Rigsby Genealogy

Record modified: 2025-12-29

*Placeholder 1725 (unknown)
Jesse Rigsby
William Rigsby
Thomas Rigsby
John Rigsby
Daniel Rigsby
Thomas Rigsby	b. about 1675-00-00
John Rigsby	b. 1729-12-03
James Rigsby	b. about 1735-00-00
Drury Rigsby	b. 1745-01-15

Notes:

WARNING
This record does not represent a real person.
This is just a place-holder for all the un-attached Rigsbys born before 1750.

The people listed here are Rigsbys for whom I have not identified a father.
I am NOT implying that any of them are siblings, though possibly some of them actually are.
I am NOT implying that the father of any of them was born in 1700.
If you are copying information into your own records, do NOT include this record or any of his other "children".

For un-attached Rigsbys born after 1749, see the "child" of this record named Placeholder 1725.

--

American Rigsby Families

It's my belief that all the Rigsbys in America are descended from a single family in England. (Except the
African-American ones who adopted the name.)
On this site I'm attempting to track every person named Rigsby (or any spelling variation) who lived in
America up to 1910. (Including African-Americans.) I also have some information on Rigsbys in England,
Canada, and Ireland, but those trees are still pretty sparse.
The Rigsby name is very rare. Even with spelling variations, there were fewer than 4,000 of them in the
US before 1900.
According to the 1990 census, Rigsby is number 3441 on the list of most common surnames. Rigsbee
is number 28425, Riggsby is number 29760, and Riggsbee is number 32974. Together they make up
less than .004 percent of the population.

If you have a Rigsby ancestor you are trying to trace, check my Rigsby index (the "Name Index" link at
the bottom of this page). If your ancestor is not listed there, feel free to email me. I will do my best to
help you, but I probably won't be able to identify anybody born after 1950.

Also be sure to see my page for the Rigsby DNA Project.

Rigsby immigrants

There were three early Rigsby immigrants:
Thomas Rigsby arrived VA 1623
James Rigsby arrived Henrico Co VA 1637
John Rigsby arrived VA 1695
Unfortunately, I don't know what happened to any of them.
I have a glimmer of a hint that James might be the ancestor of the central NC Rigsbys.

Some sources say there was a Peter Rigsby who arrived in New England in the 1630s, but as far as I can tell he was really a Rigby. There are Rigby families throughout Pennsylvania who are probably descended from him.

In early 1756 a John Rigsby was imported into VA [prob Orange Co] from Great Britain. The first census
available for VA is 1810. John is not listed.
No doubt there were other Rigsby immigrants during the 1700s, but at this point I don't know of any.

After 1800, several more arrived:
William in 1835
George before 1836
Josiah before 1838
Edmund before 1845
James before 1851
David before 1853
Thomas before 1854
John before 1860
A F in 1859
James before 1870

Rigsby resources

Here is some Rigsby information I have put online:

Annotated Rigsby Census 1790 to 1910
Bureau of Land Management records
WW1 Draft Registration Cards (AL to MO)
WW1 Draft Registration Cards (NE to WV)
Rigsby vital records
Rigsby cemetery records
Rigsby military records
Rigsby land and tax records
Miscellaneous Rigsby notes

Here is a series of maps showing the distribution of Rigsbys in the US for each of the census years.
Here is a map showing the distribution of Rigsbys in England for the 1881 census.

Rigsby Lines

Here are all the different Rigsby lines as I know them so far:
R-number, name, birth info, first census, death info

[R01] Frederick Rigsby c1755 of Wake Co NC 1790 d c1840 Wake Co NC
[R02] James Rigsby c1763 NC of Wake Co NC 1790 d 1850-1860 Wake Co NC
[R03] Archibald Rigsby 1770-1774 of Wake Co NC 1790 d 1830-1840
[R04] John Rigsby 1755-1774 of Wake Co NC 1790
[R05] James Rigsby <1774 of Wake Co NC 1790 d 1796-1800 [This is my line.]
[R06] James Rigsby c1735 of Orange Co NC 1790
[R07] James Rigsby <1774 of Caswell Co NC 1790
[R08] John Rigsby <1774 of Caswell Co NC 1790
[R10] John Rigsby <1774 of Duplin Co NC 1790
[R11] William Rigsby c1767? of Orange Co NC 1790 d c1835 Troup Co GA [born 1755-1760?]
[R12] Jesse Rigsby <1755 of Orange Co NC 1790
[R13] William Rigsby <1766 of Goochland Co VA 1789
[R14] Thomas Rigsby c1760 of Mecklenburg Co NC 1790 d 1830-1840 Warren Co TN
[R15] Josiah Rigsby 1765-1770 of Bertie Co NC 1800
[R16] Travis Rigsby <1755 of Chatham Co NC 1800 d 1820-1830
[R17] Drury Rigsby 1745-01-15 Prince William Co VA of Ashe Co NC 1830 d 1834 Lawrence Co KY
[R18] Henry Rigsby of Chesterfield Co VA 1802
[R20] Thomas Rigsby c1740 of Wake Co NC
[R23] David Rigsby 1784-1790 of Ashe Co NC 1810 d 1830-1840 Jefferson or Berkeley Co VA
[R28] William Rigsby <1765 of Surry Co NC 1810 probably died 1820-1830
[R30] Thomas Rigby 1770s of Dallas Co AL 1820 d 1823
[R32] Gavin Rigby 1800 of Duplin Co NC [never on a census] d <1830 GA
[R33] Warren Rigsby 1790 NC of Wake Co NC 1830
[R35] Allen Rigsby 1770 Orange Co NC of Walton Co GA 1820 d >1860 prob in Decatur Co GA
[R38] John Rigsby <1776 of Jefferson Co KY 1820
[R40] Jesse Rigby c1792 NC of Oglethorpe Co GA 1820
[R41] Jonathan Rigsby of Wilkinson Co GA [never on a census]
[R42] Wiley Rigsby c1806 NC of Union Co GA 1850
[R48] James Rigsby c1795 NC of Hickman Co TN 1840
[R49] William Rigsby c1810 NC of Burke Co NC 1830
[R52] Edward Rigsby 1790-1800 of Wake Co NC 1830
[R55] Martin Riggsby 1812 of Greene Co IL 1840 d 1849-11-xx Pike Co IL
[R56] John Rigsby 1790-1800 of Hickman Co TN 1830 prob d 1830-1840
[R57] Stanislaus Rigsby <1770 of MD [never on a census]
[R58] John E Rigsby c1810 NC of Schuyler Co IL 1840
[R59] Josiah Rigby 1795 ENG of Union Co IN 1840 prob d 1850-1860 Union Co IN
[R61] Jacob Rigsbee 1790-1800 of Chatham Co NC 1840
[R62] Woodson Rigsby c1804 NC of Orange Co NC 1830 d 1870-1880 Orange Co NC
[R63] Isaac Rigsby 1800-1810 KY? MS? of Van Buren Co IA 1840 d 1847-1850 IA
[R64] William Rigsby c1825 NC of Orange Co NC 1840 apparently d 1865-1870 NC
[R65] George Rigsby c1798 ENG of Anderson Co KY 1850 prob d 1860-1870 KY
[R67] Joseph Rigsby c1821 NC of Wake Co NC 1850 d >1880 maybe Halifax Co VA
[R69] Henry C Rigsby c1823 NC of Wake Co NC 1850
[R71] Thomas Rigsby c1813 TN of Yancey Co NC 1840
[R72] James Rigsby c1811 ENG of New York NY 1860 d 1889-07-17 New York NY
[R73] Henry M Rigsby 1812-07-xx NC of Ashe Co NC 1850 d 1909 Jefferson Co TN
[R74] William Rigsby c1800 ENG of Ohio Co VA 1840 d 1850-1870
[R75] George O Rigsby c1816 NC of Jefferson Co AL 1850
[R87] Frank Rigsby of Durham Co NC
[R88] James Hall Rigsby c1857 AL of Rusk Co TX 1870
[R89] John Riggsbee 1839-12-xx NC of Columbia Co FL 1870
[R90] Luke Rigsbee c1847 NC of Orange Co NC 1870
[R91] Aaron Rigsby c1835 SC of Grimes Co TX 1870
[R92] Joseph Rigsby c1820 SC of Colleton Co SC 1870
[R93] (unk) Rigsby c1812
[R94] Alexander Bass Rigsby c1852 TX of Tyler Co TX 1880 d 1929-04-23 Tyler Co TX
[R95] Joseph Rigsby c1820 NC of Wilcox Co AL 1870
[R96] George Rigsby c1825 NC of Wake Co NC 1870
[R97] Raleigh Riggsbee c1800 NC of Chatham Co NC [never on a census]
[R98] Jim Rigsby c1825 MS of Leon Co TX 1870
[R99] Morris Rigsby c1820 SC of Grimes Co TX 1870

These are lines in England:
[R101] Thomas Rigsby 1675 of S Cerney, Gloucestershire
[R102] John Rigsby 1801 of S Cerney, Gloucestershire
[R105] Henry Rigsby 1806 of S Cerney, Gloucestershire
[R106] Thomas Rigsby 1772 of S Cerney, Gloucestershire
[R108] John Rigsby of Shebbear, Devon
[R110] John Rigsby 1729 of Shebbear, Devon
[R111] John Rigsby 1853 of Gloucestershire
[R112] Daniel Rigsby of Canterbury, Kent
[R114] Richard Rigsby c1796 of Avening, Gloucestershire
[R115] Thomas Rigsby 1801 of S Cerney, Gloucestershire
[R117] George Rigsby 1809 of S Cerney, Gloucestershire
[R120] Henry Rigsby c1810 of S Cerney, Gloucestershire
[R121] William Rigsby c1782 Hertfordshire
[R123] Isaac Rigsby 1833 of Farnworth, Lancashire
[R125] Garrett Rigsby of Lancashire
[R126] James Rigsby 1843 of Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire

Hinds Site: Genealogy of Ken Hinds -- page 5919

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I strive for accuracy, but I cannot guarantee this information is correct or complete. Hard references are given where I have them, but otherwise you should verify this information.
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