now here is another mystery I am trying to figure out. He is talking about Townly and Phebe’s children here...if that is so...there were 2 other girls mentioned, Catherine and Caroline, that we don't have in any of our documentation. I’m thinking that possibly they didn’t live to be adults.] [Charles starts with the story that we are all so familiar with but instead of "Charles" being
the one marrying Mary Townley he has the name as "Hezekiel".]
Mr. Rigg in England married a Miss Townley. father thought his name was Hezekiel and her name, Mary and they came to America and settled in East Va. near Washington D.C. and raised a large family of boys the mother gave one boy her surname, Townley as a given name and some of their boys moved to N. Carolina and all of the boys raised large families. I think our grandfather was a grandson of the first Rigg as father said he knew three Townly Rigg’s before he left Virginia. Our great grandfathers name was Townly. I don’t know who his wife was, he was a Revolutionary Soldier and died during the war. When he died he had two children living and one born soon after his death. Their names were Charles, that was our grandfather, the next was Rebeccah, and the girl who was born after her fathers death was named Bennedictine Townly. Our grandfather Charles Rigg married Elizabeth Barker. I don’t know her history, only this, they lived in Va. there were 9 children born to them and they lived to be old and raised families. The mother named her youngest boy, Harrison Barker. Soon after his birth they came to Ill. She died and grandfather married Sarah McClure and there were born to them 9 children, all lived but one to be grown, and grandfather had 18 living children at one time.
You remember the McClures, they are all gone now, I don’t know one of their names any more. Grandfathers sister Rebecca married Manlof Beachamp, you remember them. They lived close to grandfather, some of grandfathers children live in Wabash Co. Ill. William Beachamp moved to Missouri. Grandfathers sister Bennedictine Townly married Archibald Melrose and they came to Ill. and settled in Edwards co. They raised quite a family, most of their oldest children are dead. Two granddaughters live in Iowa near Cedar Bluffs. Our father was born in East Va. 12 miles from Washington D.C. on Jan 12th, 1802, [We have the date according to documents and his tombstone as December 12, 1802] and about this date or before another Charles Rigg, a cousin of grandfathers, moved from N. Carolina and settled on the Big Sandy on the Va. side, now West Va. not far from the mouth. Not many years after this grandfather and his brother in laws moved out on the Big Sandy at the same place in 1818 grandfather Beachamp came down the Ohio River in Heel Boats. I don’t know whether Melrose and his brother Wm. [illegible name] came with them or soon afterward, this William Melrose was a brother of Charles and a brother in law to Wm. [illegible name].
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