1.

EDWARD RIGGS

Edward's ancestry in England before he came to America is documented separately under the pages for MILES RIGGS, OF ROYDON. ESSEX. These include details of Edward's wife's family (Elizabeth Holmes), his marriage to her, and the baptisms of their children in Nazeing, Essex; there is also a family tree of Edward's English relations.

Edward and Elizabeth Riggs and their children landed in the early summer of 1633 in Boston, which was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They had probably sailed from London, on either the 'William and Jane' or the 'Mary and Jane'.

Edward and his family were among the very early settlers in Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, where a number of other families from Nazeing also settled, collectively referred to at that time as the "Nazeing Christians" [S5]. Roxbury, which initially became a separate township on the Boston outskirts, is now part of the city itself.

But at that time, the migrants landed in what was still a wilderness, and about one in three perished during or soon after their voyage.[S7] Within a few months of landing in New England, death started to afflict Edward's family, and three of his five children as well as his wife all died within 30 months of their arriving:

2.	EDWARD RIGGS Edward, who had been baptised at Nazeing, Essex on 17OCT1619 (as "Edward Rigges") [S1][S2], was one of the two children who survived their childhood.
3.	LYDIA RIGGS Lydia, who had been baptised at Nazeing, Essex on 15SEP1622 (as "Lyddia Rygge") [S1][S2], died almost immediately after landing, in AUG1633,[S79][S17][S3][S5][S47] when she would have been 10 years old. Her death was the first to be recorded of all the immigrants to Roxbury [S3][S5] (the burial entry in the Roxbury Vital Records quotes her name as "Lidea") [S17].
4.	ELIZABETH RIGGS Elizabeth, who had been baptised at Nazeing, Essex on 30DEC1627 [S1][S2], was the second to die and was buried at Roxbury in MAY1634,[S79][S17][S3][S5][S47] when she would have been 6 years old.
5.	JOHN RIGGS John, who had been baptised at Nazeing, Essex on 17JAN1630N [S1][S2], was the third to die and was buried at Roxbury in OCT1634,[S79][S17][S3][S5][S47] when he would have been 4 years old.
6.	MARY RIGGS Mary, who had been baptised at Nazeing, Essex on 1JLY1632 (as "Mary Rigge") [S1][S2] was the other of the two children who survived their childhood. Mary allegedly married BENJAMIN TWITCHELL on 1SEP1652 in Medfield, Norfolk, MA [S24], and Benjamin allegedly died in 1675/76 in Medfield [S24] (although Torrey [S45] states that he died in 1680). "Tradition declares he was killed by Indians and his house burned. This occurred in 1675-6 at the outbreak of King Philip's War" (genealogy by Ralph Emerson Twitchell published 1929) [S24]. Mary must still have been alive on 2SEP1670, when her father made his Will, since he named her as the principal residuary legatee. Savage [S5] suggests that she had died before 05MCH1672, the date of her father's death, since he states when discussing Edward's children that "it may be concluded that ... all died before him". Researchers of the Twitchell family have an unsourced reference to Mary dying 30OCT1694, in Medfield, but state that this date, along with the other unsourced marriage date of 1SEP1652 is highly questionable [S24]. The descendants of Benjamin Twitchell and Mary are charted on the separate Twitchell Links web-site. See also the note on Elizabeth Allen.

Roxbury's Vital Records show that Elizabeth, Edward's wife, was buried at Roxbury in OCT1635 [S79][S17] (Wallace says AUG, possibly because it was entered in the records as "(8) 1635" according to the usual method of recording months in Puritan Church Records, but Savage [S5] quotes the correct month). Based on the date of her baptism, Elizabeth was 44 when she died.

Edward remarried another ELIZABETH, shortly afterwards according to Wallace, and a recent eminent researcher makes out a strong case that Edward's second wife was an Elizabeth WISE. His daughter Mary was only 3 when her mother died, which makes it understandable for him to want to re-marry quickly. There were no children from this second marriage [S3][S5].

The only entry in the marriage records of Roxbury for a RIGGS is an entry on 05APR1635 between Edward and Elizabeth ROOSA [S42], which Savage [S5] said was between Edward and Elizabeth ROOKE (and on 05APR1636). But I believe this marriage of Edward and Elizabeth was that of Edward of Roxbury's son to Elizabeth ROSE.

Edward was admitted as a member of the Puritan church at Roxbury "#100 on Eliot's list, near the end of those that came in 1633", [S22] and was admitted as a Freeman on 14MAY1634 [S4][S5][S22][S78]. Freemen were the only colonists who were franchised to vote. They generally had to be mature male church-members, and had to attest to having experienced a transforming spiritual experience by God's grace, as confirmed by church leaders [S22].

According to the valuation of his land holdings in the Roxbury estate list in the 1640s [S36] Edward was one of the least affluent in Roxbury. The Roxbury land inventory around 1652 [S37] did not include anything acquired by him other than through the usual sequence of grants.

Anderson quotes the death of Elizabeth wife of Edward Riggs on 02SEP1669 [S39] - the burial date is quoted in the Roxbury Vital Records as the 2nd day of the 7th month 1669 [S17][S47] (see the Methods Of Recording Dates/Years). Wallace correctly says she died in 1669, but Savage [S5] quotes the year as 1666. Edward junior's wife must still have been alive on 02SEP1670, when Edward senior made his Will including a bequest to "my daughter-in-law my son Edward Riggs his wife". So the Elizabeth buried in 1669 must have been Edward senior's second wife.

Anderson quotes Edward's death on 05MCH1672N [S40] - the burial date is quoted in the Roxbury Vital Records as the 5th day of the 1st month 1671-2 [S17][S47] (see the Methods Of Recording Dates/Years). Savage quotes Edward's burial as on 05MCH1672. [S5] Edward's Will dated 2SEP1670 [S3][S4][S5][S47], which he "signed" by making his mark, was proved on 6MCH1672N [S4][S47].

Wallace correctly states that all his children except Mary had predeceased him by the time he made his Will, based on the wording of its bequests. Savage [S5], however, was incorrect in theorising when discussing Edward's children that "it may be concluded that ... all died before him."