Samuel Riggs of R (b. circa 1813 - d. 1882)
MSA SC 5496-035191
Slaveholder and Property Owner, Cracklin District, Montgomery County,
Maryland
Biography:
Named after his paternal grandfather, Samuel Riggs was born around 1813
to Reuben Riggs and his wife, Mary Willson Thomas.1 Samuel's siblings
included Hezekiah, Jane, and three other sisters whose names are currently
unknown.2
Samuel often appeared in records as "Samuel Riggs of R" (meaning "of Reuben") to differentiate himself from Samuel Riggs of G (b. 1807), a relative who served as Justice of the Peace in Montgomery County. The Riggs family's repeated use of the name Samuel eventually caught the attention of the Washington Post. On August 5, 1888, the Post observed:
"The old residents of Montgomery County retain their family names with loving reverence. So marked is this characteristic that it frequently happens in two or three branches of the family the sons will bear the same name. They are then distinguished in a peculiar manner... William Thompson, son of Clement Thompson, is known as William Thompson of C., and Richard Thompson's son of the same name is known as Richard Thompson of R. Many of the residents of Montgomery County are thus named, Samuel Riggs of G. and Samuel Riggs of R. being a well-known instance."3Samuel's father, Reuben Riggs, died around June of 1829. He divided his estate, the Oaks, between Samuel and Mary (Samuel's mother). Samuel received his inheritance four years later, when he reached twenty-one.4 Reuben also willed him "one negroe man named Ben, two Horses, four sheep, one Sow and pigs, and one Cow."5 Samuel Riggs claimed to have also inherited the slave Mortimer King that year. King did not appear in Reuben Riggs' will, since he was born a year after Reuben's death.6
Samuel received the northeast half of the property, which included an orchard. Called the Oaks I, the farm comprised almost 190 acres near Laytonsville,7 including a log manor house that Samuel's grandfather had built around 1800. His mother and brother lived nearby on over 280 acres, called the Oaks II, which directly bordered the Oaks I to the southwest.8
On December 3, 1833, Samuel married Milcah Wayman Griffith, the daughter of Colonel Lyde Griffith.9 They had eight children over a span of nearly two decades: Amelia in 1834; William H. in 1836; Reuben in 1839; Samuel in 1843; Elisha in 1845; Emanueletta, nicknamed Leta, in 1850; Louisa G. in 1852; and Mary E. in 1855.10
By 1850, Samuel Riggs owned thirteen slaves and $3,500 in real estate.12 That year, his farm produced wheat, corn, and oats, along with one and a half tons of tobacco. Other products included butter, wool, and meat.13 The 1859 slave assessment records listed the names and ages of sixteen slaves sharing two slave quarters.14 In 1864, Riggs' slaves Mortimer King and Luke Letcher enlisted with the Maryland Volunteer Infantry. Over twenty years earlier, the slave Susan had escaped, but was apprehended and jailed in Baltimore County. The sheriff had recorded "Samuel Riggs of Reuben" retrieving her.15
Riggs was involved in Montgomery County's political affairs for much of his life, serving as county commissioner for five years starting in 1856. In 1867, Riggs represented his county in Maryland's Constitutional Convention along with Greenbury M. Watkins, Nicholas Brewer, and Washington Duvall. He also served in Maryland's General Assembly, first in 1868 and then again from 1872 to 1874.16 In the summer of 1875, Riggs was one of eight Montgomery County delegates to the Democratic State Convention.17
Riggs' first wife, Milcah, passed away at their home on February 19, 1874. When the Montgomery County Sentinel reported her death, the paper erroneously listed Samuel Riggs of R as deceased as well. The obituary also referred to the Riggs farm as "Oakley" instead of as "the Oaks."18 A farm called Oakley actually stood just a few miles away (of the recently-deceased Dr. William Bowie Magruder), which may have been the source of the confusion.
On October 26, 1875, Riggs married his second wife, Elizabeth Hamilton Worthington (nee Bowie), widow of Thomas Worthington.19 By 1880, Samuel Riggs was living at the Oaks I with his son, also named Samuel, and daughter-in-law Laura.20 The younger Samuel built a two-and-a-half-story Italianate house on the property around 1882, connecting it to the log house that his great-grandfather had constructed.21 Riggs' second wife, Elizabeth, was apparently omitted from the 1880 census, although she lived till 1890.22
Samuel Riggs passed away on October 29, 1882. The obituary in the
Montgomery
County Sentinel described Riggs as "a prominent citizen ... [who] represented
the County in the Legislature twice, and was active in framing the present
Constitution of the State."23 Following his death, the "Samuel
Riggs of R" who appeared in records was his grandson, the oldest son of
Samuel's son Reuben.24
1. John Hankins Wallace.
Genealogy
of the Riggs Family. Vol. 1. (New York, NY: pub. by the author,
1901) 115.
MONTGOMERY
COUNTY COURT, (Marriage Licenses), 1798-1839, Film Reel: CR 8920, [MSA
CM724-1]. Reuben Riggs and Mary Willson Thomas, February 6, 1805.
2. MONTGOMERY COUNTY, REGISTER
OF WILLS, (Wills, Original), 1827-1833, [MSA C1142-12]. Reuben Riggs, June
9, 1829, Box 9, Folder 26.
MONTGOMERY
COUNTY COURT, (Marriage Licenses), 1798-1839, Film Reel: CR 8920, [MSA
CM724-1]. Remus Dorsey and Jane T. Riggs, Feb 8, 1826.
3. "Gossip Here and There." Washington Post 5 August 1888: 4. Proquest Historical Newspapers. www.proquest.com.
4. MONTGOMERY COUNTY, REGISTER OF WILLS, (Wills, Original), 1827-1833, [MSA C1142-12]. Reuben Riggs, June 9, 1829, Box 9, Folder 26.
5. Ibid.
6. U.S. Colored Troops
Military Service Records, 1861-1865, Mortimer King, 30th United States
Colored Infantry. Page 87 electronic. The Generations Network, Inc., 2007.
www.ancestry.com.
MONTGOMERY
COUNTY, REGISTER OF WILLS, (Wills, Original), [MSA C1142-12]. Reuben Riggs,
June 9, 1829, Box 9, Folder 26.
7. Roger Brooke Farquhar.
Old
Homes and History of Montgomery County (Silver Spring, MD: pub. by
author, 1952) 310.
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.
"Oaks I (Samuel
Riggs Farm)." 5810 Riggs Road. Laytonsville, Montgomery County, Maryland.
Maryland Historical Trust, Inventory of Historic Properties. http://www.mdihp.net/index.cfm.
8. "Oaks II (Riggs Farm)." 5815 Riggs Road. Laytonsville, Montgomery County, Maryland. Maryland Historical Trust, Inventory of Historic Properties. http://www.mdihp.net/index.cfm.
9. MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT,
(Marriage Licenses), 1798-1839, Film Reels: CR 8920, [MSA CM724-1]. Samuel
Riggs and Mickah W. Griffith, December 3, 1833.
Mary
Gordon Molloy.
Abstracts of Wills Montgomery County, Maryland, 1826-1875
(Westiminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2007) 66.
10. U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record,
MD) for Samuel Riggs of R, 1860, Montgomery County, District 1, Page 56,
Line 32 [MSA SM61-213, M 7223-1].
U.S.
Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Samuel Riggs of R, 1870, Montgomery
County, District 1, Page 31, Line 36 [MSA SM61-275, M 7256].
12. U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Samuel Riggs of R, Slaves, 1850, Montgomery County, District 1, Page 7, Line 23 [MSA SM61-168, M 1505-5].
13. U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, (Census Record, MD), 1850, Social Statistics, [MSA S1184-6]. Elisha Riggs, 1st or Cracklin District, Montgomery County, Page 257.
14. MONTGOMERY COUNTY, BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS, (Assessment Record, Slaves), 1853-1864, [MSA C1112-1]. Samuel
Riggs of R., 1st District, 1859, Page 291.
U.S.
Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Samuel Riggs of R, Slaves 1860, Montgomery
County, District 1, Page 13, Line 1 [MSA SM61-239, M 7230-2].
15. BALTIMORE COUNTY JAIL, (Runaway Docket),1831-1832, [MSA C2063-1]. Susan, April 17, 1832, Docket No. 183.
16. Roger Brooke Farquhar.
Old Homes
and History of Montgomery County (Silver Spring, MD: pub. by author,
1952) 310.
"Delegates
to the Constitutional Convention." 17 April 1867: 2. Baltimore Sun Historic
Archive. Enoch Pratt Free Library.
17. "Delegates to the Convention."
The
Hagerstown Mail 23 July 1875: 1. Maryland State Archives.
18. Bowman, John D. Guide to Selections from the Montgomery County Sentinel: Maryland, January 1, 1856-December 31, 1875. Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 138.
19. MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Marriage
Licenses), 1798-1839, Film Reel: CR 8920, [MSA CM724-1]. Thomas Worthington
and Elizabeth H. Bowie, February 26, 1839.
MONTGOMERY
COUNTY COURT, (Marriage Licenses), 1798-1839, Film Reels: CR 8920, [MSA
CM724-1]. Samuel Riggs and Mickah W. Griffith, December 3, 1833.
MONTGOMERY
COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Land Records), Liber EBP 14, Folio 104, 1875-1876,
[MSA CE 63-24]. Samuel Riggs of R. to Elizabeth H. Worthington, October
5, 1875.
20. U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Samuel Riggs of R, 1880, Montgomery County, Crackling District, District 107, Page 10, Line 23 [MSA SM61-324, M 4748-2].
21. "Oaks II (Riggs Farm)." 5815 Riggs Road. Laytonsville, Montgomery County, Maryland. Maryland Historical Trust. Inventory of Historic Properties. http://www.mdihp.net/index.cfm.
22. John D. Bowman. Guide to Selections from the Montgomery County Sentinel: Maryland, January 1, 1888-December 31, 1892 (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2006) 109.
23. Qtd. in John D. Bowman, Guide to Selections from the Montgomery County Sentinel: Maryland, January 1, 1882-December 31, 1887 (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2005) 30. Farquhar 310.
24. MONTGOMERY COUNTY, REGISTER OF
WILLS, (Wills), 1872-1885, Liber RWC 6, Folio 306, [MSA T1736-2]. Samuel
Riggs of R, June 28, 1880.
U.S. Census
Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Samuel Riggs of R, 1880, Montgomery County,
Crackling District, District 107, Page 10, Line 23 [MSA SM61-324, M 4748-2].
Researched and written by Rachel Frazier, 2010.
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