The AUSTIN-RIGGS Questions
RIGGS QUESTIONS
(John Clinard, July 20, 2017)
We know that the Austin Family of Greeneville TN, which includes my wife, has a Y-DNA signature which matches that of the Edward Riggs Family. Several Y-DNA tests were conducted using various male Austin cousins of my wife in order to study this unexpected finding.
What is our current thinking? This chart represents our
current thinking. Clyde Austin, III who matches the Edwardian Riggs Modal,
descends as indicated from Edward Riggs (b. 1720) through his son Archibald.
Wealthy Pruett was the mother of Archibald.
1 1. Was ARCHIBALD P. Austin a Riggs at all?
We know ARCH was a son of Wealthy Pruett (or Prewitt or
Pruitt) and some man. This man (let’s call him ARCH-FATHER) was in Pittsylvania
Co. VA in 1766, whether living there or just passing through. It’s pretty clear
that we have proven nothing about ARCH-FATHER; and nothing about his DNA is
certain. Because we think Wealthy was
having sex with Joseph Austin (b. 1730 & of the E1b1a Austin line), it is
possible that ARCH-FATHER was Joseph. Because we have been studying the Riggs
family and because those Austin men alive today match the Riggs Y-DNA of Edward
Riggs (b. 1593 in ENGLAND) we have formed a primary theory that ARCH-FATHER was
Capt. Edward Riggs. Alvy has shown Capt. Edward’s line to be as follows:
Though we remain committed to the idea of ARCH-FATHER’s
being this Edward Riggs, there remains a chance that ARCH-FATHER was neither
Joseph Austin nor Edward Riggs, but rather just another unknown fellow with
whom Wealthy had casual sex in 1766.
(Details for Joseph Austin: http://www.afaoa.org/db_files/Thomas_Austin_VA/Individuals/I557.html)
We know for certain that ARCH took the name Austin after
Joseph Austin married Wealthy Pruett in 1777 when ARCH was 10 years old. We
also know that ARCH brought his Austin family (wife, 2 daughters & 1 son)
to E. TN in ~1797, just after statehood for TN. ARCH & wife (Rebecca
Blankenship) had about 7 more children born in E. TN. One of these is
thought to be Clisbe Austin, Sr. (b. 1802). All the Y-DNA collected
thus far proves that this Clisbe, Sr. is the MRCA of William Luther Austin,
Robert Carter Austin, Jr. & Clyde Bernard Austin, III. Yes, it has been
PROVEN that Clisbe, Sr. was a Riggs man.
But we have proven nothing about Clisbe’s father, have
we? (For that matter, we have proven nothing about Clisbe’s mother, either.) Was
his father ARCH Austin, or was his father somebody else? Either way, that man (let’s call him
CLISBE-FATHER) carried the Riggs Y-DNA from progenitor Edward Riggs (b. 1593).
2 \2. Why would Alvy Ray Smith question the Y-DNA of
ARCH Austin?
Firstly, we have not found a distant-enough Austin cousin
sharing Riggs Y-DNA to prove a MRCA of ARCH (i.e., to prove ARCH was a Riggs).
God knows we have tried. Our hope was John Ellison Austin, a 4th
cousin of Robert & Clyde Austin. John Ellison and Robert or Clyde have a
MRCA of ARCH Austin, according to reliable paper studies. Unfortunately, John
Ellison Austin did not carry Riggs Y-DNA; instead he carried Stultz Y-DNA. Yet
another NPE upstream of John Ellison Austin; we have not had the energy to
figure this NPE out yet.
Alvy’s shorter answer
is that all 3 Austin-Riggs matches carry 2 mutations from the Edwardian Riggs
Modal. They each carry a “38 (L)” at marker 34, and they carry a “9 (i)” at
marker 47. The Edwardian modal puts a “37 (K)” at M34 and a “10 (j)” at M47.
This bothers Alvy in the absence of a better proof using the MRCA paper-study
& Y-DNA triangulation approach. If we look at
Alvy’s “private” Y-DNA study what do we find at M34 and M47?
In Alvy’s table it
is easy to see the matching three Austin-Riggs men with their mutations at M34
& M47. Above we have included Wesley Brandon Riggs who likewise shares “L”
at M34, but not “i” at M47. Here is what
Alvy adds for Wesley:
3 3. Why would Alvy Ray Smith request a dis-proof
concerning Clisbe Rigg’s being the father of Clisbe Austin, Sr.? In Alvy’s words…
Firstly, we think it is interesting that Alvy would put
forth this request when it “indicates” a belief/possibility that Clisbe Austin,
Sr. descended from Edward Riggs through Edward’s son, Clisbe Riggs. But it
remains a very good question. Yet we
suspect that Alvy suspects there is significant credence for Edward Rigg’s
being the progenitor of the Austin-Riggs men of TN & TX.
Here is the best answer we have for Alvy’s question. Timing
does not work to prove or to dis-prove his question. Clisbe Austin, Sr. was
born in early 1802 in E. TN. So, the father of Clisbe Austin could have been
Clisbe Riggs who, at age 36 in 1801, was living in E.TN with his wife Jane
Evans as well as producing a daughter with Jane named Phebe Riggs in 1802. Just
as true, ARCH Austin, at age 34 in 1801, was in the same-as-Clisbe-Riggs part
of E. TN with his wife Rebecca Blankenship. And they were producing children
rapidly during this period with (we truly believe) Clisbe Austin, Sr.’s being
born in early 1802 to ARCH & Rebecca.
Now, there remains the possibility that Clisbe Riggs had an
affair with ARCH Austin’s wife in E. TN producing the child Clisbe Austin,
Sr. It really begs the question: “If you
just cheated on your wife with another man’s wife (from the same community) producing
a bastard child, how would you react if she decided to name that child after
you?” Ain’t going to happen!
In 1765, two years before ARCH Austin was born to Wealthy, Edward
Riggs already had his son named Clisbe Riggs who was born in NJ. (They probably
moved to NC about 1767 or before.) Edward’s wife, and the mother of Clisbe
Riggs, was Jane Buckley. Perhaps Wealthy knew Edward, his wife Jane and their
son Clisbe while Edward was having his affair with Wealthy. (Seems unlikely,
nevertheless. We think Edward was on the move away from his NC home when he met
Wealthy in VA.) Wealthy named her son of
1767 ARCH. Why? We don’t have any idea. Remember, Wealthy never married any man
until 1777, 10 years after her affair with Edward (or somebody) producing ARCH.
During parts of that 10 years we believe that Wealthy was also having sex with
Joseph Austin who was married to Hannah Terry at the same time. Did Wealthy
finally tell the truth to her son Archibald Pruett “Austin” producing his
desire to settle in E. TN near his real father, Edward Riggs? Did ARCH name his
son Clisbe after the older Clisbe Riggs, the ½- uncle of Clisbe Austin, and, as
well the ½-brother of ARCH?
Certainly, Wealthy was a woman who likely had sex with
“several” men out-of-wedlock. Below we include a Court Record from
Pittsylvania VA that indicates Joseph Austin & she were charged with
adultery. "Living in Adultery… Joseph Austin & Wealthy
Prewit!"
Don’t we also have
some additional proof that Edward Riggs had bastard children in NJ before
coming to NC? According to Alvy…
OTHER NOTES
Concerning the situation with Wealthy &
Joseph & Edward in VA:
1.
While unmarried, Wealthy 1st bore a
daughter, Frances/Fannie, before 1760 when Wealthy was less than 20 years old.
The father of this child was not divulged. Wealthy was charged with bastardy.
There may have been other bastard children including a possible son and another
daughter. We do not know their names. 1760 court records of Halifax/Pittsylvania
Co. (Pittsylvania formed from Halifax in 1767) indicate that a "Wealthy
Prewitt" had been taken to court and charged with having a child out of
wedlock. Other courts records occurred until 1766 when some charges for Wealthy’s bastardy were dismissed.
2.
Frances/Fanny Pruitt/Austin was listed as daughter
of Joseph Austin on Pittsylvania Co, VA June 1813 Court Order Book #16, p 37
and Aug Court 1814, Book 16, P 363. She received $395 from Joseph Austin’s
estate when it was finally settled in 1818, some 7+ years after his death. Was
she a real daughter of Joseph? Or, was she just entitled to a share of his
estate?
3.
Archibald Pruett took the surname “Austin” when
he was 10 years old after the 1777 marriage of his mother Wealthy to Joseph
Austin. He left VA in 1797 for TN long before Joseph’s death. We suspect that
he was not a son of Joseph for the following Y-DNA argument in pt. # 4.
4.
We know from AFAOA Y-DNA studies that Joseph
Austin was from a large clan of E1b1a Austin men. A number of these Austin men
settled in White Co. TN which is some 170 miles west of Greeneville TN, home to
the Austin-Riggs men, Clyde & Robert Austin. There are no E1b1a Austin men
in Greene Co. The progenitor of the White Co. E1b1a Austin clan was Nathaniel
Austin (b. ~1742) who was the 1st cousin of Joseph Austin. This was
proven by John Clinard. First Families of TN Certificates have been granted to
a few White Co. TN Austin descendants based on the FFT Ancestor, Nathaniel
Austin who entered TN in 1791 – Listed
as a "chain carrier" on Claiborne Co. deed, survey conducted 13 Oct
1791.
5.
Frances Pruett/Prewitt married Edmond Covington
on 03 Apr 1777, just months before the 26 Nov 1777 marriage of Wealthy to
Joseph Austin. Fannie signed her own “consent to marry”. She was ~20 years old
at the time. She never lived in the household of Joseph Austin. It appears that
Frances/Fannie had a child out-of-wedlock some 5 years earlier, before she
married Edmond Covington. She was quite young (~15) at the time. We do not know
the father of Fannie’s bastard child. Fannie and Fannie’s child were living
with Wealthy and Wealthy’s mother Sarah. Sarah was a widow with husband
Daniel’s having died ~1756. The women and Fannie’s brothers William and John
farmed the land of the deceased Daniel Prewitt… land willed to Sarah until her
death. Son William was killed in the F&I War ~1758. Sarah died ~1785 and
the whole farm transferred to son John. Wealthy received a portion of Sarah’s
personal estate.
6.
Joseph Austin had 5 sons with his 1st
wife Hannah Terry. Hannah died ~1775 when the sons were ages 1-15 years. Joseph
cared for these sons by himself until his marriage to Wealthy some 2 years
after Hannah’s death. His oldest son John was a Rev. War soldier and did not
marry until 1788. His youngest son David married in Pittsylvania Co. in 1797 at
age ~22. We mention David because he is the Ancestor of Lloyd Bockstruck,
genealogist.
7.
The marriage of Wealthy and Joseph produced four
daughters. All four married and bore children. A good bit is known about the
descendants of daughters Lucy Austin who married Thomas Kendrick and descendants
of Mary Austin who married William Hankins.
8.
Apparently, Edward never encountered Wealthy
again after the May 1766 conception event of the two that produced Archibald/ARCH. The event likely took place near the VA farm
of Wealthy & her mother Sarah. That part of today’s Pittsylvania Co. VA is crossed
by Hickey’s Rd. which branches off the Great Wagon Road. Wealthy lived a long
life, outliving husband Joseph by some 11 years. She outlived Edward Riggs by
~2 years. Edward died in TN; Wealthy, VA. Wealthy never left the boundaries of
today’s Pittsylvania Co. VA, we speculate.
9.
There are other
Austin lines in upper E TN. For example, in Greene and Washington Co. we find an
R-M269 line not related to the Austin-Riggs men. They are compared in the
Austin Y-DNA Study table…
Kit 513517 is for Will Austin, now of Knoxville. Though he matches the
haplogroup of the Austin-Riggs men of TN & TX, his signature is quite
different. Will descends from John Aston
who was born ~1752 in Ireland. AFAOA places John Aston as “Unplaced Southern”
and is included at http://www.afaoa.org/db_files/Southern_Unplaced/Individuals/I687.html
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