The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
1.5 miles outside Henryville on Highway 160, on the private property of a Mr. Michael Bridges
Photo: 1 of 1
Author: Schuylar Wayne Crist
Robert Biggs was born about 1753, probably in Cumberland County area of Pennsylvania (though it has been said he may have been born in England). He, like many in his day, was a farmer as an adult. He enlisted as a private in the 8th Pennsylvania Continental Regiment, under Colonel McCoy in August of 1776 for a 3 year term. Robert also served in companies under Captains Eli Myers and Michael Huffnagel. He served in the Battle of Woodbridge and at "Bomburg on the Raritan River", among other skirmishes not mentioned according to his pension record (W.9733), which was allowed on November 17, 1823. That same record states that he ended his enlistment having served 18 months of it, just before marrying his wife Jane (possibly Nancy Jane) Miller in 1778 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Robert and his family moved to Kentucky in 1793, leaving the state a year later, and moving to Clark County, Indiana (though Indiana would not be a state officially until 1816). Robert Biggs died in November of 1831 in Clark County, Indiana, probably near the town of Henryville. Jane Biggs died in 1839 at about 83 years of age, according to Robert's pension record (and Jane's headstone confirms this as well). Jane and Robert are buried next to each other at Miller Cemetery in Clark County, Indiana. Robert Biggs and his wife Jane had a son named Robert Biggs, Jr., who served in the War of 1812. A Biggs family Bible page that is part of the pension record list all but one of Robert and Jane's children.
I descend from Robert and Jane's daughter, Nancy Biggs, who was born in Tennessee in 1791 and died in Lewis Township, Clay County, Indiana in 1835, who married Nicholas Crist (born in present day Jefferson County, Kentucky on February 2, 1790 - died in Lewis Township, Clay County, Indiana December 1860). Nicholas had also served with his brother William and other in-laws, in the Indiana militia in 1813, during the War of 1812. Nicholas and Nancy are buried in Friendly Grove Baptist Church Cemetery, located in Lewis Township, Clay County, Indiana, among many other Biggs and Crist relatives. Their son, my 3rd Great-grandfather, Jacob Thomas Crist attended the funeral for both Robert and Jane (Miller) Biggs per an 1848 affidavit Jacob gave when he was thirty-eight years old, relative to what children/grandchildren were still living that might still have a right to pension funds. Birth and death dates for Nicholas and Nancy are per their headstone.
Some of the children of Robert and Jane Biggs were present and survived the Massacre at Pigeon Roost, Indiana in present day Scott County. The Massacre took place September 3, 1812. Twenty-four settlers were killed by a band of Kickapoo, Shawnee, and Delaware Indians. One of those killed named the Indian who shot him the day before he succumbed to the shot to his head.
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