Adeline Amerilla Riggs

Adeline Amerilla Hamblin (1823 - 1895), daughter of Isaiah Hamblin (1790 - 1856) and Daphne Hayes (died 1847), was born 18 September 1823 at Munson, Geaugua County, Ohio; she died at the age of 71 on 20 July 1895 at Kanab, Kane County, Utah Territory, and was buried at Kanab City Cemetery. She married (1) Lyman Omer Littlefield; (2) John Ensign Riggs, son of Amasa Riggs (1797 - 1843) and Marvillee Litchfield (1802 - 1854), on 17 August 1851 at Tooele City, Tooele, Utah Territory.

Marriages and Children

1. Lyman Omer Littlefield, married 31 January 1846 Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois; divorced before 1851
   1. Charles Hamblin Littlefield Riggs (25 April 1846 Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, Iowa - 17 September 1932 Eagar, Apache County, Arizona) married Nancy Marie Babbitt on 29 November 1875 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory. Adopted by John Ensign Riggs.
2. John Ensign Riggs, married 17 August 1851 Tooele City, Tooele, Utah Territory
   1. Albert Ensign Riggs (14 November 1852 Tooele, Tooele County, Utah Territory - 30 August 1933) married Margery Ann Stewart on 22 September 1873 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah Territory
   2. Herbert Edwin Riggs (2 November 1854 Tooele, Tooele County, Utah Territory - 15 August 1914 Kanab, Kane County, Utah) married Sarah Sabina Adams on 18 September 1884 St. George Temple, St. George, Washington County, Utah Territory
   3. Adeline Edwina Riggs (2 November 1854 Tooele, Tooele County, Utah Territory - 15 December 1920) married George Alfred Burgon on 3 October 1870
   4. Brigham Adelbert Riggs (30 April 1857 Tooele, Tooele County, Utah Territory - 31 March 1945 Kanab, Kane County, Utah) married Rachel Ford on 12 October 1882 St. George, Washington County, Utah Territory
   5. Wallace Amasa Riggs (19 January 1860 Santa Clara, Washington County, Utah Territory - 1867)
   6. Mary Agnes Riggs (29 November 1863 Santa Clara, Washington County, Utah Territory - 4 November 1954 Safford, Graham County, Arizona) married William Derby Johnson Jr on 27 April 1884 St. George, Washington County, Utah Territory

Biographical Sketch

Adeline Amarilla Hamblin was the fifth of the twelve children of Isaiah Hamblin and Daphne Haynes, born on 18 September 1823 in Ohio. She became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on 24 December 1844, having been converted to the church by her brother Jacob. All of her father’s family joined the LDS Church.

The Hamblin family emigrated to Utah with the Aaron Johnson Company of 1850; Adeline was the only daughter who survived the trip. They were sent to the Tooele Valley where they built their houses in the form of a fort to protect themselves. While living in Tooele Valley, Adeline taught school.

Adeline married John Ensign Riggs and they continued to live in Tooele until they were called to settle Santa Clara in Washington County, Utah Territory. Adeline doing her doctoring with the few available medicines and what herbs they were able to obtain. While living in Santa Clara, Adeline and John Riggs traveled to Salt Lake City and had their marriage sealed in the Endowment House. Later after the Saint George Temple was built, they took all their children to the temple and were sealed to them. When they went, they drove a beef steer and gave it to the Temple hands for beef.

She was an exceptionally good cook and fed many at her table, doing her cooking on an open fireplace. When the Santa Clara creek overran its banks and washed away some of the homes, her home was safe and she helped by feeding and caring for the ones left homeless.

Adeline was a serious-minded woman and loved peace and harmony in the home. On winter evenings she would start a game for her children to play until they became tired and went to bed. She was a woman of great patience.

In May 1871, she moved with her husband, children, household goods, and livestock from Santa Clara to Kanab, Kane County, Utah Territory. While here she obtained her first sewing machine, which had been made by the Howe Machine Company. She made all her husband’s shirts and suits and all the clothes for the children and herself.

She was a woman of large statue, with a full face, large dark eyes and dark brown hair which she wore knotted at the back of her neck. She was considered a good-looking, neat woman. She had a fairly good education. She was a great reader and in her later years she spent her time reading, almost constantly.

John Ensign Riggs died in 1893, leaving Adeline alone in her home, so her oldest son, Charles, came back from Arizona with his wife and family and lived with his aged mother, caring for her until her death on 20 July 1895.