The Origins of our Driggs Ancestors Are Full of Surprises!

For a couple of months, this blog has focused on our Christensen ancestors--acknowledging that our Grandmother Maud Rosalie Driggs Christensen was a "Christensen" by marriage.

Today we are turning our attention to our Driggs ancestors. This time we are beginning at "the beginning" of the Driggs Family and then we'll feature their children and grandchildren.

For years, based on the research that was published in Driggs: History of an American Family--Book Two, I have thought that our Driggs family immigrated from Amsterdam, Holland. But the research was sketchy. Recently I learned that some of our Driggs relatives, who were instrumental in getting the Driggs Book published, gave their DNA to help to shed light on the family's origins. Third hand reports indicate that they learned that their ancestors probably came from Portugal. Last week I googled Shadrach Ford Driggs and found a copy of his obituary. It contained a completely different view of the origin of the Driggs family! They're from England!!

A photo of Shadrach Ford Driggs

You'll find Shadrach Ford Driggs' Obituary on the sidebar and also a brief history of him and his first wife Elizabeth White Driggs. I'm interested that Ruth H. Barker (Paul's wife) and Emily Farrer (David Barker's daughter) are associated with the post.

The great mystery for me now is--if we have the information from the obituary--perhaps written by his grandson, why did our well-informed Driggs cousins give DNA to know? And assuming they did it to confirm what the obituary indicated (England, not Holland), how did it show Portugal?! For now "the beginning" is currently getting more and more cloudy! I will do some more checking within the family about where our Driggs ancestors lived before they came to America.

In the meantime, we will start with Shadrach Ford Driggs who was our Grandmother Maud Rosalie Driggs' grandfather and Benjamin Woodbury Driggs' father. You'll learn several interesting things about him on the sidebar.

{Karen}