Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Elisha Riggs (b. circa 1810 - d. circa 1890)
MSA SC 5496-035144
Property Owner, Cracklin District, Montgomery County, Maryland

Biography:

The son of Thomas Riggs, Elisha T. Riggs lived in Triadelphia, near the Patuxent River. He and his wife, Avolina Warfield (b. 1814),1 had five children: Mary O. in 1834, Rachel in 1836, Avolina, nicknamed Eve or Eva, in 1839, Joshua in 1843, and Kate in 1853.2 Although he did not own any slaves in 1840,3 Riggs was a slaveholder by at least 1845, for on August 15th he advertised in the Baltimore Sun for two runaway slaves named Jess and Josemin.4 The two men had fled their enslavement from his farm a week earlier.5

Riggs owned ten slaves and $5,000 in real estate by 1850.6 The 1855 slave assessment records gave the names of Riggs' slaves as George, age 4; Angeline, age 5; Mahala, age 7; Bell, age 9; Samuel, age 11; Ann, age 14; Susan, age 18; Ellen, age 20; Tobe, age 25; Candace, age 27, and Comfort, age 29.7 By 1860, Elisha Riggs owned $9,500 in real estate and $9,900 in personal property, which included thirteen slaves.8 When Maryland's slaves were emancipated in 1864, Elisha Riggs owned a eighteen slaves altogether. The majority of these slaves had the surnames of Boone, Powell, and Williams. One of his former slaves, Samuel Powell, had "left with the military" to fight in the Civil War.9

In 1850, the slaves on Riggs' farm were raising wheat, corn, oats, and fruit. The farm also produced wine, butter, and meat.10 As a farmer living in Triadelphia, Riggs likely sold his grain to the Triadelphia mills on the Patuxent River, which included a flour mill and a cotton factory.11 By 1870, the census listed Riggs as a "retired farmer."12 He died sometime between 1880 and 1898.13
 

1.     BALTIMORE COUNTY COURT, (Marriage Licenses), 1832-1839, [MSA C376-6]. Elisha Riggs and Avolina Warfield, September 21, 1833.

2.     U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Elisha Riggs, 1850, Montgomery County, Cracklin District, Page 45, Line 37 [MSA SM61-142, M 1499-1].
        U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Elisha Riggs, 1860, Montgomery County, District 1, Page 5, Line 16 [MSA SM61-213, M 7223-1].
        John D. Bowman. Guide to Selections from the Montgomery County Sentinel, January 1, 1856 - December 31, 1875 (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2005) 8.

3.     U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Elisha Riggs, 1840, Montgomery County, Page 17, Line 19 [MSA SM61-113, M 4722]. Slaves listed on Page 18, Line 19.

4.     "Ran Away." Baltimore Sun 15 August 1849: 2. Baltimore Sun Historical Archive. Enoch Pratt Free Library.

5.     Montgomery County District 1, Simon J. Martenet, Martenet and Bond's Map of Montgomery County, 1865, Library of Congress, [MSA SC 1213-1-464], Huntingfield Map Collection.

6.     U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Elisha Riggs, Slaves, 1850, Montgomery County, Cracklin District, Page 10, Line 3 [MSA SM61-168, M 1505-5].

7.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY, BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, (Assessment Record, Slaves), 1853-1864, [MSA C1112-1]. Elisha Riggs, 1855, Page 87.

8.     U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Elisha Riggs, Slaves, 1860, Montgomery County, Cracklin District, Page 1, Line 36 [MSA SM61-239, M 7230-2]. Continued on Page 2, Line 1.

9.   MONTGOMERY COUNTY, COMMISSIONER OF SLAVE STATISTICS, (Slave Statistics), 1867-1868, Archives of Maryland Online Volume 812, [MSA CM750-1]. Elisha Riggs, May 6, 1867, Pages 29-30 (Pages 16-17 Electronic).

10.     U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, (Census Record, MD), 1850, Social Statistics, [MSA S1184-6]. Elisha Riggs, 1st or Cracklin District, Montgomery County, Page 257.

11.     Untitled. Baltimore Sun 15 February 1843: 2. Baltimore Sun Historical Archive. Enoch Pratt Free Library.
        "Destructive Fire -- Cotton Factory Burnt." Baltimore Sun 10 February 1843: 2. Baltimore Sun Historical Archive. Enoch Pratt Free Library.
        Hunt's Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review. Vol. 39 (New York, NY: Freeman Hunt, 1851) 374.

12.   U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Elisha Riggs, 1870, Montgomery County, District 1, Page 3, Line 17 [MSA SM61-275, M 7256].

13.   U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Elisha Riggs, 1880, Montgomery County, Patuxent River, District 119, Page 4, Line 20 [MSA SM61-324, M 4748-2].
 

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