
Carney & Wehofer Family
Genealogy Pages
Edmund C. RIGGS

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Photos Miller County Typical House 1850's
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Name Edmund C. RIGGS Birth 13 Jan 1819 New Martinsville, Wetzel, West Virginia [1]
Gender Male Alt. Birth 13 Jan 1819 New Martinsville, Wetzel, West Virginia [2]
FamilySearch ID GC94-2PJ _UID 97BD5FEDBC2F4DBDB8E6F87F26860951B01C Death 15 Feb 1876 Miller County, Missouri Person ID I29419 Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy Last Modified 12 Nov 2024
Father Edmund S. RIGGS, b. 25 Dec 1783, Colerain, Bedford County, Pennsylvania d. 15 Feb 1876, St Marys, Pleasants, West Virginia
(Age 92 years)
Mother Elizabeth Susannah ROBY, b. 22 Apr 1788, Washington County, Maryland d. 11 Jan 1857, Tyler, West Virginia
(Age 68 years)
Marriage Feb 1806 Hagerstown, Washington, Maryland Family ID F14038 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family 1 Nancy Ann VARNER, b. 27 Mar 1841, Sedalia, Pettis County, Missouri d. 22 Jul 1934, Camden County, Missouri
(Age 93 years)
Marriage Not Married Children 1. John Lawrence VARNER, b. 17 Oct 1866, Osage, Miller County, Missouri d. 11 Dec 1951, Independence, Jackson, Missouri
(Age 85 years)
2. William Owen VARNER, b. 8 Feb 1869, Tuscumbia, Miller County, Missouri d. 7 Nov 1937, Macks Creek, Camden, Missouri
(Age 68 years)
3. Eurelda (Ida) "Relda" VARNER, b. 15 Nov 1871, Tuscumbia, Equality Township, Miller, Missouri, United States d. 11 Jan 1959, Eldridge, Camden, United States
(Age 87 years)
4. Mary Francis VARNER, b. 5 May 1874, Dallas County, Missouri d. 7 Jun 1956, Marshall, Saline County, Missouri
(Age 82 years)
Family ID F7323 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 29 Aug 2016
Family 2 Mary Ann Elizabeth PILES, b. 22 Feb 1826, Bellville, St. Clair, Illinois d. 27 Jun 1903, Olympia, Thurston, Washington
(Age 77 years)
Marriage 4 Jun 1844 Miller, Missouri Children 1. Elisabeth RIGGS, b. 1845, Missouri d. Yes, date unknown
2. Owen Robey RIGGS, b. 1848, Missouri d. 1918 (Age 70 years)
3. Callie RIGGS, b. 1852, Missouri d. Yes, date unknown
4. Okey RIGGS, b. 23 Dec 1852, Tuscumbia, Miller County, Missouri d. 28 Sep 1925, Olympia, Thurston, Washington
(Age 72 years)
5. James Carroll RIGGS, b. 7 May 1854, Tuscumbia, Miller County, Missouri d. 3 May 1936, Alhambra, Los Angeles, California, United States
(Age 81 years)
6. Lizzie RIGGS, b. Abt 1857, Missouri d. Yes, date unknown
7. Robert RIGGS, b. Abt 1859, Missouri d. Yes, date unknown
8. Clark RIGGS, b. 1861, Missouri d. Yes, date unknown
9. Anna E. RIGGS, b. 1863, Missouri d. Yes, date unknown
10. William Henry RIGGS, b. 8 Jan 1959, St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri d. 16 May 1937, Portland, Mulnomah, Oregan
Family ID F536727711 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 29 Aug 2016
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Notes - He is the father of the first three of Nancy's children by DNA. Although, we need someone (male) from the last child, Mary F. Varner, to do their test. She lived with him and his wife and was their housekeeper shortly after both her parents died. This is just prior to the Civil War. In the probated will, she is pregnant with the last one and is asking for back pay. I figure that Mary must be his also but a DNA test needs to be done to confirm.
DNA
Paternal and Maternal relationships are both confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Chris Varner and Jim Carney, his 2nd cousin 1x removed. Their most-recent common ancestors are Edmund Riggs and Nancy Varner, the great grandparents of Chris Varner and great great grandparents of Jim Carney. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 2nd Cousin 1x removed , based on sharing 133 cM across 5 segments.
Citation generated by DNA Confirmation app, version 3.02 (updated 25.Sep.2024) - Carney-4356 01:58, 9 October 2024 (UTC)
== Sources ==
* 1850-1870 US Federal Censuses
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9071/images/007630573_00282?pId=2646808, Names Nancy as being owed back payment
P.Varner said her oldest brother, Bruce Varner, did extensive research and DNA testing finding our unknown grandpa Edmund Riggs. website: brucevarner.com/VarnerGenealogy/Varner
Added by Jim Carney 8 Sep 2024 - a few more facts:
Found in 1850 Census: Edmund Riggs, age 31, Born 1819 in Virginia, District 13, Miller Missouri, Farmer, real estate value $1000, with Elizabeth Piles age 55, Edmund Riggs age 24, Pherby Piles age 14, Ferdinand Piles age 13, Elizabeth Riggs age 5, Owen Riggs age 2.
From Bruce Varner's work:
Nancy Ann Varner (1841-1934) had four children, all of whom grew up with Nancy's maiden name Varner. Family members never openly spoke of why this was the case, and none of the long dead early descendants passed on any clues.
Therefore everyone who descends from any one of Nancy's four children falls into the same category. Nancy's four children were:
John Lawrence Varner (1866-1951)
William Owen Varner (1869-1937)
Eurelda Varner Newton (1871-1959)
Mary Varner Clemons Cove (1877-1956)
Y-DNA tests were conducted in 2012 by Bruce T. Varner (1951-), father Edwin Dale Varner, grandfather Bert Lonzo Varner, great-grandfather John Lawrence Varner, son of Nancy Ann Varner. This test revealed that genetically, John Lawrence Varner was fathered by a Riggs. Therefore all direct male to male descendants from John Lawrence carry Riggs Y-DNA.
Y-DNA tests were conducted in in 2013 by William Ray Varner (1943-), father Otto George Varner, grandfather William Owen Varner, son of Nancy Ann Varner. This second Y-DNA test revealed that genetically, William Owen Varner was also fathered by a Riggs.
Bruce T. Varner and William Ray Varner are a zero deviation Y-DNA match to each other.
Subsequent research into the Riggs families of Miller County, Missouri revealed that three brothers lived in Miller County during the same time frame as Nancy.
Calvin Riggs (1810-1863)
Owen Riggs (1813-1875)
Edmund Riggs (1819-1877)
Since the completion of testing, evidence has proven that John Lawrence and William Owen were both fathered by a Riggs, one might assume that the two girls (Eurelda & Mary) could have been fathered by a Riggs also.
Since both Calvin and Owen Riggs were dead by the time the final daughter Mary was born, that leaves Edmund Riggs as the most likely father of the four.
Estate documents for Edmund Riggs proved that Nancy Varner worked for Edmund Riggs up until Edmund's time of death.
Antidotal evidence from family lore has long stated that Nancy Ann's parents, George and Harriet Varner were living "on the old Riggs place" when they were killed around the start of the Civil War.
Additional Y-DNA results surfaced from four descendants of James Riggs (1662-1744). These four James Riggs descendants showed close Y-DNA matches to Bruce & William Varner. The four Riggs descendants are:
Fredrick L. Riggs (1937-) [1 deviation]
Charles L. Riggs (1954-) [2 deviation]
Lawrence B. Riggs (1932-) [1 deviation]
Michael D. Riggs (1958-) [0 deviation]
Fredrick and Charles Riggs MRCA (Most Recent Common Ancestor) is William Riggs (1750-1833).
Lawrence and Michael, along with our Edmund Riggs MRCA is James Riggs (1742-1815).
Both William Riggs and James Riggs are two generations descended from the Riggs family patriarch James Riggs (1662-1744).
Edmund Riggs first marriage to Mary Ann Elizabeth Piles produced 11 Children, and then they separated, which led to the Varner children out of wedlock.
- He is the father of the first three of Nancy's children by DNA. Although, we need someone (male) from the last child, Mary F. Varner, to do their test. She lived with him and his wife and was their housekeeper shortly after both her parents died. This is just prior to the Civil War. In the probated will, she is pregnant with the last one and is asking for back pay. I figure that Mary must be his also but a DNA test needs to be done to confirm.
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Sources - [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 15 Dec 2022), entry for Edmund C. RIGGS, person ID GC94-2PJ. (Reliability: 3).
- [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 5 Dec 2021), entry for Edmund C. Riggs, person ID GC94-2PJ. (Reliability: 3).
- [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 15 Dec 2022), entry for Edmund C. RIGGS, person ID GC94-2PJ. (Reliability: 3).