Emanuel Driggus

Manuell Driggus was at one time an indentured servant owned by Francis Pott, a not so well-to-do English land owner in Magotha Bay, Northampton County, VA. This occurred sometime prior to 1645, when Northampton County records first show him purchasing a cow from Pott.

Within a few years, after alternately being referred to as Rodriguez, Rodriges, Rodriggs, Driggus, Driges, or Drighouse, the name became Driggers. Emmanuel was apparently a very hard working, energetic person and eventually gained his freedom.

He was to be known as the patriarch of the Driggers family in VA. He eventually traded for and bought land, was able to raise cattle, horses and tobacco and obtain freedom for himself and some of his children.

Family

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Driggers-126

"Emmanuel had ten children (3 adopted, 5 by Francis and two by Elizabeth a white woman he married in 1661.) He purchased the freedom of his wife Francis and son James' and at least that of his adopted daughters, but not his son Thomas nor his eldest born daughter Ann who Pott sold to a white planter Pannell "to have and to hould the same with all her increase forever." There was also a son Edward who was sold away while at the age of three, I believe.

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Emanuel Driggus (surname was possibly derived from Rodriguez) (b. c. 1620s-d. 1673) and his wife Frances were Atlantic Creole slaves in the mid-seventeenth century in Virginia, of the Chesapeake Bay Colony. They first appear in a record of sale in 1640 to Captain Francis Potts; at the time they arranged for a contract of limited indenture for their two children in service.[1] The Driggus couple had other children, who were born into slavery. In 1657, Captain Potts sold two of their children, Thomas and Ann Driggus, to pay off some personal debt.[1]

Driggus was freed after the death of Potts in 1658. By then he was a widower and had remarried, but he continued to provide for the enslaved children from his first marriage. He bequeathed a horse to his daughters Francy and Jane before his death in 1673.[2] Driggers' son married a free person of color after having been sold along with one of his sisters by enslaver Francis Potts. Son of the 1619 Project Manuel Driggus who purchased as cow in 1645, slave of Francis Potts.

• :“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Driggus Emanuel Driggus (b. c. 1620s-d. 1673) and his wife Frances were Atlantic Creole slaves in the mid-seventeenth century in Virginia, of the Chesapeake Bay Colony.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Driggus Emanuel Driggus (surname was possibly derived from Rodriguez) (b. c. 1620s-d. 1673) and his wife Frances were Atlantic Creole slaves in the mid-seventeenth century in Virginia, of the Chesapeake Bay Colony. They first appear in a record of sale in 1640 to Captain Francis Potts; at the time they arranged for a contract of limited indenture for their two children in service.[1] The Driggus couple had other children, who were born into slavery. In 1657, Captain Potts sold two of their children, Thomas and Ann Driggus, to pay off some personal debt.[1]

Driggus was freed after the death of Potts in 1658. By then he was a widower and had remarried, but he continued to provide for the enslaved children from his first marriage. He bequeathed a horse to his daughters Francy and Jane before his death in 1673.[2]

His son Thomas Driggus eventually married a free black woman; because she was free, their children were born free.[1] According to the principle of partus sequitur ventrem, adopted into Virginia law in 1662, children born in the colony took the status of their mother. This principle, which contributed to the expansion of chattel slavery, was widely adopted by other colonies and incorporated into state laws after the American Revolutionary War.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/drigge...

Emanuel Rodriguez, progenitor of the Driggers, is among the first Africans in this country whose biographies can be constructed from the records of the period. Secondly, unlike the Pendarvises who were the heirs of a wealthy white father, Emanuel Drigger (as his name came to be Anglicized), although a free man, had only his work and wits with which to hold on to whatever advantages came with being among the earliest non-natives to establish themselves in this country. …

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Television documentary narrated by Morgan Freeman: Slavery and the Making of America -Episode 1 - The Downward Spiral is the first hour of the four-part series, Slavery and The Making of America. Through the lives of Anthony Portuguese, John Punch, Emmanuel Driggus, Frances Driggus, and several others, this hour tells the complicated story of the establishment of slavery in British America (albeit natives owned slaves after each war and Spanish had slaves), the transition from indentured servitude and 'half freedom' to African and African-American enslavement for life, the brief but bloody Stono Rebellion of 1739 in South Carolina, and the establishment of the 'Black Codes,' regulating virtually every aspect of slave life. Episode one opens in the 1620s with the introduction of 11 men of African descent and mixed ethnicity into slavery in New Amsterdam. Working side by side with white indentured servants, these men labored to lay the foundations of the Dutch colony that would later become New York. There were no laws defining the limitations imposed on slaves at this point in time. Enslaved people, such as Anthony d'Angola, Emmanuel Driggus, and Frances Driggus could bring suits to court, earn wages, and marry. But in the span of a hundred years, everything changed. By the early 18th century, the trade of African slaves in America was expanding to accommodate an agricultural economy growing in the hands of ambitious planters. After the 1731 Stono Rebellion (a violent uprising led by a slave named Jemmy) many colonies adopted strict "Black Codes" trans-forming the social system into one of legal racial oppression. From IMBD.com

Biography

Emmanuel married Frances Driggers, Ginquasquoa Algonquian. Together they had the following children: Elizabeth Driggers; Frances Driggers; Thomas Driggers; Jane Driggers; Judith Perkins; Edward Driggers.

He died in 1685 in Northampton County, Virginia, United States.

-https://sites.rootsweb.com/~flbakehs/DriggersFamilyResearch.pdf

http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/Driggers_Dutchfield.htm Emmanuel Rodriguez Driggers - Slave on Portugueeze owned ship. Main Researchers - African American Museum - Smithsonian Exhibit on Emmanuel Driggers.

MyHeritage Family Trees Keeper of The Family_s Tree (2) in Harwood Web Site, managed by Loriann Harwood Birth: 1620 - Angola via Portugueese Vessel Death: 1685 - Northampton, Virginia, USA Wife: Elizabeth Driggers Children: Elizabeth Driggers, Frances Driggers, Jane Driggers, Thomas Driggers, Ann Driggers, Edward Driggers, Devorax Driggers, Mary Driggers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Driggus

https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.php?b=Driggus_Emanuel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ysKSVJEmCc&t=1063s This video shows Emmanuel Driggers information

He was at one time a slave or indentured servant owned by Francis Pott, a not so well-to-do English landowner in Magothy Bay, Northampton County, VA. Some say that Emmanuel Rodriguez was of African descent (whether Sub-Sahara or north-ern Africa is not known, perhaps he was Arabic). He was probably brought to Barbados or New Netherland where he was somewhat educated and allowed to become accustomed to the new world before he was taken to Virginia and purchased by Mr. Pott. This occurred sometime prior to 1645 when Northampton County records first show him purchasing a cow from Pott. Within a few years, after alternately being referred to as Rodriguez, Rodriges, Rodriggs, and Driggers; the name became Drig-gers, with some variations cropping up such as Driggus, Drigghouse, etc. —things were spelled as they were pronounced. (See box on the following page.)There has also been speculation that Emmanuel could have been of Portuguese descent, the product of a Portuguese (or Spanish) master and a slave mother. Perhaps he was an African or Mideasterner formerly owned by such a master. Emmanuel was apparently a very hard working, energetic person and eventually gained his freedom. He was to be known as the patriarch of the Driggers family in VA. He eventually traded for and bought land, was able to raise cattle, horses, and tobacco, and obtain freedom for himself and some of his children (but not our Thomas). At the time Emmanuel lived, American slavery had not yet fully developed as we know it from stories such as ‘Gone with the Wind’ or ‘Roots.’ There was little difference between slaves and indentured servants, easier for slaves to gain their freedom and although there were certainly harsh laws; they were less harsh than by the 1800s. (For instance, we saw in 1645 where Emmanuel purchased a cow and calf from Francis Pott, his master, and recorded the sale in the Northampton County Court.)However, as we saw with Sarah, the lash was still a punishment. A freed slave was still not treated like an average free white person. Race was becoming a more significant factor. In 1649, Emmanuel and his wife, Frances were assigned as servants to a man named Stephen Charlton, to pay a debt that Francis Pott owed to Charlton. Throughout this time Emmanuel was able to buy some more cattle and through breeding, he started to build a small herd. On May 24, 1652, Emmanuel Driggers bought his daughter, Jane Driggers’ freedom from Francis Pott. On December 30, 1652, Francis Pott and Stephen Charlton clarified the status of the cattle he and a friend, Bashaw Fernando acquired while they were servants (slaves), declaring that “ye said cattle, etc. are ye proper goods of the sd Negroes.” In 1656 Emmanuel gave a black heifer to a young slave on a nearby plantation. Pott died in 1658 and his widow married William Kendall. Kendall freed Driggers' companion, Bashaw Fernando, declaring in court that it was the verbal request of Pott before he died. There is no record of Emmanuel's manumission, but he was freed not long afterward (probably the same year, 1858). On September 16, 1661, he sold a black heifer to Joan, daughter of Peter George. By October 1, 1661, he had married his second wife Elizabeth (Frances, mother of Thomas, having died the previous year), with whom he made a deed of jointure in which he gave her a three-year-old mare. Perhaps as the wife of a newly freed slave, she was concerned about her property rights. She was probably white since she was not tithable (taxed as a slave or head of household, free white women were not taxed unless they were heads of households). He was called "Manuell Rodriges" in 1660-1663 when he was listed as the head of a Northampton County household, paying three tithes. In 1664 he was taxed on only himself, "Manuell Rodriggs." In 1665 he leased 245 acres for 99 years from his former master, William Kendall, and in 1672 assigned the unexpired part of the lease to John Water-son. In 1673 he gave a bay mare to Frances and Ann, his daughters who were still slaves, and a bay mare to Devorick and Mary, his free children. He mentioned his "loving son-in-law William Harman, Negro" In 1677 he was taxable in his own household paying tax on himself. He was last mentioned in a 1685 administration account presented to the court by William Kendall. Although listed as “negroe,” as was his son Thomas, I’m wondering just how black he actually was. A dark-skinned Arab or Portuguese might also have been listed as such. It is commonly believed that the Driggers family is of Melungeon descent. (See Paternal Carter Family History —Could Caroline Carter, Lucretia’s Mother, Have been a Melungeon?”)There is a wealth of information about Melungeons available, I won’t go into the matter here, According to the television documentary, Slavery and the Making of America, although Francis Pott had promised Emmanuel his freedom, he encountered financial troubles and changed his mind. Potts told his son that he would “rather part with anything other than my negroes.” Pott sold Emmanuel’s oldest daughter, Ann for 5,000 lbs of tobacco. At least one other child was also sold. However, by1661 Emmanuel had obtained his freedom, leased 145 acres, and expanded his livestock holdings. He married Frances in about 1636 in Northampton County, VA. Emmanuel had eight children: Elizabeth, Frances, Jane, THOMAS, Ann, Edward, William, Mary, and Devorick. We think Frances was mother to most of his natural children, Elizabeth most certainly was mother to Devorick. Also, the younger Elizabeth may not have been their natural daughter, her indenture stated that she was “given to my negro (Emmanuel Driggers) by one who brought her up by ye space of 8 years.” As the reader can see, there is much information but many mysteries also. Perhaps better DNA testing, and finding more Driggers descendants to take the tests will tell us more in the future. From Rodriguez to Driggers Research bears out the transition of the family name from Rodriguez to Driggers. For one thing, names were spelled like they sounded, and many (especially servants) either could not read or write at all or had very little education. Over time Rodriquez would have been pronounced with a southern instead of Spanish or Portuguese ac-cent. The southern tradition of dropping the first syllable and adding an “er” (such as mosquito becomes “skitter”), in all probability contributed in the present spelling.

References

• https://docplayer.net/75435801-African-american-origins-for-sandra-...

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This man’s child with an unknown woman was Emmanuel Driggers.

Ref: African American Museum of Smithsonian Exhibit on Emmanuel Driggers has him a slave from Angola of non noble birth.'

Notes

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/vitals/KHP9-S62

CAUTION - PLEASE READ - EMANUEL'S FATHER IS UNKNOWN and EMMANUAL FILBERTO DE SAVOIE G7GG-P3B IS NOT HIS FATHER. This man has been repeatedly linked to Emanuel's profile, however, there is absolutely no evidence of a relationship between the two. Italian records show Emanuele Filberto did not have any children. Y-DNA tests of multiple descendants of Emanuel Driggers show a haplogroup of E-M96 or one of its subclades. This is an African haplogroup and its existence shows Emanuel didn't have a father of European descent (as was Emanuele Filberto). Finally, historians tell us Emanuel was an African captured in Ndongo and shipped to the Americas in 1619, which is consistent with the Y-Haplogroup of his descendants and inconsistent with the claim he was fathered by Emmanual Filberto.

Here is a good source of factual information about Emanuel Driggers' origins: https://www.eclectica.org/v5n3/hashaw.html

A must read, Unveiled by K.I. Knight. Lots of information about Emanuel, his wife, and their adopted and biological children.

DRIGGERS Y-DNA PROJECT

Looking for paternal line Driggers descendants to Y-DNA test. Assistance with payment may be available; contact the Project Administrator for more information. See https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/driggers/about

The Driggers DNA Project is a Y-DNA study of ALL men with the Driggers surname, including variant spellings Driggars, Driggous, Driggus, and Drighouse and male line descendants of Joshua "Old Jock" Perkins 1732-1801 (Y-DNA links the Driggers and Old Jock Perkins families). See https://blog.familytreedna.com/big-y-breaks-down-brick-walls-africa...

Current Goals of the Driggers DNA Project:
As of 4 Jul 2023, the Driggers Y-DNA story remains complex; further Y-DNA testing is needed to achieve the Project's goals. They are:
(1) Determine which Driggers families are paternal-line descendants of Emanuel Rodrigues Driggus Driggers (born about 1607 and died about 1685);
(2) Determine the relationships, if any, among the various Driggers families in America;
(3) Determine the nature of the relationship between the Driggers and Joshua Old Jock Perkins families; and
(4) Identify the paternal line of men who do not carry the Perkins or Driggers surname, but who share any of the Perkins or Driggers Y-haplogroups.

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4 JUL 2023 Y-DNA Project Update by Laurie H Constantino
SUMMARY: New Y-DNA test results continue to show the complexity of the Driggers family.

DRIGGERS Y-DNA SURPRISES
1. Y-DNA Testing Proves there are, at Least, Seven Driggers Paternal Lines
2. Six of the Driggers Paternal Lines are NOT Paternal Line Descendants of Emanuel Driggers
3. Only Driggers Families with an African Paternal Line are Likely Paternal Line Descendants of Emanuel
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Three Driggers family groups have a paternal line from Africa. The three groups are unrelated to each other on their paternal line.
- Driggers Paternal Line #1 (African): Shares paternal line with descendants of Joshua Old Jock Perkins (1732-1801, born in Accomack County, VA)
- Driggers Paternal Line #2 (African): Appears to be descended from John Archer (b. abt. 1647, perhaps in Northampton County, VA)
- Driggers Paternal Line #3 (African): Advanced level Y-DNA testing is needed to understand Driggers Paternal Line #3 (funds to do this advanced testing have been committed - waiting for sale to purchase upgrades)

Four Driggers family groups have a paternal line from Northern Europe. These groups are likely descended from Driggers women or adoptees. The four groups are unrelated to each other on their paternal line.
- Driggers Paternal Line #4 (EUROPEAN): Shares paternal line with men named Quick
- Driggers Paternal Line #5 (EUROPEAN): Shares paternal line with men named Roberts & Leonard
- Driggers Paternal Line #6 (EUROPEAN): Shares paternal line with men named Sumrall & Hazelwood
- Driggers Paternal Line #7 (EUROPEAN): Shares paternal line with men named Pace, Pate, Prince, Barrett, Hyatt, etc.
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How Is This Possible?
Most claim Emanuel is the direct paternal line ancestor of all Americans with the surname Driggers. We now know this isn't true. How is this possible?

Emanuel had at least eight children, some of whom were adopted and may have passed on the Driggers surname.

In addition to descendants of Emanuel’s sons, there were single Driggers women whose children took their mother’s surname and did not have a Driggers paternal line ancestor.

There are yet others, as in all families, with “birth certificate” Driggers fathers who weren’t biological fathers (commonly referred to as an NPE or Not Parent Expected).
In other words, not all Driggers are paternal line descendants of Emanuel; some are descended from adopted Driggers, from Driggers women, or are NPEs.
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Oldest known ancestor for each Driggers Y-DNA tester

Driggers Paternal Line #1 (AFRICAN) – Matches Joshua “Old Jock” Perkins Descendants
· John Capers Driggers 1813-1973 (wife Nancy Burbage)
· John Driggers 1842-bef 1895 (wife Elizabeth Pendarvis)
· Daniel Driggers 1840-1927 (wife Margaret Burbage)
· Elisha Driggers 1770-1824 (wife Doney Odom)

Driggers Paternal Line #2 (AFRICAN) – Descended from John Archer?
· Moses Driggers 1790-1850 (wife Elizabeth Rogers)
· William Alfred Driggers Sr 1849- (wife Frances Bunch)

Driggers Paternal Line #3 (AFRICAN) – Need Advanced Testing to Accurately Group
· Moses Driggers 1796- (wife Nancy Turner)
· Chesley Driggers 1819- (wife Margaret Talley)
· George Thomas Driggers 1895-1978 (wife Ruth Tipton)

Driggers Paternal Line #4 (EUROPEAN) – Matches Quick Descendants
· Abner Driggers 1812-1889 (wife Nancy Harrell Scott)

Driggers Paternal Line #5 (EUROPEAN) – Matches Leonard & Roberts Descendants
· Henry J Driggers 1824-aft 1880 (wife Frances Mary Harper)
· Jackson Joseph Driggers 1837-1910 (wife Margaret Crosby)
· Matthew N Driggers 1827-1909 (wife Martha Ann Glisson)

Driggers Paternal Line #6 (EUROPEAN) – Matches Hazelwood & Sumrall Descendants
· Andrew Jackson Driggers 1824-1855 (wife Mary Polly Williams)

Driggers Paternal Line #7 (EUROPEAN) – Matches Pace, Pate, Prince, Barrett, Hyatt, etc. Descendants
· Elisha Driggers 1820- (wife Mary Bird)

References

• https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/drigge...
• http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/Driggers_Dutchfield.htm
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Driggus
• https://docplayer.net/75435801-African-american-origins-for-sandra-...
• Its an internet myth that Emanuel Filibert of Savoy, viceroy of Sicily married Enslaved African and were the parents of Emmanuel Rodriguez, later Driggers
• http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/Driggers_Dutchfield.htm “ DRIGGERS FAMILY” *Emmanuel had eight children: Elizabeth, Frances, Jane, THOMAS, Ann, Edward, William, Mary, and Devorick. We think Frances was mother to most of his natural children, Elizabeth most certainly was mother to Devorick. Also, the younger Elizabeth may not have been their natural daughter, her indenture stated that she was “given to my negro (Emmanuel Driggers) by one who brought her up by ye space of 8 years.”
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/vitals/KHP9-S62
• https://www.eclectica.org/v5n3/hashaw.html
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Emmanuel_Driggus/Driggers_Family

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Emanuel Driggus was an enslaved man who restored freedom to himself and several members of his family. He exemplifies the possibilities and the limitations that free blacks encountered in seventeenth-century Virginia. Driggus gained his freedom sometime before 1661, and in the 1660s and 1670s integrated himself into the Eastern Shore‘s agricultural economy as a horse breeder and tobacco planter. The last mention of Driggus in the Northampton County public records is reference to a debt of several hundred pounds of tobacco that he owed in 1685 to a recently deceased planter. The date and place of his death are not recorded.
See more in this reference:

• Reference: Emmanuel Driggus in EncyclopediaVirginia.org

According to the referenced article, his 7-8 year old foster daughter Elizabeth was indentured in 1645; assuming Emmanuel was at least 20 in order to take responsibility for her, Emanuel was likely born before 1625.