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His grandfather, Scott Riggs, came to Illinois in 1815 and settled on Allison Prairie, in Lawrence County, which was then a part of Crawford. He was a blacksmith, farmer and preacher. He served as a member of the first Legislature of the State in 1818. He was active in uniting the Christians and Disciples in that part of the State. He moved to Scott County in 1825, and was a member of the church at Exeter at the time of his death
J. M. Riggs served one term as sheriff of Scott County was a member of the Twenty-seventh Illinois Legislature, of the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth United States Congreases, was nineteen years a member of the Winchester Board of Education, and an officer of the board during the entire period. He has long been an active member and efficient officer of the Winchester Church.