Edwin Augustus Rigg
Edwin Augustus Rigg (1822–1882),
Early life
Edwin Augustus Rigg was born January 15, 1822, in
By September, 1852, he was an employee of the San Francisco custom house.[1] Later that year he ran as a Whig for the office of City Tax Collector of San Francisco.[2]
He joined the
American Civil War
On August 5, 1861, Captain Rigg with four other militia captains offered the services of their companies to the United States Government to protect the Overland Mail Route.[4]
Joined the
Promoted Major, 1st California Infantry, Sept. 5, 1861. He was sent to
Promoted Lt. Colonel commanding 1st California Infantry, on April 28, 1862, during the California Column march from Fort Yuma to Fort Barrett at the Pima Villages. After the Californians had recovered New Mexico Territory and captured Franklin, in West Texas, they settled into occupation garrisons and fought to defend the territories of Arizona and New Mexico and West Texas from Apache and Navaho raiders.
Rigg married seventeen-year-old Emma Antoinette Cooper November 26, 1862, in Mesilla, New Mexico, daughter of Hiram Cooper the superintendent of Hart's Mill near El Paso.[5] Rigg's daughter, Sarah Adelia Rigg, was born at Ft. Craig, NM, on Dec. 5, 1863.
During his time in Arizona he established
U.S. Army career
Rigg decided to stay in the military, joining the regular Army after the Civil War. After failing the examination to become a Regular Army officer, Rigg was able to obtain the signatures of several politicians and a U. S. Senator on his petition for a new examination. Succeeding on the next try, Rigg received a commission in the 38th U.S. Infantry Regiment, one of the four regiments of veterans of the United States Colored Troops remaining in the U. S. Army.[6] Riggs went on to serve as a 1st Lieutenant in the 38th U.S. Infantry at places like Fort Selden, New Mexico where he served in 1869.[7]
In 1870, when the four colored regiments including the 38th were consolidated, he went to join the
Later life
An 1871, Senate bill No. 520 was passed that provided for the relief of Edwin A. Rigg, for his service as late lieutenant colonel of the First Regiment Infantry California volunteers, making him a Postmaster at Fort Craig. He served there from October 30, 1873, until October 23, 1877.[10]
He moved to Arizona and was a member of Tombstone's Burnside Post, Grand Army of the Republic. In 1881, Rigg went on to become the justice of the peace in Contention City, Arizona.[11] There he died of pneumonia on January 27, 1882, and was buried in the Contention City Cemetery.
References
- ^ A. W. Morgan & Co.'s San Francisco city directory, September, 1852
- ^ "EDWIN A. RIGG is a Candidate for the office of City Tax Collector, subject to the nomination of the Whig Convention." Daily Alta California, Volume 3, Number 271, 1 October 1852
- ^ California State Militia and National Guard Unit Histories; Marion Rifles
- ^ [California State Militia and National Guard Unit Histories; Marion Rifles]
- ^ "Appendix 4 Historical Narrative FORT SELDEN MILITARY RESERVATION p.128 (Altshuler 1991:280)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
- ^ William A. Dobak, Thomas D. Phillips, The Black Regulars, 1866-1898, University of Oklahoma Press, 2001, p.32
- ^ "Appendix 4, Historical Narrative FORT SELDEN MILITARY RESERVATION, p.111" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
- ^ [Dobak, The Black Regulars, p.32]
- ^ U.S. Army Register, 1871 p.188.
- ^ The Congressional Globe, for 2nd Session, of 42nd Congress, Printed at the Globe Office for the editors Francis Preston Blair, Franklin Rives, John Cook Rives, Washington, 1872, p.xl
- ^ Wyatt's Reading Room, from www.wyattearpexplorers.com Claim for land a half mile north of Contention City, witnessed by Edwin Augustus Rigg, Contention City Justice of the Peace.