The Rigdon Family Album: Hillbillies down Home in America

From a college president who wrote books on English grammar to sharecrop farmers who couldn't read or write...From the foothills of Pennsylvania to the swamps of south Georgia...From an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1844, to a member of a highly successful rock band in the 1980's...Dreamers all... a lot of preachers, a few doctors, a handful of attorneys - but mostly just rock solid middle class folks who never quite made it to the right place at the right time.We were there...
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From a college president who wrote books on English grammar to sharecrop farmers who couldn't read or write...From the foothills of Pennsylvania to the swamps of south Georgia...From an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1844, to a member of a highly successful rock band in the 1980's...Dreamers all... a lot of preachers, a few doctors, a handful of attorneys - but mostly just rock solid middle class folks who never quite made it to the right place at the right time.We were there in 1829 when gold was discovered in Dahlonega, GA... We were there in 1849 when the wild dash was made to California. We were some of the first to lose it all in Alaska... and at least one of us struck it big. Jerry Rigdon of Atlanta, GA won 2 million dollars in the lottery in 1993.All in all though, I feel this notice which appeared in the Sep. 5, 1840 edition of the Huntsville, AL Democrat, about sums up the net worth of most of the family:Six and a fourth cents reward! Ran away or was stolen by his mother, Rebecca Rigdon from a subscriber living in Marshall County. Riley Rigdon, a bound boy. ---Stephen Baxter.These are the Rigdons - my family - hillbillies all - who've found a home in America.The Rigdon family name originated in southeastern England. The word "RIG" means hill and "DUNN" means dwelling, hence the meaning one who lives in the hills, i.e. hillbilly.I remember as a kid the special kind of pull that Scottish bagpipes seemed to have on me. One time when I was just a kid, I followed the Christmas parade the entire route, keeping up with the Scottish bagpipe band just to hear the music. When the parade was over I found myself lost on the other end of town and spent several hours trekking back.My mother loves to tell the story that when I was about 3, on my first trip to the mountains, I became so excited at the sight that I cried to take one of the mountains home with me and put it in my sand box.I didn't realize then that these incidents were awakening long hidden ancestral urges. As I've researched the Rigdon name I've come to understand myself better while gaining an understanding of those who've gone before.