Riggs, Stephen Return, 1812-1883

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, Mary and I, forty years with the Sioux, which was published in 1880.

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.

From the guide to the Stephen R. Riggs and family papers., 1837-1988 (bulk 1837-1869)., (Minnesota Historical Society)