Bookmark this page or copy and paste URL to Email message

Riggs Family Papers 1878-1998 (bulk 1900-1942)

MS 580


Collection Summary

Creator: Riggs, John Casey, 1874-1943.
Collection Name: Riggs Family Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1878-1998
Bulk Dates: (1900-1942)
Physical Description:9 linear feet
Abstract:This collection contains materials documenting the Riggs pioneer family history from the time Brannick Riggs married Mary Elizabeth Robbins in Texas in 1856, their first wagon train move to Colorado in 1871, and several years later relocating again to southeastern Arizona, arriving and settling in Sulphur Springs Valley in 1879. Their eighth child, John Casey Riggs (1874-1943), was the family’s historian and creator of the bulk of the papers. The collection includes Our El Dorado, a biographical book written by John C. Riggs and his daughter, Jeanette Riggs Roll. Also included in the collection are biographical manuscripts; diaries and journals; business and personal correspondence; business records and ledgers; printed materials, including pamphlets, catalogs, newspapers and clippings; homestead land and mine patents; political papers of John Casey Riggs; maps; and photographs and negatives.
Collection Number:MS 580
Language: Materials are in English.
Repository: University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections
University of Arizona
PO Box 210055
Tucson, AZ 85721-0055
Phone: 520-621-6423
Fax: 520-621-9733
URL: http://speccoll.library.arizona.edu/
E-Mail: LBRY-askspcoll@email.arizona.edu

Biographical Note

John Casey Riggs (1874-1943) was the eighth of ten children born to Brannick Riggs (1828-1907) and Mary Robbins Riggs (1838-1935), pioneer homesteaders from Texas who arrived in the Sulphur Springs Valley area of southeastern Arizona (Cochise County) in 1879. John Casey Riggs was born in Los Animas County, Colorado in 1874 and traveled by oxen and wagon with his family in 1877 to join other Riggs relatives in the Dos Cabezas gold mining district of Arizona with a herd of horses and about eight head of cattle. The Riggs family established themselves in the area as ranchers, bankers, and state and local politicians, as well as attorneys, teachers, miners and loggers in this part of southeastern Arizona where many of their offspring continue to live and work. They established the Riggs Cattle Company in 1904 and the Riggs Bank of Willcox, AZ in 1920. Family stories in the collection tell of the tragic deaths of Brannick Riggs’ brother John and his wife, Jane, in Bell County, Texas by Comanches in 1857, the final years of the Chiricahua Apache Wars and raids on neighboring homesteads, and the earthquake of 1887 that shook southern Arizona, to name a few.

John Casey Riggs graduated from Valparaiso University in Indiana in 1894 and obtained his law degree in 1906. He practiced law in Tombstone, Arizona until 1911. He then became general manager for the Riggs Cattle Company until 1917. He helped organize the Riggs Bank in 1920, and after it closed in 1933, he was elected to the Senate of the Eleventh State Legislature. He married Jeanette (Nettie) Mary Brauns of Upper Sandusky, Ohio in 1910, and together they built the John Riggs Ranch. They had four children, Paul William Riggs (1911-1990), John Stark Riggs (1912-1998), Ellerbe Brauns Riggs (1915-2007), and Jeanette Mary Riggs (1916-2004), who continued to marry and settle on ranches in the same area where their family has resided since 1879. The Riggs family celebrated their centennial in Arizona with a family reunion in 1979 in Willcox, AZ.


Scope and Content Note

Papers, 1878-1998 (bulk: 1900-1942). This collection contains the papers of John Casey Riggs and various other family members. The collection was donated by John Casey Riggs’ grandson, Chris M. Roll, in 2007. The Riggs family Bible, and the diaries of Mary Robbins Riggs from 1896 to 1929 were donated by Nancy Sloan and added to the collection in 2011. John Casey Riggs, was the family historian, therefore, the bulk of the papers are his. The collection includes Our El Dorado, a biographical book written by John C. Riggs and his daughter, Jeanette Riggs Roll, and the Riggs Centennial Reunion, 1879-1979 book. Also included in the collection are biographical manuscripts, Valparaiso University certificates of diploma; diaries, notebooks, and journals; business and personal correspondence, including a handwritten letter to John Riggs from Albert F. Potter, first Chief of Grazing for the U. S. Forest Service, dated 1902; business records and ledgers; printed materials, including pamphlets, catalogs, newspapers and clippings, homestead land and mine patents, and an original 1910 mining claim signed by President William H. Taft; the political papers of John Casey Riggs, Arizona State Senator; maps; photographs and negatives.


Arrangement

This collection is organized into 5 series.
Series I:Biographical Materials and Family Records, 1878-1998
Series II:Activity Files, 1898-1954
Subseries 1:Homesteading and Ranching Papers, 1900-1942
Subseries 2:Banking and Financial Papers, 1898-1957
Subseries 3:Mining and Logging Papers, 1896-1943
Series III:John Casey Riggs, Political Papers, 1911-1942
Series IV:Correspondence of John C. and Nettie B. Riggs, 1900-1943
Series V:Oversized Materials, Photographs, and Memorabilia, 1894-1929

Restrictions

Restrictions

There are no restrictions on this collection.

Copyright

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for the University of Arizona, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.


Access Terms

Personal Name(s)
Riggs, Brannick, 1828-1907.
Riggs, John Casey, 1874-1943.

Corporate Name(s)
Riggs Bank of Willcox (Ariz.), 1920-1933.
Riggs Cattle Company, 1904-1922.

Geographic Name(s)
Bisbee (Ariz.).
Chiricahua Mountains (Ariz.).
Cochise County (Ariz.).
Dos Cabezas (Ariz.).
Sulphur Springs Valley (Ariz.).
Tombstone (Ariz.).
Willcox (Ariz.).

Subject(s)
Apache Indians--Arizona.
Banks and banking--Arizona.
Cattle brands--Arizona.
Cattle trade--Arizona--History.
Comanche Indians--Texas--History--19th century.
Frontier and pioneer life--Arizona--Cochise County.
Grazing--Arizona.
Lawyers--Arizona.
Mines and mineral resources--Arizona--Cochise County.
Politicians--Arizona--Biography.
Ranches--Arizona--Cochise County--History--Records and Correspondence.


Administrative Information

Credit Line

Riggs Family Papers (MS 580). Special Collections, University of Arizona Libraries.

Processing History

Processed by Susan L. Mergenthal.


Container List

Biographical Materials and Family Records, 1878-1998
This series contains the Riggs family genealogy back to Maryland in 1663, the research notes of John Casey Riggs on the Arizona branch of Riggs starting with Brannick Riggs born in 1828, diaries, ledgers, notebooks, and estate documents of Riggs family members. This series is arranged chronologically.
boxfolder
11 John C. Riggs, family history and genealogy, 1663-1942
12 John C. Riggs and Jeanette Riggs Roll, research papers on family history, 1891-1990
13 Riggs family history,Our El Dorado, manuscript copy, 1951
14 Riggs family history, Our El Dorado, manuscript, 1951
15 Riggs family history, Our El Dorado, manuscript with notes and preface by Jeanette Riggs Roll, 1951
16 Riggs family history, Our El Dorado, 4 copies of published books with handwritten notes by the author, 1958
17 Our El Dorado, correspondence, 1951-1959
18 Riggs Centennial Reunion,1879-1979, book, reunion committee papers and clippings, 1979
19 Brannick Riggs, biography, 1828-1907
110 Mary Elizabeth Robbins Riggs, biography 1838-1935
111 Thomas Jefferson Riggs, biography, 1857-1926
112 Rhoda Riggs, biography, 1859-1929
113 William Monroe Riggs, biography, 1861-1949
114 Martha Riggs Stark, biography, 1865-1949
115 Brannick Benjamin Riggs, biography, 1867-1913
116 James Jay Riggs, biography, 1870-1911
117 Mary Frances Riggs Stark, biography, 1872-1961
118 John Casey Riggs, biography, 1874-1943
119 John Casey Riggs, Valparaiso University, 1893-1906
120 John Casey Riggs, Valparaiso University, 1893-1906, 1930
121 John Casey Riggs, writings, undated, 1940
122 John Casey Riggs, drawings and notes, undated
123 Lucy Elizabeth Riggs Moore, biography, 1876-1965
124 Barney Kemp Riggs, biography, 1879-1963
125 Edward Murray Riggs, biography, 1885-1950
126 William Carroll Riggs, biography, 1856-1924
127 Jeanette Riggs Roll, personal papers, 1934-1998
128 Brannick Riggs, estate documents, 1908-1909
129 Mary Elizabeth Robbins Riggs, estate documents, 1929
130 Thomas Jefferson Riggs, estate documents, 1923, 1927
131 Rhoda Riggs, estate documents, 1929, 1935
132 William Monroe Riggs, estate documents, 1935
133 Martha Riggs Stark, estate documents, 1929, 1936, 1949
134 John Casey Riggs, estate documents, 1942-1945, 1954
135 Barney Kemp Riggs, estate documents, 1927
136 F. P. Armstrong, estate document, 1927
137 Clara E. Brauns, estate documents, 1955
138 Mary Dumm, estate document, 1916
139 James L. Hudson, estate document, 1931
140 Thomas A. Stafford, estate document, 1926
141 William A. Stark, estate documents, undated
142 John G. and Margaret Stephens, estate documents, undated
143 Harett Elizabeth Waughtal, estate documents, 1907-1909
boxfolder
21 Mary Elizabeth Robbins Riggs, diary, 1896-1912
22 Mary Elizabeth Robbins Riggs, diary, 1913-1924, 1926, 1929
23 John Casey Riggs, diary, 1916-1937
24 John Casey Riggs, diary, 1938-1942
25 John Casey Riggs, ledger, 1900-1912
26 John Casey Riggs, lumber set, 1906
27 John Casey Riggs, notarial record books, 1908-1924, 1931-1934
28 John Casey Riggs, notebook/scrapbook, 1900-1931
29 John Casey Riggs, pocket notebooks, 1886-1935
210 John Casey Riggs, pocket notebooks, 1930-1942
211 Nettie Brauns Riggs, journal of rainfall and one page with grandchildren’s birthdays, 1943-1957
212 Nettie Brauns Riggs, household account books, 1943-1958
Activity Files, 1886-1957
Includes ranching records, banking and financial records, and mining and logging records arranged chronologically.
Homesteading and ranching papers, 1902-1952
This subseries includes land transactions, abstracts of titles, cattle breeding and shipping records, and various other ranch-related documents.
boxfolder
31 Riggs Cattle Company, 1904-1922
32 Riggs Cattle Company, grazing permits, 1909-1920
33 John Casey Riggs, Pump Invention Patents, 1929-1930
34 John Casey Riggs, homestead papers, 1910-1942
35 John Casey Riggs, ranching business, 1923-1929
36 John Casey Riggs, ranching business, 1930-1939
37 John Casey Riggs, ranching business, 1940-1943
38 John Casey Riggs, registered Polled Herefords, 1930-1942
39 John Casey Riggs, American Hereford registrations, 1928-1941
310 John Casey Riggs, American Hereford records, 1930-1941
311 John Casey Riggs, Cattle Growers Association memberships, 1924-1943
312 John Casey Riggs, land leases, 1920-1929
313 John Casey Riggs, land leases, 1930-1939
314 John Casey Riggs, land leases, 1930-1939
315 John Casey Riggs and Nettie B. Riggs, land leases, 1940-42, 1952
316 John Casey Riggs, property deeds, 1900-1919
317 John Casey Riggs, property deeds, 1920-1929
318 John Casey Riggs, property deeds, 1930-1939
319 John Casey Riggs and family, property deeds, 1940-1946
320 John Casey Riggs, State Land purchases, 1940-1942
321 John Casey Riggs, property lists and maps, undated, 1936-1942
322 U.S. Forest Service maps and information, Chiricahua National Forest, undated, 1910, 1924, 1942
323 John Casey Riggs, Abstracts, 1902-1941
324 John Casey Riggs, agreements and contracts, 1906-1935
boxfolder
3a1 Riggs Cattle Company, account ledger, 1909-1924
3a2 John C. Riggs, Cattle sales and shipping record book, 1936-1942
Banking and Financial Records, 1899-1957
This subseries includes records of the Riggs Bank of Willcox, tax and insurance documents, banking and purchase receipts of John Casey and Nettie B. Riggs. This series is arranged chronologically.
boxfolder
41 Riggs Bank, Willcox, Arizona, 1920-1925
42 Riggs Bank, Willcox, Arizona, 1926-1927
43 Riggs Bank, Willcox, Arizona, 1928-1929
44 Riggs Bank, Willcox, Arizona, 1930-1932
45 Riggs Bank, Willcox, Arizona, 1933-1939
46 Riggs Bank, loans, 1925-1935
47 John Casey and Nettie B. Riggs, banking documents, 1909-1943
48 John Casey Riggs, tax documents, 1898, 1900-1909
49 John Casey Riggs, tax documents, 1910-1919
410 John Casey Riggs, tax documents, 1920-1929
411 John Casey Riggs, tax documents, 1930-1939
412 John Casey Riggs, tax documents, 1930-1939
413 John Casey Riggs, tax documents, 1930-1939
414 John Casey Riggs, tax documents, 1940-1943
415 John Casey Riggs, Arizona Tax Research Association papers, 1932-1942
416 Nettie B. Riggs, tax documents, 1943-1957
417 John Casey Riggs, receipts, 1899-1909
418 John Casey Riggs, receipts, undated, 1917-1939
419 John Casey and Nettie B. Riggs, receipts, undated, 1940-1957
420 John Casey and Nettie B. Riggs, insurance documents, 1938-1954
421 John C. and Nettie B. Riggs, bank books, 1906-1920
boxfolder
101 “Compliments of Riggs Bank, Willcox-Bowie, Arizona” calendar, 1933
Mining and Logging Records, 1886-1943
Includes mining claims, deeds, and location records, as well as maps, and John Casey Riggs’ research on mining. Subseries is arranged chronologically.
boxfolder
5 1 Riggs Family Bowie Marble Placer Mining Claim signed by President William H. Taft, 1910, 1912
5 2 John Casey Riggs, mining claims, deeds, and locations, undated, 1886-1928
5 3 John Casey Riggs, mining documents, undated, 1926-1938
5 4 John Casey Riggs, mining documents, 1940-1943
5 5 John Casey Riggs, mining research papers, undated, 1902-1926
5 6 John Casey Riggs, mining claims and rights forms, undated
5 7 Map of Mascot Copper Company townsite, Cochise County, Arizona, 1915
John Casey Riggs, Political Papers, 1911-1942
Includes the letters and records of John Casey Riggs as a member of the Democratic Party and State Senator in the Arizona legislature from Cochise County, Arizona. This series is arranged chronologically.
boxfolder
61 John Casey Riggs, Arizona State Senator, undated, 1933-1934
62 John Casey Riggs, papers on the impeachment of Charles R. Howe, Arizona Corporation Commissioner, 1933
63 John Casey Riggs, Arizona State Senator, political papers, 1935-1939
64 John Casey Riggs, political correspondence, undated, 1932-1942
65 John Casey Riggs, Democratic Party papers, undated, 1911-1940
Correspondence of John Casey and Nettie B. Riggs, 1900-1956
Includes personal correspondence from family and friends, business correspondence concerning cattle ranching, banking, and mining activities. Arrangement is chronological.
boxfolder
66 John Casey Riggs, family correspondence, undated, 1900-1942
67 John Casey Riggs, letter from Albert F. Potter, U.S. Forest Service Chief of Grazing, 1902
68 John Casey Riggs, general correspondence, undated, 1900-1918
69 John Casey Riggs, general correspondence, 1920-1927
610 John Casey Riggs, general correspondence, 1930-1935
611 John Casey Riggs, general correspondence, 1936-1939
612 John Casey Riggs, general correspondence, 1940-1942
613 John Casey Riggs, business correspondence, undated, 1900-1919
614 John Casey Riggs, business correspondence, undated, 1920-1929
615 John Casey Riggs, Barfoot Park Road, right-of-way dispute, 1926
616 John Casey Riggs, business correspondence, undated, 1930-1935
617 John Casey Riggs, business correspondence, 1936
618 John Casey Riggs, business correspondence, 1937
619 John Casey Riggs, Chiricahua National Monument Highway, right-of-way, 1938
620 John Casey Riggs, business correspondence, 1938-1939
621 John Casey Riggs, business correspondence, 1940-1942
622 Jeanette (Nettie) B. Riggs, business correspondence, 1943-1955
623 Jeanette (Nettie) B. Riggs, personal correspondence, 1944
624 Jeanette (Nettie) B. Riggs, personal correspondence, undated, 1943-1956
625 John Casey Riggs, business and membership cards, undated
626 John Casey Riggs, letterhead stationery, postcards, undated
627 John Casey Riggs, business forms, undated
628 John Casey Riggs, newspaper clippings, undated, 1894-1942
Oversized Materials, Photographs, and Memorabilia, 1894-1929
Includes photographs, advertising brochures, Riggs family Bible, diplomas, certificates, and maps. This series is arranged by item type.
boxfolder
71 Riggs Family Photographs and Negatives, circa 1890-1940
7 Item A, photograph, Willcox Union High School, graduating class of 1928, 1928
7 Item B, photograph, Annual Convention of Cochise-Graham Cattle Growers Association, Willcox, Arizona, April 20, 1929, 1929
box
8 Riggs Family Bible and eyeglasses, 1866
box
9 Miscellaneous brochures, stamps, and advertizing button, undated, 1901-1953
boxfolder
102 John Casey Riggs, 4 certificates for practicing law, 1906
10 Map A, Cochise County, Arizona with markings of Riggs properties, undated
10 Map B, Mines of the Chiricahua Developement Co. in the California Mining District, Cochise County A. T. Surveyed August 1903 by John A. Rockfellow, U.S. Dep. Mineral Surveyor, 1903
10 Map C, Topography--Arizona--Cochise County--Pearce Quadrangle, 1916
10 Map D, Camp Bowie Abandoned Military Reservation, undated
10 Item E, Diploma, John Casey Riggs, Bachelor of Science, Valparaiso University, 1894
10 Item F, Diploma, John Casey Riggs, Bachelor of Law, Valparaiso University, 1906
10 Item G, Photograph, Valparaiso School of Law, Graduating class, 1906