Rigsby Family Genealogy

     In March of 1993 I wrote to and made contact with Ruth England of Sparta, Tennessee.  Ruth is a descendant of Canada  Rigsby Sr. born about 1780 to 1790 and died in DeKalb County, Tennessee.  According to Ruth's notes Canada Sr. is listed in the 1820 census for White County, Tennessee.  It appears that Canada Sr. may have originally spelled his name Kenady/Kennedy or some variation thereof.  However as was prevalent in those days because of lack of education relatives, neighbors, townspeople and sometimes the person himself names would not spelled correctly, but rather people would guess at the spelling based upon the local pronunciation.  As such, one person's name might be spelled differently from region to region as they moved about.  According to Ruth, Canada Sr. had a brother named John Rigsby who lived in Dekalb County, Tennessee at the time that the 1850 census would have been taken.  This John Rigsby was my great great great grandfather born ca. 1799.  Nonetheless, I must caveat that  to the best of my knowledge the relation of my direct ancestor John Rigsby and Canada Rigsby Sr.  as brothers has not been verified by birth or testamentary records.

     Perhaps the only material which may be located relates to a "Family Group Sheet" compiled by a Thomas G. Webb.  At the time Mr Webb compiled the source material he lived in Smithville, Tennessee.  The information is compiled on a Thomas Rigsby, born ca. 1750 - 1760.  The data reflects that it was compiled by utilizing the following source documents: 1790 North Carolina Census, 1830 Middle Tennessee Census, 1840 DeKalb County and Warren County, Tennessee Census and 1850 DeKalb County and Warren County, Tennessee Census.  Mr. Webb lists that a Thomas Rigsby Sr. was still living in Warren County Tennessee in 1830.  It is listed that Thomas Rigsby married in about 1780 with the marriage possibly taking place in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  Although the wife's name is not mentioned there is listed twelve children two of which are  John (born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina ca. 1799) and a Kennedy or Cannady (born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina ca. 1788).  Mr Webb lists John as marrying Kezziah --- ca.1823 and that Kizziah was born ca. 1806.  The data also reflects John as living in 1850. Other than the birth data on Cannady he is reflected as marrying a Mary Stalcup or Lewis ca 1810 and reflects his death as being between 1832 and 1850.  PLEASE NOTE THAT MR. WEBB WARNS THAT HIS INFORMATION IS BASED ONLY ON CENSUS INFORMATION AND MAY BE WRONG.

     This information is not proffered to the means that Thomas Rigsby born ca. 1750 was the father of both John and Canada Sr., however there are great similarities as to birth data, wife's names and hand me down information.  For example my information on John as handed down from my great grand father John Rigsby (born 1851) to my grand father Arthur Hiram Rigsby to my father Roswell Rigsby lists John Rigsby as born in North Carolina or Virginia in about 1799 and that his wife was Kizziah, no last name was passed down and John and family migrated from Tennessee to Hot Spring Arkansas about 1850. 

    Ruth England tells me that Canada Sr. and John married half sisters by the name of Lewis.  John married Keziah Lewis and Canada Sr. married Mary Polly Lewis.   As of yet I have not located marriage records to verify which county marriage occurred in, nor have I verified the relationship of Mary Polly and Keziah.  Nonetheless, excerpts from the Last Will and Testament of William Lewis seem to indicate that Mary Polly and Keziah were related.  Mary Polly and Keziah's father was William Lewis.  Mary Polly's mother reportedly was killed in an Indian raid on Sunday October 13, 1793.  Later William Lewis remarried to a woman whose first name was Sarah, but she was called Sally.  Accordingly it is presumed that  Sarah was Kezziah's mother.  Sarah's birth is unknown, but she died in 1850.  William Lewis died ca. 1838.  According to Ruth England who has a copy of William's probated Will stated that it was executed in September of 1838.  Ruth has provided me with a copy of the Will.  The Will [which bears the following recording data {Will book 1831-41 pages 309-310} and evidently probated in White County, Tennessee] bequeathed to and listed the following as his children as follows; "I give to my Daughter Polly Rigsby One Dollar.  I give to my son Benjamin Lewis all my right, title, claim and interest to the land where he now lives. I give to my son Hiram Lewis, all my right unto claim and interest to the land he now lives on.  I give to my son Russell Lewis One dollar {non legible provision}.  I give my Daughter Betsey Hutchings One dollar. I give to my daughter Kesiah Rigsby ^one dollar."  Please note that these provisions were transcribed from a photocopy of the will which was in long hand script.  Accordingly I had to guess at some spellings, but did the best I could.  The Will also provides for Sarah Lewis, the surviving wife, with a life estate in the plantation and all household and kitchen furnishings.     

     Canada Rigsby Sr. and Mary Polly Lewis were married February 9, 1809 in Carter county, Tennessee.  Mary Polly was born ca. 1785/90 and died ca. 1850/60 and is supposedly buried in DeKalb County, Tennessee as is Canada who was born ca. 1780.90 and died ca. 1848/50 in DaKalb County, Tennessee.  Ruth related a story to me that had been carried down through the family and has been recorded on tape by a great or great great grand child of Canada.  The story relates that one Lewis girl was taken captive by the Indians and lived with them for six years before being found by a brother of hers and released.  The story relates that the girl's brother traded a rifle for her release.

     Canada and Mary Polly (Lewis) Rigsby had at least nine children as follows.

    - Canada Jr. (b. 1821) md. Lavinia Maner or Maynard

    - William (b. 1810) md. Lucinda Glenn

    - Thomas (b. 1814) md. Sidney McDowell

    - girl (b. 1816)

    - Russell (b. 1818) md. Sarah Hutchings

    - Mary "Pop" (b. 1825) md. Benjamine Pinegar

    - James (b. 1827) md. Tamilia Cantrell

    - Samuel (b. 1830) md. Delila Lewis

    - Kezziah (b. 1832) married Elisha Luna

    Ruth England is the great great grand daughter of Canada Sr. and Mary Polly (Lewis) Rigsby and great grand daughter of Elisha and Kezziah (Rigsby) Luna.  Elisha Luna was born in 1826 and Kezziah Rigsby was born in 1832 and died in September 1909.  Provided my gr. gr. gr. grandfather John born ca. 1799 and Canada Sr.'s brother John are one and the same, Kezziah (Rigsby) Luna was a first cousin to my great great grand father William Hiram Rigsby (born 1823) who will be discussed at length later.[ii]   

     For more information on the life and decedents of Canada and Mary Polly (Lewis) Rigsby I refer you to "The Rigsby's of Bledsoe County, Pikeville, Tennessee and Their Descendants 1849 - 1984", by Homer J. Rigsby.

     Prior to or during 1850  John Rigsby settled in what was known as Hot Spring County, Arkansas.  Hot Spring County at that point in time consisted of a much larger geographic region than it does today.  During the Reconstruction era following The War Between the States Hot Spring County boundaries were redrawn and the size of the county reduced.  The excluded areas became parts of what is now known as Saline and Garland County.  More specifically Garland County, Arkansas was created in 1873 from parts of Montgomery, Hot Spring and Saline County, Arkansas. The importance of pointing this out relates to the homestead location of Rigsby who is my direct line ancestor. 

     "The Record", 1970 Edition, Garland County Historical society indicates that William A. Rigsby also migrated to Hot Spring County, Arkansas in 1850 and that he was a brother to John.  Since this information is included in "The Record" I am listing it as a source, however my review of the 1850 Hot Spring Census fails to locate a William A Rigsby, rather I do locate a William Riggs.  The information on William Riggs is exactly the same as that listed in "The Record" for William A. Rigsby.  As such I believe that the transcriber may have erred.  Factually, William H. Rigsby was listed in the 1850 Hot Spring County, Arkansas Census and I believe an honest mistake was made in the recording of data under the similar names.  However I must point out specifically that John Rigsby born ca. 1799 and William H. Rigsby  were not brother, but rather John was William H. Rigsby's father.  Accordingly, the 1850 Hot Spring County, Arkansas Census lists the following information on the William A. Riggs family.  William was born about 1804 in North Carolina and that in the 1850 Census his home consisted of Rachel, age 28; Thomas, age 17; Jane age 15; John age 12; and Nancy age 9.  The census also lists two children by the name of Carlisle living with the family, Amanda, age 12 and Henry, age 9.  Other than this information nothing else is documented of this elder William A. or his descendants.  

Date: Mon, 02 Oct 00 11:35AM PDT From: Top of Form 1dlewis <dlewis3@ix.netcom.com>

M Rigsby wrote: > > Did you ever locate any information on Thomas Rigsby who was born > about 1750. He had sons by the name of Canada and John. John was my > gr.gr.gr.grandfather. John married Canada's wife's half sister Keziah > Lewis. Malcolm L. Rigsby Hello Malcolm, I haven't connected to any new information on Thomas Rigsby or the the family out of Mecklenburg,NC, or Rockingham,NC. There isn't any new information on Sarah 'Sallie' Lewis, or her origins. I still feel that William Lewis Sr. came out of the Henry Co.,VA area and had strong association to the Blevins,Tittles,Webbs and other families that settled the Greasy Cove area.He may not have been born there,but it appears he had strong connections there. I've tried to find a connection in Mecklenburg,NC with the Lewis's and Rigsby's, but have been unable to make a link. The connections to the Wallin's,(Walling,White Co.,TN)they were related to the Longhunter Elisha Wallin/Wallen of Henry Co.,VA. The Blevin's family that were in court records with William Lewis SR in Greasy Cove,Wash.,TN, they were also Longhunters from the same VA. area. What relationship this has to Thomas Rigsby, or any of his familiy, is pure speculation.The fact that these people moved around a great deal is apparent,but what interconnection there was is unknown. In other words, I don't have anything new that is subtaiated or documented.Thanks for keeping in touch. If you have come across anything new, please feel free to send it along.Best of luck. Sincerely, Dale Lewis

The 1850 DeKalb County, Tennessee Census lists the following information.

     NAME                              AGE                BIRTH

Rigby  John                           50                N.C.

       Kezziah                           43                N.C.

       John D.                           18              

       Benjamine F.                  15

       George W.                      13

       James A.                         12

       Kizziah                            6

The 1850 Hot Spring County, Arkansas Census reports the following.

      NAME                AGE                        BIRTH

Rigsby John                51                            Va.

       Benjamine           16                            Tn.

       George                14                            "

       James                 12                            "

       Keziah                 10                            "

       John                    18                            "

Tippet Nancy               16                            "     

     Note that not only is Kizziah, age 43, missing from the Arkansas Census, but also there is a conflict in John Sr.'s place of birth.  There is a slight discrepancy in a couple of ages, however the difference is not great enough for concern other than the age difference for the younger Kizziah.  In the Tennessee Census she is listed as age 6, but in the Arkansas Census she is listed as age 10.  This could be the census reporters mistake in transcribing. 

CHILDREN OF JOHN & KEZIAH RIGSBY

1  John Rigsby                                                 born ca. 1799

     m  Keziah Lewis

                2  William Hiram Rigsby                   b. 1822, Tenn.        d. 1/23/04

                     m  Jence (Jane) Warford             b. ca. 1825             d.  1906

                2  Matthew Rigsby

                2  Sarah Ann Rigsby                          b.  12/21/1825       d.  10/1/1850

                     m  George E. Crowder                  b. ca.  1828

                2  John Rigsby                                  b.  1832

                2  Benjamin Franklin Rigsby              b.  1834

                     m  Dorcus Warford

                2  George Rigsby                              b. 1836                    d.  8-4-1863

                2  James Acey Rigsby                        b.  2/14/1837          d.  11/12/1904

                     m  Julia Warford

William Hiram Rigsby was my Great Great Grandfather.  He was born to John and Keziah April 25, 1823  in Tennessee and died January 23, 1904.  He is buried beside his wife, Jence (Jane) Warford Rigsby (born ca.1825 died 1902) in the Rigsby Family Cemetery, Garland County, Arkansas.  See cemetery section.

     The 1850 Hot Spring County Arkansas Census, Saline Township lists the William H. Rigsby household as follows.

     William H. Rigsby   28                farmer                born Tenn.

     Jane                                   28                                            "

     Elizabeth                           7                                              "

     Sally                                  6                                              "

     Lucinda                             2                                              "

      The 1860 Hot Spring County, Arkansas Census for Phillips Township as completed August 14, 1860 lists William H. Rigsby's Post Office as Sheriff's Ridge and other information as follows.

     William H.                         37                Merchant               Born Tenn.

     Jane                                   36                Housekeeper                        "

     Elizabeth                           18                                                            "

     Sarah Ann                        15                                                            "

     Lucinda                             14                                                            "

     John                                  11                                                            Ark.

     Louisa                               8                                                              "

     Louisana                           6                                                              "

     James                                3                                                              "

     Robert                               3 mos.                                                     "

     Please recall an earlier reference to the Rigsby log cabin, page 10.  It is possible that William Hiram built this log cabin or that his father John built it.  In any event this log cabin came to be the Rigsby homestead.  A picture is provided at page ten.  This picture was taken about 1940.  At that time the old home had begun to deteriorate, however half of it was still standing.  Many years later, as a young boy I remember standing by this old home and listening to Rupert Rigsby describe it.  The logs are long gone, nothing remains but a pile of rocks which were once a chimney.  Many members of the Rigsby family lived in this old house over the years, "Georgie" Georgia and Fornia Rigsby and Lee and Isaac Moore to name a couple. 

     In a visit with Georgia in the summer of 1991 she described the home.  There were two log rooms separated by a breezeway.  Each room had a front door which opened directly outside.  The only poorch was a flat rock at each door.  Georgia remembered one rock was about 3 feet by 3 feet, the other rock was some smaller.  When looking at the front of the house you were looking down the breezeway.  The room to the right was a bedroom and the room to the left was a front room used for eating and other general uses.  The front room had a stone fireplace and a lean to built to the back.  The lean to was used as a kitchen and had a back door opening onto a back porch which was an extension of the breezeway.  Out the back of the house and to the side of the front room were several pear trees which made up an orchard.  These trees were planted by William Hiram many years ago.    My father, Roswell, remembers these pear trees well.  I myself remember seeing several of them still alive and producing fruit as late as the 1960's.  See the illustration in Map Section A.

     The old homestead was probably the birthplace of most of William Hiram and Jence's eleven children.  The children of William Hiram and Jence will be discussed later.

     Like his brothers James A. (1837), George and  Benjamin F.; William Hiram also joined the Confederacy.  He enlisted on July 18, 1861 at Little Rock, Arkansas and served in Company F, 3d Regiment Arkansas Cavalry.  He served one year and then paroled on an overage of conscription. William Hiram served as both a private and sergeant.[i]   After his service he was a merchant, farmer and Justice of the Peace in Arkansas.  Soon after the county of Garland  was formed he was elected the second County Treasurer of the new county and served 6 years until 1880.  See Appendix I for William H. Rigsby Army papers and Justice of the peace documents. 

     Roswell Rigsby has an original portrait of William Hiram and Jence.  A photograph of this portrait appears adjacent.

     In looking back to his boyhood Roswell remembers the Rigsby people as good hearted. 

     "The Rigsby's were all good people.  I don't care what

     anyone says, they were good, honest, trustworthy and   

     non-conforming, Christian people, mostly farmers.  They

     all attended church and did not work on Sunday, unless

     they had to.  Yes, they angered sometimes if someone

     provoked them or tried to run over them.  As I said

     they did not conform to your way of thinking unless

     they saw it that way or you showed them it was prac-

     tical.  In other words they were not yes men.  They

     were partly founders of this country."[ii]

     William Hiram and his family attended church regularly at Smith Creek church.  Following the War Between the States William Hiram served the church in several ways whether it be as song leader or as a deacon.  The Thirty-second Edition of The Record - 1991, Garland County Historical Society, published an article entitled "BAPTISTS VISIT GARLAND COUNTY: THE WESTERN BAPTIST 1876" in which a portion of a transcription from the January 27, 1876 issue of The Western Baptist article sets forth a reference to William Hiram's involvement with the church.  In the introduction  The Record sets the time frame of the article as being in conjunction with the Centennial celebration of the United States. 

     According to "The Record", an Arkansas Centennial Committee was formed and a Mr. T. P. Boone and Mr T. B. Espy were chosen by the advisory committee of the American Baptist Educational Commission to travel a portion of the state.  The mission; to preach, recruit assistance for Baptist causes, promote The Western Baptist and spread news of the nation's centennial.[iii]  Mr. Espy writes the following excerpt in an editorial correspondence, dated January 17 and published in the Western Baptist: January 27, 1876.

     "Bro. Ebb's son conveyed us Wednesday morning to

     Smith's Creek Church, where we had two meetings,

     but did little or nothing for the Centennial, as

     this is a church that believes in a free gospel,

     and has been receiving it for some time on these

     terms.  Bro. Rigsby, however, a deacon of the

     church and treasurer of Garland county took a

     lively interest in our work, gave us his offering,

     furnished us with a conveyance to our next place

     of meeting, and entertained us during our entire

     stay."[iv]

                                                                                                       Case heard by William H. Rigsby during his tenure as Justice of the Peace for Phillip's Township, Lonsdale, Arkansas.