> Could this Jesse be him? Since there is no record of white settlers in > the Birmingham area in 1802, and reports that it was a > sort-of-no-man's-land > for the Indians, it is unlikely that he was born there. > > Hope this helps, > Melba > Madison Co, AL was created in 1808 out of Cherokee and Creek cessions of land in what is now northern Alabama. I believe that is the first record of American settlement in northern Alabama. Mobile and Washington Co in the south had been inhabited much earlier (1700s). But, as you say, northern Alabama was not inhabited by any white settlers in 1802. I checked some of the early census indexes for Alabama (including Madison Co) just now on Ancestry.com including the one for 1808 which does include Madison Co (no spelling anything like Riggs in any censuses up until 1830 in AL at all). Closest in spelling is the surname Rice -- quite a few of those -- but no Riggs. Barry Jernigan

Barry, thank you for your help. My father maintained that his RIGGS line had Cherokee ancestry. I've never been able to find any documentation of this, however. Peggy Barry Jernigan wrote: >>Could this Jesse be him? Since there is no record of white settlers in >>the Birmingham area in 1802, and reports that it was a >>sort-of-no-man's-land >>for the Indians, it is unlikely that he was born there. >> >>Hope this helps, >>Melba >> > > Madison Co, AL was created in 1808 out of Cherokee and Creek cessions of > land in what is now northern Alabama. I believe that is the first record of > American settlement in northern Alabama. Mobile and Washington Co in the > south had been inhabited much earlier (1700s). But, as you say, northern > Alabama was not inhabited by any white settlers in 1802. I checked some of > the early census indexes for Alabama (including Madison Co) just now on > Ancestry.com including the one for 1808 which does include Madison Co (no > spelling anything like Riggs in any censuses up until 1830 in AL at all). > Closest in spelling is the surname Rice -- quite a few of those -- but no > Riggs. > > Barry Jernigan >