The Biggs Family

HOME

This section focuses on David Biggs of Arkansas, Texas and California. Biggs is a North Carolina native who came to the Cherokee Nation in Arkansas before 1828 and became the husband of a Scotch-Cherokee woman, Martha "Patsy" Chisholm the daughter of Ignatius Chisholm by his second wife Martha Rogers. Biggs is associated with the Chisholm family by two important recent histories of the Chisholm family. One Meredith B. Colket's work "Chisholms of America" and Stan Hoig's article "The family of Jesse Chisholm". The Old Settler Payrolls for the Cherokees dating 1851 and 1896, list David's children as Cherokees and heirs to Martha Biggs.

HOME

David Biggs (c1795-c1880)

David Biggs is the earliest identified ancestor as this time. David left numerous records documenting his adult life, though nearly nothing is known of his birth or family of birth nor of his death. There are several good sources documenting David Biggs life. His grandson, Frank M. King, was a journalist and writer of books on the Old West. King mentions Biggs in two of his books, "Longhorn Trail Drivers" and "Wrangl'n In the Past". These books provide some good oral history that no doubt came from King's mother, Jacquelina Biggs King; however, King has proven to lack credibility, especially if the account is rather dramatic. The other good published source is a biographical sketch of David's son John Duncan Biggs, who paid for the entry of his biographical sketch in Morrison & Hayden's book "San Luis Obispo County and Environs" (1917). There are also many public records relating to Biggs. The census records for Washington Co., Arkansas (1840); Cherokee Co., Texas (1850); and Tulare Co., CA (1860) all provide valuable information. Tax records in Cherokee county, Texas also give us an idea of his wealth and the type of farming he was involved. Numerous records relating to the Cherokee tribe have surfaced to also indicate the presence of David in the tribe and of his wife. The rolls for the Old Settler Cherokee name his wife and children as members of that part of the tribe to have emigrated out of Tennessee around 1807 for land in Arkansas.
Census and California's Great Register establish that David Biggs was born in North Carolina. Many of the Biggs families are well documented and resided in Martin County, North Carolina with origins in Virginia. After the American Revolution many of these family headed to Tennessee and later to Texas. It is believed that David is a member of one of these families, but no document has surfaced to establish this as fact. Frank M. King, who is our primary source for family history, tells a story of meeting a descendant of David Biggs' brother, Benjamin who King says lived in the San Antonio area. The story that King tells is that David was disowned by his family for marrying a Cherokee woman. Unfortunately, King is not a credible source, since he was well known for stretching the truth to make a good story. A good example of this in found in his book, "Wrangl'n in the Past" where he recounts how his Uncle Bud Biggs was gunned down by Black Creek outlaws in retribution for breaking up their bootlegging operations. Frank places himself as an eyewitness to these events. This story proves to be false, since Mary V. Chisholm Cook notes in her short biographical sketch that her cousin Bud Biggs from California died of pnuemonia while helping her father bring back one of his sick daughters from boarding school.
The earliest record associated with David Biggs is a claim made by his wife Martha "Patsy" Chisholm for compensation for herself only in relation to the removal of the Cherokees from their home in Arkansas [ref: "Abstracts of Disbursements & Expenditures made by George Vashon Indian Agent", Senate Document 512]. Patsy recieved $25.75 as her share. No further detail is given in the claim on Patsy, but it is clear that her husband is not a Cherokee and that she had no children. This establishes David's marriage to her by that date and suggests they were probably recently married. There is no record of any other Patsy or Martha Biggs at that time period. It is estimated that their eldest known son, DeWitt, was born in 1831, which fits with a marriage about this time. The next record concerning David comes about 1837, when Gov. Montfort Stokes of NC who had been appointed the US Cherokee Agent writes of obtaining the farm, house, and out buildings of David Biggs at Bayou Meanard. Grant Forman mentions this in his book "Advancing the Frontier" and notes "At this place [Bayou Meanard] was a spring and nearby a trader named David Briggs (sic) had an establishment consisting of several buildings."[ref: Foreman, pg. 53]. Foreman mentions Biggs' place in another book "Pioneer Days in the Early Southwest", where he identifies the owner as David Biggs (rather than Briggs) and describes the building as, "a double log house with two rooms twelve by sixteen feet connected by a passage-way; a kitchen fourteen by sixteen and a smoke house thirteen by sixteen, all boasting shingle roofs and plank floors" [ref: pg. 256]. The property was purchased by Stokes for $2200. It was probably at this time around 1837-38 that David Biggs relocated his family to Washington County, Arkansas where he is found on th 1840 Census in the township of Vineland. Land grants show that 40 acres in Washington Co., AR were assigned to David Biggs on the 10th of March 1843 in Section 8 of township 14N, Range 33W. Sometime between 1844 and 1846, Biggs relocated his family to the Republic of Texas where he settled in Cherokee County; he and his family are ennumerated there in 1850 along with his two slaves a woman age 45 and a man aged 26. David Biggs acquired 1,476 acres in Cherokee county, of which 60 acres were improved by 1850. In 1852, both David and his son DeWitt received headrights of 640 acres and 213 acres respectively in Ellis County, Texas. Though Frank M. King recalls David as "of Ellis County". David and his son DeWitt were established in Ellis by 1852 and David's net worth was about $4570.00. The Biggs property in Ellis county was located along Mill Creek near Waxahachie. In 1854, David Biggs sells 758 acres in Ellis County to Joseph G. Brown and it is believed that at this time the family moved to California. In the Morrison & Hayden biographical sketch of David's son John D. Biggs, the book states that Biggs led his family to California along a southern route through San Antonio, El Paso, and Rio Grande arriving in California in 1854 and "In 1856 the family moved to Tulare County, where for the next five years, the father was engaged in the stock buisness. Father and son drove a band of five hundred cattled over the mountains into San Luis Obispo County in 1861, when they settled here and were the first white men to run cattele in this country". The census of 1860 shows David Biggs in Tulare County in the township of Visalia and the list of children helps identify him as our David; however, his wife is listed as "Emily" in this census. California land grants indicate that Biggs obtained at least two grants from the State one in 1856 which consisted of 472.28 acres near Kaweah Creek in Tulare and then another parcel obtained in 1859. He sold several parcels in 1860 and 1861 in Tulare; however, there is no clear indication of the total land he held. The 1860 Census lists David with $5,000 of real estate suggesting that he held at least 1,000 acres in Tulare. The census also reveals that David owned $8,000 worth of personal property, probably all livestock, which at the time made David the fifth wealthiest man in the county. After 1861, there are few records of David Biggs. He appears in the "Great Register of 1866" in Kern County, CA where his son DeWitt resided; David is listed as a North Carolinian, age 68. He is listed again in the "Great Register of 1878" in White River, of Tulare Co. where his son DeWitt was living and his age is given as 79. It is believed he died soon after this, since David does not appear in the 1880 Census; however, his grandson Frank M. King states that David Biggs and his son Dave move to Nye County, Nevada where they are said to have built a herd of 6,000 horses. Neither Census nor Nye County records suggest this and it seems unlikely that David at such and advanced age would have moved to Nevada. By all evidence he had stopped working and was living with his eldest son in White River, where he probably died. No will or probate has been found .

© 1998 mahard@sfcep.corp.ge.com