Descendants of James Rigby, schoolmaster, d. 1801The Rigbys of Pennsylvania
Journal

The research logJournal

Short entries written as the research happens — one document, one correction, or one dead end at a time. When enough of them collect around a subject they get turned into a full page.

27 July 2026  ·  A single document

One word in a militia file

A Chester County militia card of 7 June 1779, remarks column: POOR. Authority: the county appeal book.

27 July 2026  ·  A correction

There were two James Rigbys, and I had been mixing them

The 1800 septennial list of Marple names a James Rigbey in the same year the federal census puts ours in Aston. Which means the 1798 stone house probably belongs to the other man.

27 July 2026  ·  A correction

The schoolhouse that hadn’t been built yet

Our notes had James Rigby teaching in the octagon school-house at Village Green. The deed that built it is dated 11 May 1802, fourteen months after he died.

Entries are dated by when the research was done.