Shadrach Ford Driggs

Shadrach Ford Driggs, son of Urial Driggs (1780 - 1846) and Hannah Ford (1780 - 1848), was born 28 August 1813 at Ashtabula County, Ohio, and died at the age of 85 on 26 October 1898 at Pleasant Grove, Utah County, Utah. He was buried at Pleasant Grove City Cemetery, Pleasant Grove, Utah County, Utah, Plot: A-09-003-13.

He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and emigrated to Utah at the age of 38 with the Uriah Curtis Company in 1852. Shadrach married (1) Eliza Elizabeth White (1812 - 1896) June 1836 at Provo, Utah County, Utah Territory; they had twelve known children. He also married (2) Cecelia Harvey (1819 - 1905) on 30 March 1856 at Provo, Utah County, Utah Territory; they had one known child. The 1880 U.S. Federal Census shows Cecelia and her mother, Sarah Harvey, living with Shadrach and Eliza.

Marriages and Children

1. Eliza Elizabeth White (please note that vitals are not known for all of Shadrach and Eliza's children and the following list may not be in the exact order of birth):
   1. Benjamin Woodbury Driggs (13 May 1837 Fredonia, Licking, Ohio - 1 October 1913)
   2. Hannah Jane Driggs (5 June 1839 Fredonia, Licking, Ohio - 18 April 1908)
   3. Apollos Griffin Driggs (12 October 1841 - 15 September 1918)
   4. Isaac Ashton Driggs (23 January 1842 Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois - 9 April 1874)
   5. Parley Pratt Driggs (30 November 1844 Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois - 18 May 1919)
   6. Charles Barnum Driggs (8 August 1847 Big Pigeon, Pottawattamie, Iowa - 2 july 1927)
   7. Ruth Driggs (5 December 1848 Big Pigeon, Pottawattamie, Iowa - May 1849 Iowa City, Wright, Iowa)
   8. Mark Driggs (April 1850 Big Pigeon, Pottawattamie, Iowa - April 1857)
   9. Eliza M. Driggs (12 October 1852 Kaysville, Davis, Utah Territory - 9 December 1914)
   10. Daniel Shadrach Driggs (25 January 1853 Pleasant Grove, Utah, Utah - 22 November 1927)
   11. Mary Melissa Driggs (23 January 1855 Pleasant Grove, Utah, Utah - 11 April 1929)
2. Cecelia Harvey
   1. Maria Matilda Driggs (1857 - 1893)

Obituary: DEATH OF ANOTHER PIONEER

Shadrach Ford Driggs of Pleasant Grove Passes Away

Correspondence Tribune

Pleasant Grove, Oct. 27 - Shadrach Ford Driggs died Wednesday evening, October 25th of old age at his home in Pleasant Grove. He was born in the State of Ohio, August 25, 1813. His father, Urial, was born in New York State, April 29, 1780, and became a member of the Mormon church in the wilderness of Ohio, and the family gathered with that people finally to Nauvoo. Shadrach was a wagonmaker, and built many of the wagons that first crossed the plains with the pioneers. He used up all his seasoned timber and had none to use for himself, so he cut up the big temple cart at Nauvoo and made two wagons out of that, with which he emigrated West, leaving there in 1846 for the Bluffs, but did not land in Salt Lake City until October 2, 1852. He soon after moved to Pleasant Grove, which has since been his home. He married Eliza White in June, 1836, and survived her two years. They had eleven children, most of whom survive them, and who constitute mainly the different Driggs tribes in Utah today.

{** This paragraph is incorrect; see below.}The ancestors of the deceased, who were the pioneers to America, landed in Boston April 7, 1703, from England, where their ancestry is traced over 1000 years, when they emigrated from Normandy for England in the year 735, during the reign of King Thiery IV, of France.

Shadrach was an honest, hard working man, a regular good-hearted Yankee, and jovial with all, not overzealous in religion, but sincere. He made and mended wagons to within a few days of his death. The funeral takes place at Pleasant Grove, Friday, October 28th.

** Please note that the information about Shadrach's early ancestors contained in this obituary is wrong. It's based on a fictitious genealogy published in the 19th century and should be completely disregarded. Shadrach's immigrant ancestors were from Portugal. Geni's tree is being corrected to reflect the correct origin of the Driggs family. See the Discussion section, below, for more information.

Discussion

The Driggs family 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.

Sources

• Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel: Shadrach Ford Driggs
• United States Census, 1860
• United States Census, 1870
• Find A Grave Memorial# 38513
• The Salt Lake Tribune, Oct 28 1898, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States Of America