Melvin Gillison Rigg was born on April 12, 1870 in Wabash County, Illinois. He was the first child of Thomas and Miranda Rigg. There would be nine more babies born to Thomas and Miranda but Melvin held the place of first born son. He moved with his parents and younger brother, Perry, to Kansas in the Spring of 1874. He would grow to be a young man and teacher by profession. He married Effie Etta Moore on Christmas Day 1893. Effie was the daughter of Philip Marshall Moore and Melissa Genett Anderson. In the words of his mother-in-law from her book "The Story of a Kansas Pioneer" copyright 1924, "Effie was married to Melvin Gillison Rigg in the Methodist Church at Eureka, which was beautifully decorated and filled to overflowing with their well-wishing friends." It must have been a wonderful time for them...a new beginning...a new family unit had begun. Soon, Effie would find that she was pregnant with their first child. Life was good. And then the unthinkable happened. Melvin was the first of Thomas and Miranda's children to be stricken with Typhoid Fever. Effie took him to the Rigg home seeking help in caring for him. She was seven months pregnant. Efforts failed and on August 7, 1895, Melvin died. He was buried in Eureka where he and Effie had begun their marriage. Once again from Mrs. Moore..."Melvin succumbed to typhoid fever, two months before his little son Melvin was born. Brother Stafford performed the wedding ceremony, conducted Melvin's funeral, and baptized litttle Melvin all at the same altar rail." Melvin did not live to see the birth of his son on October 20, 1895. Named after his father Melvin Gillsion Rigg Jr. became a teacher also. Having had the honor of knowing Effie when I was a little girl, I'm sure that she would have found a way to keep alive the spirit of her first husband and the father of her only child. Melvin G. Rigg died when he was only 25 years old but he left a fine legacy in his son, Melvin Jr. Melvin Jr. married Avis Baker of Festus, Missouri on April 2, 1922. They had two children, Arthur Melvin Gillison Rigg born on February 21, 1927 and Caroline Elizabeth Rigg born July 22, 1929.