Manuscripts Collection
Stephen Return Riggs, a Presebyterian missionary, was born in Steubenville, Ohio, on March 23, 1812, the son of Stephen and Anne (Baird) Riggs. He studied at Jefferson College and the Western Theological Seminary in 1833 and 1834, and he was licensed to preach in 1836.
He came to what is now Minnesota under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1837, settling first at Lake Harriet (in what is now Minneapolis). Later he was sent to the Hazelwood Mission, Lac Qui Parle, where he built and constructed a boarding school for Native American children. He remained there until the Dakota War of 1862. He was an interpreter, attached to Henry H. Sibley's staff during the war. Later he moved to Beloit, Wisconsin, where he died on March 24, 1883.
Riggs authored a Dakota lexicon, translated the Bible into Dakota, and wrote the
volume,
He married Mary Ann Clark Longley on February 16, 1837. She was the daughter of Thomas and Martha Anne (Taylor) Longley and was born on November 10, 1813. She died on March 22, 1869. There were eight chilren born of this marriage.
The papers include extensive correspondence with Riggs and Longley family members; letters from other missionaries in Minnesota and Dakota Territory; letters from Minnesota and national political leaders; letters from religious organizations, especially the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the American Bible Society, and the American Tract Society; and many letters from Native Americans, most in the Dakota language. There is also information on the Civil War, settlement of Indian claims for land and money, and the publication of Riggs' writings, as well as a set of biographical sketches of American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions missionaries.
Included in the correspondence is a letter appointing Riggs as interpreter for the Sibley staff (September 30, 1862); a draft of a letter sent by Riggs to President Abraham Lincoln concerning punishment of Dakota involved in the Dakota War (November 17, 1862); a letter discharging Riggs as interpreter for the Sibley staff (September 29, 1863); a Civil War letterhead depicting General McClellan (October 29, 1863); certificates of deportment from Rockford Female Seminary issued to Anna J. Riggs (1864); a letter from Riggs to his daughter Isabella describing a stereoptican exhibition by A. J. Ebell in St. Anthony (April 23, 1864); and a letter from L. W. Lynd, the father of James W. Lynd, one of the first victims of the Dakota War, to Riggs (December 5, 1864). Correspondence also includes a letter from George T. Harris to Riggs requesting Riggs' assistance as chaplain to Dakota leaders Little Six and Medicine Bottle, who were to be executed for their part in the Dakota War (September 25, 1865); a Civil War letterhead depicting a soldier in a Zouave uniform (January 13, 1866); and a letter from Riggs to his daughter Martha (March 18, 1869) describing the last illness and death of his wife.
Correspondents represented in the collection include Joseph, Mary, Thomas, Moses, Isabella, and Martha Riggs; Moses N. Adams; George L. Becker; Joseph R. Brown; Samuel H. Chute; George D. Crocker; George E. H. Day; W. P. Dole; Lucy Spooner Drake; John W. Dulles; Theodore Dwight; Adrian J. Ebell; A. D. Frenier; Thomas J. Galbraith; Charles D. Gilfillan; James Harlan; Alfred J. Hill; James W. and Jane Holtsclaw; Robert Hopkins; Amos W., Eliza, and Mary L. Huggins; Lorenzo Lawrence; Julia Laframboise; Mary C. LeDuc; Joseph and Moses Longley; William R. Marshall; John L. McCullough; Andrew R. McGill; Stephen Miller; D. Wilson Moore; Fannie and Jonas Pettijohn; George G. Poage; Gideon H., Samuel W., and Selah B. Pond; Alexander Ramsey; Angelique, Antoine, John B., Mary A., and Michel Renville; Edmund Rice; Alfred L. Sewall; Henry H. Sibley; John H. Stevens; Alfred Sully; Henry A. Swift; Selah B. Treat; William W. Wales; Henry T. Welles; J. Fletcher Williams; Andrew W., Jane S., John P., and Thomas S. Williamson; and William Windom.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the
Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics
should
Original of Riggs' biographical sketches of people connected with the Dakota
mission titled
Copyright reserved on a portion of Mary Anne Longley Riggs' correspondence and
for the volume of Riggs letters transcribed by Elizabeth Riggs Gutch and Maida
Leonard Riggs. Copyright also reserved for
Accession numbers: 2905; 3220; 3431; 3485; 4427; 4461a; 4548; 5423; 6064; 9664; 9695; 10,981; 11,337; 15,839; 16,415.
Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant
awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission
Catalog ID number: 001733689
Includes extensive correspondence between Stephen R. Riggs and members of his and the Longley family, letters from missionaries, political leaders in Minnesota and the nation, letters from religious organizations, and Dakota. Correspondents include Alexander Ramsey and Henry Sibley. Other frequent correspondents include members of the Renville and Williamson families.
Also included are deeds, miscellaneous personal financial accounts, and financial accounts with the American Tract Society and the American Bible Society.
Handwritten abstracts of letters written by Stephen Riggs when he was an interpreter attached to the Sibley forces in 1862, and letters written while on a visit to missions in Dakota Territory in the 1880s.
Photographic copies of letters written by Mrs. Stephen R. Riggs to her family in Hawley, Massachusetts, describing her trip with Riggs to and arival in Minnesota, and their life at the school and mission at Lake Harriet and Lac Qui Parle. The letters are addressed to her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Longley, and to her two brothers, Joseph and Thomas.
One spiral bound volume of transcribed letters by members of the Riggs family. It was transcribed by Elizabeth Riggs Gutch and Maida Leonard Riggs.
By Maida L. Riggs. Compiled circa 1980.
This is a 52-page manuscript copied by Riggs.
Two typewritten manuscripts, one 6 pages in length and the other 5 pages in length.
Typewritten copy, 10 pages in length.
Prepared by Stephen R. Riggs and copied by Martha T. Riggs, Hazelwood, Minnesota, September 1861. Volume photocopied for public use.
Use photocopy for public use. Biographies of people connected with the Dakota mission (1835-1860). Also includes several biographical sketches of missionaries: Thomas S. Williamson, Jedidiah D. Stevens, Alexander G. Huggins, Stephen R. Riggs, Robert Hopkins, Jonas Pettijohn, Moses N. Adams, John F. Aiton, Joseph W. Hancock., Hugh Doak Cunningham, Lucy Cornelia Stevens, Jane S. Williamson, Lucy Jane Spooner, Mary Roche Spooner, Anne Boke Sekley.
Also includes photocopies of
Relate to the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 and the Sully expedition.