Family:Whitney, Elizabeth (1717-1815)

Elizabeth⁴ Whitney (Joseph³, John², Henry¹), daughter of Joseph³ and Hannah (Hoyt) Whitney,^[1] was born 1717, Norwalk, CT, and died Aug 1815, Norfolk, CT, aged 98 years.

She married firstly, 26 Jun 1735, Norwalk, CT, Miles Riggs, son of Joseph and Sarah (-----) Riggs. He was born about 1705, Orange, NJ, and died before 5 Aug 1754, Norwalk, CT.

She married secondly, after 1758, David Rockwell, son of Jonathan and Abigail (Canfield) Rockwell. He was born 8 Oct 1708, Norwalk, CT, and died 30 May 1788, Ridgefield, CT. He had married firstly, 29 Aug 1731, Ridgefield, CT, Elizabeth Hyatt (1711-1758).

She married thirdly, about 1791, Agur Fairchild, son of David and Deborah (Hawley) Fairchild. He was born 8 Aut 1713, Stratford, CT, and died 8 Dec 1797, Newtown, CT. He had married firstly, 1 Sep 1740, Newtown, CT, Sarah Sherman (1725-1790).

Phoenix says the following:

Elizabeth Whitney, b. in Norwalk, Conn., 1717; married, 26 June 1735, at Norwalk, Miles Riggs, of Stamford, Conn., where they dwelt till four of their eight children were born.

His grandson, Miles Riggs, had an old manuscript book, in which was recorded the fact that "he was of Irish extraction, born in the Isle of Wight, 7 June 1687; followed the sea till late in life; then settled at Norwalk, Conn., where his son Miles was born 20 May 1748." Unfortunately, this book fell into the hands of a woman who had no love for "old things," and she burned it, within a few years past. Another tradition says that he was from Newark, N.J., and this seems to be supported by Mr. Samuel H. Congar's "Genealogical Notices of the First Settlers of Newark", in Collections of the New Jersey Historical Society, Vol. 6, Supplement, p. 131, which makes him traditionally the son of that Joseph Riggs, who died 11 Sept. 1744, aged 69, and was buried at Orange, N.J. His grandparents were, possibly, Edward and Mary Riggs, of Newark; and his great-grandparents may have been Edward and Elizabeth Riggs, of Milford and Derby, Conn. No record of his death has been found, but a deed in the Norwalk land records, Vol. XI, p. 185, shows that "Elizabeth Wriggs, widow, or Norwalk," joined her brothers and sisters, 5 Aug. 1754, in conveying land at the upper end of Clapboard Hills, to Ebenezer Benedict. One tradition affirms that he lived in Newark, N.J.; another says that he was a mariner, master of a vessel, and that, at the time of his death, he dwelt in New Jersey, near New York City; and that he was "supposed to have died in New York Harbor, and to have found a watery grave, about 1754."

She married (2d) Ensign David Rockwell, whose first wife, Elizabeth (Hyatt) Rockwell, died in Ridgefield, Conn., 13 Feb. 1758. He was born in Norwalk, 8 Oct. 1708, son of Jonathan and Abigail (Canfield) Rockwell, of Norwalk and Ridgefield, g. son of John Rockewll, Jr., of Stamford, Conn., and g. g. son of John Rockwell, Sen., one of the early settlers of Stamford in Dec. 1641. They settled at Ridgebury, in Ridgefield, where he died, 30 May 1788, in his 80th year, and was buried in Ridgebury Cemetery. She married (3d), about 1791, being then 74 years old, Agur Fairchild, who was her senior by six years. He died in 1797, after which she lived with her daughter, Mrs. Esther (Riggs) Rockwell, in Ridgebury, till she was 94 years old, then went to live with her son, Miles Riggs, at Norfolk, Litchfield Co., Conn., where she died in Aug. 1815, aged 98 years.

Children of Miles and Elizabeth⁴ (Whitney) Riggs:

i.	Josiah Riggs, b. 18 May 1736, Stamford, CT; a hair-dresser and wig-maker, who worked most of his time as a farm-laborer; married Experience Davis. He lived at North Salem, Westchester Co., N. Y., and there died and was buried. One tradition makes his residence in Fairfield, Conn., before he moved to North Salem. Another says that he died in Boston, Mass.
ii.	Joseph Riggs, b. 18 May 1738, Stamford, CT; m.(1) Mary Keeler; m.(2) Margaret Resseguie.
iii.	Sarah Riggs, b. 22 Oct 1740, Stamford, CT; tradition says that she did not marry, but went to Ohio, with her sister Polly (Riggs) Kimberly, and died there.
iv.	Elizabeth Riggs, b. 17 Dec 1742, Stamford, CT; m. ----- Stewart.
v.	Polly Riggs, b. say 1745; m. ----- Kimberly, went to Ohio, and died there.
vi.	Miles Riggs, b. 20 May 1748, Norwalk, CT; m.(1) Patty Bull; m.(2) Abigail (Cowles) Mills.
vii.	Prudence Riggs, b. say 1750; m.(1) Samuel Northrop; m.(2) ----- Leason.
viii.	Esther Riggs, b. Nov 1752; m. Abraham Rockwell.

David and Elizabeth⁴ (Whitney)(Riggs) Rockwell had no children.

Census

• 1790, Newtown, Fairfield Co., CT: Ager Fairchild, 2 males over 16 and 1 female.

References

• All data imported from Stephen Whitney Phoenix, The Whitney family of Connecticut, and its affiliations; being an attempt to trace the descendants, as well in the female as the male lines, of Henry Whitney, from 1649 to 1878; to which is prefixed some account of the Whitneys of England. (New York : Priv. Print. [Bradford Press] 1878), pp. 23-24 and pp. 48-49.

1.^  "Elizabeth [Whitney], m. Miles RIGGS, 26 Jun 1734, in Norwalk, by Rev. Mr. BUCKINGHAM," according to the Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Stamford 1:45.

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