Joseph Driggs aka Jose Rodrigues

Please Note

The Driggs family's original immigrant ancestor has been widely cited as Josias Dratz of Brooklyn. This information has been included in published genealogies, family surname foundations, and other significant genealogical sources for two hundred years - but it appears that it is wrong. New evidence, including DNA testing, extensive research, and a thorough examination of the evidence by family researcher Richard W. Davis of Provo, Utah, indicates that Joseph Driggs was born Jose Rodrigues and was from Portugal, possibly from the Azore Islands.

Furthermore, “The Driggs Family in England” by Seth Beach Driggs, published in 1856 and widely-cited ever since, appears to be wholly fictitious. Information from this book was published in Shadrach Ford Drigg's obituary, and was circulated by Shadrach's son Benjamin Woodbury Driggs, eventually being used as the basis for “Genealogical and Family History of the State of Connecticut”, 1911 New York, Lewis Historical Publishing company, and “New England Families, genealogical and memorial: a record of the ...., Volume 3, edited by William Richard Cutter, 1913.

In-depth discussion of this topic is available at Origins of the Driggs Family.

• Joseph Driggs was not the same man as Josias Dratz of Brooklyn:
  • A great deal of research has been done in Brooklyn and there is no connection between the two men.
  • Additionally, the Dratz family was never known as DeRaet.
  • The Dratz family was literate, and were British citizens. Joseph Driggs was illiterate and English was his second language.
  • yDNA testing has provided conclusive evidence that the Driggs and Dratz families were not at all related.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88685572/joseph-driggs