A Submission from Robert L Young
Date: 04 August 2004
Area: England - USA - Massachusetts - Connecticut - New York - Illinois

Much of the information on this Higgins line comes
with permission from submitters website: 
http://community-2.webtv.net/bobyoung1408/ROBERTLYOUNG/page31.html

Through internet sources mostly Ancestry.Com and the LDS ancestry page, I have found that my earliest Higgins ancestor is John Higgins born in 1528 in England. 

JOHN HIGGINS: 
  My 12GGrandfather born 1528 in England.
  Married Elizabeth Clinton, daughter of Thomas and Margery (Tracy) Clinton
   Children of John and Elizabeth were Christopher and Edward. 

EDWARD HIGGINS: 
   My 11GGrandfather born September 7, 1545 in Bridstone, England. 
   Child of Edward was Robert. 

ROBERT HIGGINS: 
  My 10GGrandfather, Born about 1575 in England. 
  Married about 1598 to Julian Meals 
             daughter of Christopher and Elizabeth Meals. 
             Julian was born about 1582 and 
                           died August 1, 1603 in Langely, England. 

   One son Richard Higgins. 
   Robert Higgins died and is buried in Leominster, Hertford, England. 
   Robert was a mercier that is a marketer of cloth.
    (Thus my first name Robert is important in Higgins genealogy 
      as well as that of Drydens and Youngs.) 

RICHARD HIGGINS: 
   My 9GGrandfather, Born August 1, 1603 in England, 
   came to Plymouth, Mass. in 1633. 
    [Off Site Links]
   Married Lydia Chandler November 12, 1634 
              who was born in 1613 in Duxbury, Plymouth, Mass. 
  They had two sons
      Johnathan Higgins and Benjamin Higgins. 
  After the death of Lydia, Richard married Mary Yates in 1651 
  and they had 10 children. 
  Richard died June 21, 1675 in Piscatanway, Middlesex, New Jersey. 
  It appears that Richard was a tailor. 

BENJAMIN HIGGINS: 
  My 8GGrandfather, Born January 7, 1640 in New Plymouth, Plymouth, Mass
  Married Lidya Banges on December 24, 1666 
             at Eastham, Barnstable County, Mass. 
  They had 7 male children including Samuel Higgins. 

SAMUEL HIGGINS: 
  My 7GGrandfather, Born March 7,1676 in Eastham, Barnstable, Mass. 
  First married Thankful Mayo and she died before 1740. 
  They had three boy children.
  He then married Hannah Cole and 
  they had four boy children including Israel Higgins. 
  Samuel died December 10, 1761 in Eastham, Barnstable, Mass. 

ISRAEL HIGGINS: 
  My 6GGrandfather, Born April 26, 1706 in Eastham, Barnstable, Mass. 
 Married Ruth Brown and 
 they had at least one boy child also known as Israel Higgins. 
 Israel died February 7, 1788 in Middle Haddam, Middlesex, Ct. 

ISRAEL HIGGINS(2): 
  My 5GGrandfather, Born October 3.1728 in Eastham, Barnstable, Mass. 
  Married February 15, 1753 Elizabeth Aiken 
     who was born April 3, 1733 in Eastham, Mass. 
  They had at least one boy child George W. Higgins. 

  Israel was a Revolutionary War soldier for two months in 1778 or 79. He was involved with special forces in an effort to dislodge a British military group in Maine near the Penobscott River, The effort was unsuccessful and subsequently there was an investigation of the failure. The story of this activity is in My Genealogy Supplement 3.0 web page.

Israel died August 4, 1790 in Middle Haddam, Middlesex, Ct. 

GEORGE W. HIGGINS: 
  My 4GGrandfather, Born October 20, 1756 in Middleton Conn. 
  and moved to near Allegheny River at Olean, New York in late 1700s. 
  Married Patience Mapes in about 1777 
  and they had three boys and two girls including Ransom Higgins. 

  George and wife were with son John Higgins on the boat trip from New York State to Illinois and he settled in the area of Friendsville, Illinois where there was a fort built by William Barney. One reference says that George was buried near Friendship, New York which is close to the Allegheny River and Olean, New York. Another reference says that he was buried in Lancaster, Wabash County, Illinois. I doubt if he made the long trip back to New York in his old age and wonder if there has been confusion between Friendship, New York and Friendsville, Illinois. 

RANSOM HIGGINS: 
   My 3GGrandfather, Born about 1783 in Mass. 
   Died 1851 near Friendsville, Illinois. 
   He came to Illinois with his brother John but he settled near Friendsville, Illinois where William Barney, his father in law had built a fort. Ransom married Mary (Polly) Barney about 1807 in Edwards County, Illinois. Ransom did many good things including building the first wagon west of the Wabash River, constructing and operating a water powered grist mill and building a fort in the area of Friendsville, Illinois. He also served as Justice of Peace for the area. Ransom and Polly had at least one son, Barney Higgins. 

BARNEY HIGGINS: 
  My 2GGrandfatherBorn February 24, 1816
  and died February 10, 1877. 
  Married Lucetta Smith and they had one son 
  Rozander Smith Higgins born March 18,1839 in Edwards County, Illinois. 

ROZANDER S HIGGINS:
  My Great Grandfather, Born 1839 in Edwards County, Illinois. 
  Married Mary, December 1860 in Richland County, Illinois. 

  Served as a Union Soldier during the Civil War. Enlisted as a private in 1861 and was discharged as a musician. Moved to Neoga, Illinois in 1876. Was a blacksmith and inventor, Spelling of his first name is reported as Rozander (on
his patent application), Rosander (on a land purchase report) and Rosender (as a Civil War Union Soldier in the 39th Illinois Infantry Division). 

  He and Mary had one son, W. B. Higgins.
  Rozander died 5/22/1924 and
  Mary died 2/22/1936. 
  Both are buried in the Neoga Memorial Cemetery and 
  his name is Rozander on the tomb stone. 

 1880 Census Household:

  Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age
  Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace 

  Rastander HIGGINS Self M Male     W 41 IL Blacksmith IL OH 
  Mary E. HIGGINS    Wife M Female W 37 IL Keeping House IL IL 
  Rachel A. HIGGINS  Dau S Female  W 18 IL At Home IL IL 
  Willis W. HIGGINS   Son    Male     W 14 IL Works In Blacksmith Shop IL IL
  William B. HIGGINS  Son S Male     W  7 IL IL IL 
  Emma HIGGINS       Dau S Female  W  3 IL IL IL 

  Source Information:
  Census Place Neoga, Cumberland, Illinois Family History Library Film 1254184
   NA Film Number T9-0184 Page Number 545A 

W. B. (BILL) HIGGINS: 
  My Grandfather, Born December 21,1872 in Richland County, Illinois. 
  Died near Neoga, Illinois May 13, 1931. 
  I recall seeing him very sick with hypoglycemia. (opposite of diabetes)
  Married Rosa Anderson who was born January 30, 1873 
            and died of diabetes in Neoga, Illinois April 2, 1944. 
  At the time of her death, I was in a Navy V12 unit at the University of Illinois and I remember coming to Neoga on a Greyhound bus to attend her funeral. They had two children, Neva Joy Higgins and Bernard Higgins. Bill was a farmer of the land in Illinois I now own, He along with Ray King and my dad, Max Young much enjoyed several day fishing trips on the Embarrass River in South Eastern Illinois. I recall several times when they brought large numbers of fish home. 

NEVA JOY HIGGINS: 
  Born December 11, 1897 on the farm I now own about 4 miles northeast of Neoga. Graduated from Normal School at Charleston, Illinois taught at Lerna High school, then Neoga High School. Married Max Young January, 1923. Was a very fine pianist and played piano and directed choir at the United Presbyterian Church, Neoga for about 40 years. Died of a stroke in November 3, 1972. Mother of two sons, me (Robert L. Young) and Philip Alan Young. 

ROBERT LYLE YOUNG: 
  Born April 3, 1925. University Professor involved in teaching and research in Mechanical Engineering. 

. . . .

My Higgins ancestors first settled in Illinois in Wabash County. Quoting from the journal of John Higgins' wife:  "John was a ship carpenter back East, and we were doing well. But after his brother Willis went out west to Illinois Territory in 1812, we had wonderful reports from him on this new country with plentiful game and good timberland. They said that Illinois was going to become a state soon. So in 1816, we made the long trip by boat, with John's parents (George W. and Patience (Mapes) Higgins) and his brothers William (Higgins) and Ransom (Higgins), (Ransom is my G4grandfather) and his sisters. Seven or eight other families, friends or ours, came to Illinois too. 

John and I and our six children: William, George, John, Delia, Betsy (Higgins), and our own family boat was in the lead. What a journey that was, and one I'll never forget! We settled at Mier (Landcaster's early name), and John built the first log house here in 1817. He and John Keracher were the early proprietors of our town. Johns parents and brothers (William and Ransom (Higgins)) settled in Friendsville where there was a fort for protection against the Indians. Life wasn't easy and we lost our little daughter Betsey that first year. Sometimes I got so homesick. But all in all, it was a good life." 

And from another source: 
"In 1816 a little colony came from New York State by flatboat down the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers and up the Wabash by keel boat, to Old Palmyra, dispersing soon to Landcaster and Friendsville. These were the ancestors of the Higgins, Smith, Moss, Brines, Harrison, Utter and Couch families." 

I have had some doubts about the name of George Higgins wife. In various places it has been listed as Prentis or Prentice and Mapes or Mayfes. 
By searching on the Ancestry.Com Genforum I found the following information from the Mapes page:  
"Re: Mayfes or Mapes or ???Posted by: Joe Boyle (ID*****7970)
 Date: April 15, 2003 at 05:38:34
 In Reply to: Mayfes or Mapes or ??? by Robert Youngof 2138 
 Hi Robert, 
 I have a George W Higgins married to a Patience Mapes.
 I have 39 descendants listed for them. I can only
 trace back to her father, a John Mapes. This
 information is included in a CD that I published last year." 

My Great Grandather R. S. Higgins with wife moved to Neoga in 1876. Rozander Smith Higgins was a blacksmith and inventor. He held a number of patents and spent much time trying to develop a perpetual motion machine
which we now know is impossible for such a machine can only operate by violating the First Law of Thermodynamics. During the late 1800s, the swampy black soil on our farm could not be plowed with the wooden plows available at that time. My folks told me that R. S. also claimed that he had invented the steel bladed plow which could plow the heavy black soil but John Deere, another blacksmith, stole the idea from him and thus developed the big John Deere farm implement company. When I was involved in engineering accreditation activity, I met a person who was Vice President of Engineering for John Deere and he told me that many people had contacted the company claiming that John Deere stole the idea of the steel plow from them. But no proof sufficient to prove their claims had ever been presented. 

Additional on:
                      Bryant Higgins b. 1838

                      John Higgins  b. 1813

Connection to the above families subject to verification

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 



1850 Barney Higgins

1860 HIGGINS BARNEY 44 M W IL IL RICHLAND BONPAS TWP
  Page 1   Page 2 

1870 HIGGINS BARNEY 53 M W IL IL RICHLAND MADISON TWP

2 other images showing other Higgins in same area in same neighborhood
1850 Other Higgins ILLINOIS RICHLAND CLAY & RICHLAND img1 img2

1880 USA Census 
  Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age
  Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace 
  Samuel O. ANDERSON Self M Male    W 27 OH Farmer VA KY 
  Mary W. ANDERSON   Wife M Female W 30 IL Keeping House KY KY 
  Rosa ANDERSON        Dau S Female  W  7 IL OH IL 

  Source Information:
  Census Place Neoga, Cumberland, Illinois Family History Library Film 1254184 
   NA Film Number T9-0184 Page Number 527B 

Other Higgins' in Neoga Township, Cumberland County Illinois. 
Relationship to submitters family, if any, not established at this time.

HIGGINS GARDAND 73 M W TN IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA TWP 1900 

HIGGINS JOHNATHAN 61 M W IL IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA TWP 1900 

HIGGINS ROZANDA E 61 M W IL IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA TWP 1900 

HIGGINS WILLIAM B 28 M W IL IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA TWP 1900 

HIGGINS WILLIAM W 38 M W IL IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA TWP 1900
 
HIGGINS CATHERINE 73 F W OH IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA TWP 1910 
HIGGINS WILLIAM B 37 M W IL IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA TWP 1910 
     above 2 same image

HIGGINS ROAS A 70 M W IL IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA TWP 1910 

HIGGINS TRACY W 24 M W IL IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA TWP 1910 

HIGGINS WILLIAM W 46 M W IL IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA TWP 1910 

HIGGINS EDNA 39 F W IL IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA 1920 

HIGGINS RALPH 26 M W IL IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA 1920 

HIGGINS TRACY W 34 M W IL IL CUMBERLAND 2-WD NEOGA 1920 

HIGGINS WILLIAM W 47 M W IL IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA 1920 
  Image 1  Image 2 

HIGGINS WM W 58 M W IL IL CUMBERLAND NEOGA 1920 


http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mjhiggins/ill-deaths.htm 
HIGGINS BARNEY PRENTICE 
M/W UNK 0040855 1918-07-22 PEORIA ELMWOOD TWP 18-07-23

     http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/GenealogyMWeb/CivilWarSearchServlet
     NAME RANK COMPANY UNIT RESIDENCE
     HIGGINS, ROSENDER PVT D 49 IL US INF RICHLAND CO 

Database of Soldiers' and Sailors' Home Residents (1887�1916)
    NAME COUNTY DATE ADMITTED NUMBER COMPANY UNIT
    HIGGINS, ROSANDER CUMBERLAND FEBRUARY 25, 1916 10845 D 49 IL INF 

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ilcivilw/r050/049-d-in.htm
     Company "D" 49th Illinois Infantry 
      Name Rank Residence Date of Muster Remarks 
     HIGGINS, Rosender Private Richland Co Dec 30, 1861 MO
       Jan 9, 1865 as Musician 

http://www.interment.net/data/us/il/wabash/old_lancaster.htm
Old Lancaster Cemetery
Village of Lancaster, Wabash County, Illinois

HIGGINS, Barney, b.24-feb-1817, d.10-feb-1877, h. of lucetta Higgins.
HIGGINS, Betsey, d.25-sep-1847, a.70-4-27.
HIGGINS, Betsey, d.14-???-????, d.of john & ? e.h.
Higgins, b.n., m.k. & (2) unmarked small stones nearby.

HIGGINS, Daniel W., b.23-sep-1839, d.14-may-1857, s. of john & judah Higgins.
HIGGINS, George W., d.12-aug-1859, a.0-4-7, s. of john & Judah Higgins.
HIGGINS, George W., b.19-may-1840, d.9-jun-1840, s. of s.w. & m. Higgins.
HIGGINS, George W., d.25-may-1855, a.31-0-0, consort of Mary Higgins.

HIGGINS, James P., d.9-oct-1883, s. of j.f. & s.h. Higgins, 
             small unmarked stone located nearby
HIGGINS, Jane, d.19-mar-1865, a.64-7-11, w. of William Higgins.
HIGGINS, John, d.27-apr-1852, a.73-6-4.
HIGGINS, John, b.14-jan-1813, d.18-jan-1902.

HIGGINS, Judah, b.29-dec-1816, d.12-may-1891.
HIGGINS, Lucetta, b.16-feb-1819, d.12-nov-1916, w. of Barney Higgins.
HIGGINS, Naomi, d.13-mar-1879, a.0-2-1, d.of j.f. & s.r. Higgins.
HIGGINS, Sophia A., d.19-oct-1843, a.1-4-9, d.of g. & p. Higgins.

HIGGINS, Sophia E., b.15-dec-1853, d.30-aug-1854, d. john & Judah Higgins.
HIGGINS, William, d.29-mar-1864, a.19-8-27, s. of s. & p. Higgins.
HIGGINS, William, d.12-jan-1864, a.63-0-13.

. . . . . . . . . . 

    Others that share this ancestor Richard Higgins Born August 1, 1603 in England

    http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~katmon/kathsurn/dat30.htm 
    http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~legends/higgins.html 
   

Added 15 Jan 2006
    
http://iltrails.org/cumberland/obits.html   
B. HIGGINS, 18, MEETS DEATH; WRECK BURNS. FLAMES HALT EXTRICATION 0F YOUTH'S BODY 

One person was killed instantly and two others were seriously injured about two o'clock this morning on Route 25 about two miles north of Sigel in Shelby County when a south bound Buick automobile and a north bound sport model Ford crashed head on folding together like an accordion. 
The Dead: BERNARD HIGGINS 18-year-old son of Mrs. Rosa Higgins who lives eight miles south of Mattoon in Route 25 at the Lambert School home with her daughter, Mrs. Max Young. 

The Injured: 
    Harry Boehn, 60, Effingham, chest injuries, scalp- wounds and fracture of the left leg below the knee. His chances for recovery are fair.
   Eli Adams, 43, Effingham, skull fracture, bruises from head to feet, left arm broken. He is unconscious and his recovery is doubtful.
Was En Route Home Young Higgins had been to Effingham to call upon a friend and was en route home when the collision ocurred. Messers Boehn and Adams were south-bound, en route to Effingham, with the former serving as driver. Indications were that both automobiles were at fast speed. Each driver had a straight view ahead but the night was foggy and the air full of mist. Higgins was believed to have died instantly, his having been badly crushed. After the accident the gasoline tank of the light car exploded, setting fire to the wreckage, with the dead youth held so tightly that the youth could not be removed. This car burned up and the dead body was badly charred. Raymond Ashmore and Richard Walter of Mattoon, young men on their way home from Evansville, where they had played in an orchestra, were in the third car to approach the scene of the accident. They found Zip Ewing of Neoga on the scene and joined him in an effort to remove the dead body which they could see within the wreckage of the burning car.

Witness Describes Scene
Ewing and John Powell of Neoga were the first on the scene and Powell took the injured men to Effingham in an automobile leaving Ewing to watch the wreckage. "It was a horrible sight" said Young Ashmore. "Powell, Walter and I got close enough to the burning wreckage on one occasion to try to haul out the dead body but the wreckage held it too fast, After that the fire in the wreckage raged so hot that we could not approach nearer than five feet. Later an automobile wrecker arrived and we used a bucket of the wrecker's equipment in an attempt to extinguish the flames. After the fire was extinguished the charred body was removed by a Neoga undertaker."

Obit contributed by Robert (Bob) Young at [email protected] 
( A horrific accident from the January 1931 Neoga

News. Bernard Higgins was the brother of my mother Neva (Higgins) Young. I am old enough to know that the Model A Ford had a gas tank at the rear of the engine in front of the dash board thus providing a gravity feed for gasoline to the carburetor of the engine. In accidents it was subject to fire and burning up the car which is what happened to Bernard. I can still remember his mother Rosa Higgins weeping very early in the morning
when we learned of the accident. )

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