You Can't Pick Your Relatives

                            You Can't Pick Your Relatives





     Computers, although a pain in the butt, are really interesting things to have around when you can just goof off with them.  The other day I Googled myself and came up with over 40 pages of references to Michael, to Douglas, and to Riggan.  From there I found other interesting tidbits of information, both good and not so good, pertaining to the Riggan clan.
     For instance, there is a Riggan cemetery in Monroe County, MS. and a street named Riggan in Olive Branch, MS.  I had no idea the clan had spread that far but it seems that the largest population of Riggan's is located in North Carolina followed by Virgina then Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.  The ancestors didn't stop there as there are now people with the surname of Riggan in just about every state in the US.
    There is a cemetery in Bridgeport, Washington where Allie, Edward, Hazel, Johnny, Mary,  and Sandra are laid to rest.  They are all Riggan .
     I was interested to find more about the history of the Riggan clan such as a website that says the name Riggan originally came from France in the 1500's.  They were Huguenots, French Protestants,  who left the southern regions of  France for England in search of religious freedom.  Based on this I can now say that my ancestry encompasses French , English , Scottish and Irish.  My memory of world history tells me that France was over run by the Romans and Germanic tribes of the region as well as traded with the Vikings.  I have often wondered where I came from and now find myself still wondering.
     There is a Riggan in most every branch of the service and every level of responsibility and every ruckus the nation has ever been in had a Riggan to back it up.  Francis Riggan, one of my Great Great Great Fathers , fought as a Private in the Revolutionary war.  He was from Warren County, NC and in 1833 at the age of seventy he started drawing a pension of $20.00 per month for his service . There was also a William P. Riggan who fought in the revolution.  He was a Private from Halifax County, NC .  He also drew a $20.00 pension at age 73.   Wonder if this is who my brother Pat is named after?
     In researching Francis I found his will and the will of Michael  I. Riggan who died around 1853. Seeing as how he is the only ancestor I have run across named Michael, I guess I was named after him.  Works for me .
     During the Civil War the surname Riggan was found in Confederate records 50 times and in Union records 11 times.
     There was a Walter G. Riggan in Denver, Co who fought in the Spanish American War.  He was an Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster for the General Lawton Camp # 1 of the United Spanish American War Veterans in 1931.  He was born in 1874 and died in 1963.
     Edward C. Riggan from Parker, OK fought as a Private in WWI.  Of course Dad and his brothers fought in WWII.  Brother Pat and I were in Viet Nam and little sister Vickie did a hitch in the Navy during the 1980's.
     Many of our cousins are involved in higher education . The Dean's List and Honor Rolls of many colleges and universities across the country are riddled with the name of Riggan.  Joyce Ann Riggan made the Dean's list for the last two years running at Bevill State Com. College in Alabama .
     There is a Rev. Walter Riggan who is a tutor and lecturer at the All Nations College in Hertfordshire, England.  He is also an ordained minister in the Church of Scotland.
     Robert Ethan Riggan is a Theatrical student at Middle Tenn State University in Murfreesboro, Tn.
     Need legal advice?  Call cousin Russ of the Russ Riggan Law Firm LLC in Kirkwood, Mo.  Maybe he will give a family rate.
     Do not call (hopefully very distant cousin), Robert Lee Riggan Jr in Denver, Co.  He tried to represent himself in a murder trial and failed.  In 1997 he was convicted of first degree murder in the death of a 21 yr old prostitute .  A jury gave him the death penalty but a panel of judges converted the sentence to life without parole.  I guess every family has a closet with relatives no one wants to claim and from what I read Robert and his immediate family would fill a couple of closets.  Just be sure to throw away the key .
     On a lighter side, I have said in a previous blog that little sister Vickie was a one and only - well, that ain't so.  I have discovered a Vickie Lynn Riggan in Lone Tree, Iowa.  I'm not good enough to figure out what she does there but her name was listed twice in the local newspaper with dollar amounts next to them.  Either she is owed a lot of money or she owes a lot of money.  I'll let little sister decide if she wants to contact her doppelganger . But wait , after talking with little sister she said there is another Vickie Lynn Riggan in of all places Nashville , TN. . This brings us to the question - might there be more ?
     Little sister Vickie has a friend named Brenda Baird.  I was interested to find a site that confirms the Baird and Riggan families are related by marriage.  In one instance a Baird guy married a Riggan girl and in another case a Riggan guy married a Baird girl.  Guess that means Brenda and I are cousins?
     Jerrod A. Riggan of Brewster,WA was drafted to the NY Mets baseball team in 2000 as a pitcher and played two seasons before being traded to the Cleveland Indians for another season.  He wound up playing for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan in the 2003-2004 season.  I also found a Jerrod Riggan as a Columbia River fishing guide - maybe he gave up on baseball?
     Scott Riggan is a music minister in Eagle, Idaho.  He recorded a version of Silent Night in 2003 and has quite a list of religious recordings in his name.
      Last but not least there is a John Riggan that works for the Nashville Zoo.
      I never knew the Riggan clan had grown so large or that it contained so many people that have or had such interesting lives.  All of these people and more have the Riggan name in common and they all can trace their beginnings back to a few ancestors who set foot in America in the mid 1600's.  This does not include the daughters of our ancestors who married into other families and whose offspring may very well be your next door neighbor.  Kinda adds a whole new meaning to the phrase  "small world ".
     The Internet has opened up a whole new world for me.  It is nice to know that when I get so decrepit that all I can do is sit in front of a computer I can at least keep up with cousins I will probably never meet or get to know but with whom I share a name .