This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Biggs/Piatt Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/WCE.2ACIB/1035 Message Board Post: I am gg-dau to James A. Piatt of Butler Co., Ohio and Mahala Elizabeth Biggs of Ohio. I am seeking the parents of Mahala. Her birth was 18 May 1817 of Ohio. She and husband James were married in Indiana. Had their first child in Indiana then moved to Illinois where they had the remaining children. Believe it may have been in Knox County where they settled. Need info on Mahala's parents. Help! Thanks. Pat Rydman

Hi all, I am trying to find any relations to Ivy Helen Biggs. She died about 1945 from a brain tumor. She married William Frederick Saunders in Tunbridge Wells Kent England. I am told she was born in the Sheerness area. Any info would be gratefully received. -- Regards Lorraine

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Biggs, Crist, Duckworth, Marymee(Marimee) Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/WCE.2ACIB/185.250.255 Message Board Post: Robert Biggs was about my gggg gf. Have skimpy info on family as I am a novice at this.

1835 Orleans Parish Death Index Orleans Parish Submitted by: Claire Brownlee-Smith, Peggy Rooney, Ben Achee Source: Louisiana Archives 3851 Essen Lane P.O. Box 94125 Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125 Suzana Biggs, white female, aged 50 yrs., died on July 20, 1835-----Deaths, Volume 5, page 441

March 1851 Admissions to Charity Hospital Orleans Parish, LA Submitted by: Colleen Fitzpatrick Source: Family History Library Microfilm No. 842088 John Biggs (Laborer) who was born in Liverpool, England. He was single male, aged 21. He was discharged on April 1----in hospital for 3 days. He suffered from Typhus fever and last place he was from, was stated as Liverpool. Stated as being in New Orleans for 2 days.

Spencer County, Indiana Index to Marriage Record 1850 - 1920 Inclusive Volume I Letters A to E Inclusive Original Record Located: County Clerk's Office Rockport Ind W. P. A. Compiled by Indiana Works Progress Administration 1940 County: Spencer Name: Fred Biggs Spouse: Augusta Schumacher Marriage Date: 11 Feb 1911 Birth Date: 31 Mar 1889 Book: 17 County: Spencer Name: Augusta Schumacher Spouse: Fred Biggs Marriage Date: 11 Feb 1911 Birth Date: 11 Feb 1887 Book: 17

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/WCE.2ACIB/1034 Message Board Post: Looking for info on Frank Biggs. Also, Fred Biggs married to Augusta Schumicker or Schumacker. I can't seem to get beyond Fred Biggs listed on 1930 census with wife and 7 children: Christopher C., Frank, August, Albert, May, Virginia, and Alice J. Can anyone help please?

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Biggs Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/WCE.2ACIB/1033 Message Board Post: I have 2 main questions right now if anyone can help. (1) does anyone have any information on the parents of amza wetmore biggs or his wife srah dody? Amza was police chief of suffolk co. in 1923 if this helps at all. (2) does anyone know if Silas Biggs son of Timothy and Mary Biggs christened 5/20/1753 is the same person as timothy biggs son of timothy and mary biggs?

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Biggs, Rutledge, Skinner, Ansel Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/WCE.2ACIB/863.2 Message Board Post: Lousia Ann Biggs was the daughter of Thomas Biggs (c. 1788 - aft 1860) and probably Mary Griffiths. Both were born in Pennsylvania. They were married in Perry Co. Ohio (18 JAN 1831) where Louisa Ann (June 29, 1834 - 1899), was born. She had an elder half-brother Robert R. Biggs (1824-1906), a younger brother Joseph MacDowell Biggs (July 11, 1837- April 14, 1912), who married Mahala Ansel, and a younger sister, May or Mary E. born around 1840. In the 1850 census for Clayton Township, Perry Co., she is living at home with her parents. Louisa and William move to Iowa sometime around 1863-64. The 1880 census lists them in Marshall, Taylor Co. Iowa. living with Kate 19 (and teaching school), Alice 17, Abraham 16, Thomas 11, and Edward 9. Louisa appears to have died in Sharpsburg Iowa and William in 1920 in Missouri. I found this family while trying to find out more about my Great Grandfather Robert R. - also without a clue about his second wife, and my great grandmother Catherine Rutledge, whom I now suppose to be related to the family that Louisa, his half-sister, married into. Any further information concerning this family would be appreciated.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Biggs Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/WCE.2ACIB/1032 Message Board Post: Ebay has a narrative by William Biggs on his captivity by the Kickapoo in Illinois in 1789. My Biggs family was still in North Carolina, so it isn't my direct line. This would be a real treasure for someone researching Illinois Biggs family. I just found it and bidding ends early AM July 18, 2003.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/WCE.2ACIB/1030.1.1 Message Board Post: I should of included that. OOps! I hope it is not a big Oops! It was late and it was easier to save than type it. I'm sure I found it online on Heritage Quest Online Books.I searched for books of or about places. I think that is a neat way of looking for them. Wasn't that you that gave me the advice about following their migration pattern? I wasn't looking for my Biggs when I found James, but thought it could be useful for someone to post. "Notable men of Tennessee" : personal and genealogical, with portraits Authors: Allison, John, Southern Historical Association. City of Publication: Atlanta, Ga. Publisher: Southern Historical Association Date: 1905 I access through the Library. Have you visited any libraries online lately? More of them have databases online. Some of them have books, documents, and links. Most states have state Libraries and Archives online. Some states have great archived database some are just indexes and some are images. I found a way to get library card priviliges at University of TX, the priviliges are not the same as students and teachers, though I had fun poking around there last night. Library card....a good thing.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Biggs, Billings, Chapman, Newman, and Smith Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/WCE.2ACIB/1030.2 Message Board Post: I found James T Biggs on the 1880 Census but his initials were transcribed as I.Q. or J.Q. Biggs -- birthyear is 1839. 1880 Census Place: District 10, Shelby, Tennessee Source: FHL Film 1255278 National Archives Film T9-1278 Page 273C Relation Sex Marr Race Age Birthplace I. Q. BIGGS Self M M W 41 NC 1839 Occ: Grocer & Dry Goods Mcht. Fa: NC Mo: NC S. R. BIGGS Wife F M W 35 MS 1845 Occ: Keeping House Fa: KY Mo: VA Minnie M. BIGGS Dau F S W 13 TN 1867 Fa: NC Mo: MS S. Corinne BIGGS Dau F S W 11 TN Fa: NC Mo: MS James H. BIGGS Son M S W 8 TN Fa: NC Mo: MS Mussette BIGGS Dau F S W 6 TN Fa: NC Mo: MS Harris W. BIGGS Son M S W 4 TN Fa: NC Mo: MS Albert Lee BIGGS Son M S W 2 TN Fa: NC Mo: MS

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Biggs, Billings, Chapman, Newman, Smith, and White Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/WCE.2ACIB/1030.1 Message Board Post: That was a great image file on James T Biggs. Where online did you find it??

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/WCE.2ACIB/1031 Message Board Post: Looking for further information on a William Biggs of Craven Co., NC married 16 Nov 1818 to a Fanny Bell

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/WCE.2ACIB/1030 Message Board Post: Click on the image file below to read the info found online concerning James T Biggs son of Davis and Martha Moore Biggs. I posted info concerning a Joseph J Biggs and there is a mention of a J T Biggs in the Civil War I think this is the same James T Biggs.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/WCE.2ACIB/1029 Message Board Post: Joseph J. Biggs born March 29th, 1845 in Shelby County, Tennessee He enlisted about the last of February 1864 at Bolivar, Hardiman,Tennessee into Company "K" 12th Tennessee Calvary his Captain Jasper McFadden. His captain when he was discharged was J.T. Biggs He served until surrender in Alabama (can't make out the city) And received no wounds. Has been a citizen of the State of Florida since June 1885. Residing in Palmetto, Manatee County, Florida on the 21st day of March A.D. 1908 when he was approved for Pension. On October 20th, 1911 a Miss Annie E. Biggs wrote a letter requesting the return of her father's pension claim she wanted the papers to help her join a group (looks like) D.C.W. Her signature and Box number are at the bottom of the small lined note paper. They denied her in a letter dated October 25th, 1911. I found this info from this link http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/memory/ This is the start page, there are some great links from this page but from this start page I clicked "Collections" it brings up another great page with various collections online including Florida Confederate Pension Application Files. Click there and start your search. Joseph J Biggs had 11 images of original documents- great stuff !

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: CECIL BIGGS Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/WCE.2ACIB/412.1 Message Board Post: Hi I have relatives named Biggs. Cecil Biggs was my great uncle. Don't know if he is the same. This is the info I have. Cecil BIGGS Birth Date: 3 Feb 1913 Death Date: May 1980 Thanks Vicci Russo

The Southern Claims Commission: A little known source of genealogical information by Elizabeth Nitschke Hicks, November 1996 The Southern Claims Commission was created by Congress in 1870 as a result of pleas from citizens who had sustained losses during the Civil War (1861-1865). This commission addressed claims (for personal property only) from residents of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The Southern Claims Commission appointed local commissioners to hear these claims, determine the authenticity of the claim, and decide if indeed the claimant had been loyal to the Union during the war. Yes, you read correctly: The claimant had to answer that he/she had been loyal to the Union and had not provided aid of any kind in support of the Confederacy. Before you say, �Not MY southern ancestor!� you should consider that people did what they had to do to receive compensation for losses suffered during the war. Many southerners did not consider it �lying� to �lie� to a Yankee (especially a bureaucrat). A case in point is that of the Reverend Isaac Madison Hicks, claim #11,760, of Bibb County, Alabama. Rev. Hicks was a Baptist preacher, had been a county tax collector, and had an eldest son, Joseph Newton Hicks, who fought as a member of the 8th Alabama Cavalry for the Confederate cause. This is not the type of person one would expect to file a claim, but the National Archives has 44 pages of sworn testimony of Rev. Hicks and two witnesses. This particular claim gives an account of General James H. Wilson�s troop movements in the march to Selma and tells of Union soldiers taking horses, feed, and cooked food from the slave quarters and burning crops but sparing Rev. Hicks�s house because he was a Mason. Supporting testimony was given by a witness who says he is Rev. Hicks�s son-in-law. Another witness, a former slave, gives an account of seeing one of the stolen horses and saddle �under a Union soldier near Selma.� Both whites and blacks filed claims and gave testimony in s! upport of claims made by others. There are three types of claims: Allowed. The U.S. paid the claim, and the only records that survive are the name of the claimant, place of residence, and amount paid. Barred. Claim was either filed too late or the commissioners ruled the claimant a Confederate supporter. In this case, only the name, place, and description of loss are given. Disallowed. Claim was not paid, but for reasons other than late filing or the fact that the claimant was a Confederate supporter. A disallowed claim is the type you hope to find, as it gives the most information for the genealogist and/or historical researcher. Rev. Hicks�s claim was this type. You will get the claimant�s answers to 80 questions asked by the commissioners as well as the answers given by the claimant�s witnesses. Both claimant and witnesses were asked, �What is your name, your age, your residence and how long has it been such, and what is your occupation? If you are not the claimant, in what manner, if any, are you related to the claimant or interested in the success of the claim?� A few other examples of questions asked were �Where were you born? If not born in the United States, when and where were you naturalized? Produce your naturalization papers, if you can. Did you have any near relatives in the Confederate army or in any military or naval service hostile to the U.S.? If so, give names, ages on entering service, present residence, if living, what influence you exerted, if any, ag! ainst their entering the service, and in what way you contributed to their outfit and support.� For female claimants, �Are you married or single? If married, when were you married? Where does your husband reside, and why is he not joined with you in this petition? How many children have you? Give their names and ages....� Witnesses were asked, �In whose favor are you here to testify? How long have you known that person altogether, and what part of that time have you intimately known him? Did you live near him during the war, and how far away? What was the public reputation of the claimant for loyalty or disloyalty to the U.S. during the war? If you profess to know his public reputation, explain fully how you know it, whom you heard speak of it, and give the names of other persons who were neighbors during the war that could testify to his public reputation.� I think you get the idea of how these claims can provide very helpful and interesting information. How do you determine if your ancestor had a claim and how do you get it? There are three finding aides to these claims at Clayton. The first is an index (on microfilm) from the National Archives titled Consolidated Index of Claims Reported by the Commissioner of Claims Southern Claims Commission 1871-1880 (cabinet 48, drawer 8). The second and third are books by Dr. Gary B. Mills: Civil War Claims in the South, An Index of Civil War Damage Claims Filed Before the Southern Claims Commission, 1871-1880 (GEN 973.7 M657 USA) and Southern Loyalists in the Civil War (GEN 973.7 M657 USA). All these indexes give the name of the claimant, the claim number, and state. The first book also gives the claimant�s county of residence. Once you find your ancestor�s name and claim number, write to the General Reference Branch, National Archives, Washington, D.C. 20408. Be sure to specify that this is a Southern Claims Commission claim, give the name of the claimant, the state, and the claim n! umber. Send no money. The National Archives will reply with the number of pages and the cost for obtaining the claim file. You have 30 days to send for the claim before it is re-filed. If you do not find your ancestor listed, try this technique: Go to the 1860, 1870, or 1880 federal censuses, write down the names of your ancestor�s neighbors (head of households) 5 to 10 households before your ancestor on the census and the same number of households following. Then see if any of these neighbors had claims and send for them. There is a very good chance your ancestor was one of the witnesses for the neighbor. These claims are a good source of genealogical and historical information for ancestors in the �burned counties,� and if a claimant died during the claim process, often the heir(s) took up the claim. The heir(s) would then have to prove their relationship to the deceased claimant using Bible records, depositions, etc., all of which may hold valuable genealogical information. In some cases, the claim was sent to the U.S. Court of Claims. If this happened with your ancestor�s claim, the National Archives will notify you of this and will send you a new case number to use to pursue the claim from the U.S. Court of Claims (Index Section, 717 Madison Place NW, Washington, D.C. 20005). All this may sound complicated, but all you have to do is send in the initial request and follow the instructions. The last claim I requested took about three months, including the time taken for the National Archives to locate the claim, the time taken to notify me of the cost�they accept credit cards�and the time taken to respond to my order for the claim. But believe me: It is worth the effort! END Originally published as: Elizabeth Nitschke Hicks, "The Southern Claims Commission: A Little Known Source of Genealogical Information," The CLF Newsletter X (November 1996): 11-12. See also: Elizabeth Nitschke Hicks, "The Southern Claims Commission 'Revisited'," The CLF Newsletter XIV (May 2000): 3-4. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Return to Clayton Library Friends page Return to Clayton Library home page "Tip Toe through the tullips, careful not to trip over the daisies, only to stop and smell the roses." -Briana Griffin Etie

First this is what I found in the Florida State Archives: Joseph J. Biggs born March 29th, 1845 in Shelby County, Tennessee He enlisted about the last of February 1864 at Bolivar, Hardiman,Tennessee into Company "K" 12th Tennessee Calvary his Captain Jasper McFadden. His captain when he was discharged was J.T. Biggs He served until surrender in Alabama (can't make out the city) And received no wounds. Has been a citizen of the State of Florida since June 1885. Residing in Palmetto, Manatee County, Florida on the 21st day of March A.D. 1908 when he was approved for Pension. On October 20th, 1911 a Miss Annie E. Biggs wrote a letter requesting the return of her father's pension claim she wanted the papers to help her join a group (looks like) D.C.W. Her signature and Box number are at the bottom of the small lined note paper. They denied her in a letter dated October 25th, 1911. I found this info from this link http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/memory/ This is the start page, there are some great links from this page but from this start page I clicked "Collections" it brings up another great page with various collections online including Florida Confederate Pension Application Files. Click there and start your search. Joseph J Biggs had 11 images of original documents- great stuff ! Recently I was helping someone find some info and found out that not everyone knows the wealth of info that is online provided by state and local government. Well not every state has Pension files. But almost every state that I have done research in has a State Library and or Archives page. Many counties these days have searchable data online. For court records you want to find the County Clerk, she/he is responsible for this information. Some counties have found that Lawyers and their researchers use these sites to obtain info so some info has turned into a business. Many times you can pay per hit or document this is a great thing if a trip to that court house would cost more. Most of these sites are easily found by a search engine like yahoo or google. I always use the county, state format (spell out the state) followed by the word government , ex: Broward County, Florida government. Of course this will turn up an endless number of sites. Browse the key words, don't wast! e time with tourism sites, you want sites with the word government, taxes, courts or county clerks. It's not hard to get the hang of it. I have quite a few links saved for counties and state libraries and archives if anyone would like to ask I'd be happy to oblige. If you live in a state with a Clayton Library you will never regret visiting it. My Clayton library is in Houston, TX while I was there I got a Houston Public Library Card. I certainly don't regret having that card. There is many online resources for card holders. Heritage Quest Online is free to search for card holders, newspapers and the endless digitized books on Genealogies. Library Cards...a good thing. Colleges and Universities have libraries with online data. And if the county or state you need info from doesn't have info check back, because they are all changing. One county changed literally overnight on me. Good Luck everyone and I hope this Joseph J Biggs is of interest to someone. "Tip Toe through the tullips, careful not to trip over the daisies, only to stop and smell the roses." -Briana Griffin Etie

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Biggs, Hebb, Rinehart, Washington, Wiles, Mardis, Bauman/Bowman Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/WCE.2ACIB/1028 Message Board Post: Seeking information concerning WILLIAM BIGGS found in MONONGALIA CO, VA 1773 ; died there 1806. Believe he came from FREDERICK CO, MD. Thanks for any ideas. Maryland in Georgia