I’ve ordered...

1. the Bates Co., MO marriage license and certificate - obtained 14 June 2005
2. Social Security info for son Richard Briggs
3. Social Security info for dau Hulda

1860 - Judith has been found on the 1860 census with her family in Deep Water Township, Henry County, Missouri. Her age was listed as 6/12 when the census was taken on 24 July.

1860, July 24th — Deep Water Twp, Henry County, Missouri - next door to brother Willis T. Rucker.34
Charles Rucker 29 Farmer 1440 285 KY
Margaret A. 26 KY
James H. 6 KY
Mary F. 4 KY
Elizabeth 2 MO
Judith 6/12 MO

From my Rucker / Lynch / Saults family notes - Judith “was” mentioned, but all it said was "there was another sister and they lost track of her." Going with that information it looks like she survived the Civil War, but was living near her Brim uncles and aunts. So the Rucker girl listed in the 1870 census could be the one in the same. She later married in Bates County, Missouri.

1870 - On the 1870 census for Henry County, Missouri there is a girl named Jeanette Rucker, who is the same age Judith Rucker would have been. This girl is living with a family in the White Oak Twp of Henry Co. On the same census, her sisters Elizabeth and Mary are living a short distance east –each with different families in Elk Fork Township, Ionia City, Pettis County, Missouri. Their sister Henrietta “was not” found on the 1870 census; however, she “can” be found in the White Oak Twp in the 1880 census. This is the same area were Jeanette Rucker was found in the 1870 census. To explain, White Oak Township is to the west of Deep Water Twp where Charles E. Rucker’s family was found on the 1860 census, and Elk Fork Twp was to the east. I believe that in this area the county line of Pettis and Henry shifted, which later put Elk Fork in Pettis Co.

Henry County Missouri 1870 Federal Census
WHITE OAK TOWNSHIP
Enumerated Aug 26 thru Sept 1, 1870

03 50 50 SCHRODER Richard 52 m w $13,000 $1000 farmer PA 1818365
04 SCHRODER Eliza 48 f w $0 $0 keeping house PA 1822
05 SCHRODER Charles 12 m w $0 $0 - MO 1858
06 RUCKER Jeanette 10 f w $0 $0 - MO 1860

1880 - On the 1880 census Richard Shroder was listed with his new wife Sarah. She has three children from a previous marriage. They are listed as step-children named Youngblood -the youngest is age one. Looks like Richard had recently remarried within the year. Richard's household is only a few families away from where Judith's sister, Henrietta is living as a servant with the Hackney family. Judith Rucker has not been found in the 1880 census. Her other sister Mary can be found in Kansas City, Jackson Co. and Elizabeth can be found in Knob Noster, Johnson Co.

1887, August 27 - Edward E. Briggs marries Judy A. Rucker in Bates Co., MO. She was married in the home of Thomas Brick. Judith's age was established by an affidavit by her husband to be, Edward Briggs. The marriage certificate states that the affidavit is on file, but the Bates County office has informed me that all records have since been destroyed. She has been indexed as Judy W. Rucker for this marriage with Ancestry.com366

On the 1880 census Edward can be found in the Spruce Township, Bates Co., MO census. This township lies next to White Oak Township in Henry Co., MO where Henrietta Rucker, and possibly Judith, were living at the time. Edward would have been 34 years old and Judith would have been 28 – would have been a late marriage for both?

It is also known that Judith had other relatives in the Bates / Vernon county areas. The Brim people lived in this area as well.

father - Calvin BRIGGS b. 1810 RI. He died unknown

mother - Esther Sally FERRISS b. 1816 OH - d. 31 Jan 1899 Durango, La Plata Co., Colorado.

They had the following children:
Gilbert J BRIGGS b abt 1839 NY
Francis I BRIGGS b abt 1841 NY
Maria BRIGGS b abt 1843 IL
Ellen O BRIGGS b abt 1846 IL
Sarah J BRIGGS b abt 1848 IL
Emery H BRIGGS b abt 1851 IL. He stayed in Central, Barton Co. MO found on 1900 census
Edward E BRIGGS b 1853 iIL
Zelpha BRIGGS b abt 1856

1892 - there is a Calvin J. Briggs living in Wichita, Kansas. He was listed in the 1892 City Directory Wichita, Kansas. This could be Calvin J. Briggs, who is the father of Edward E. Briggs. They are living on South Water Street in Wichita City. It looks like this group moved together over time from Missouri to Kansas to Colorado to Arizona. It is known that Calvin Sr.'s wife Esther died in 1899, Durango, La Plata Co., CO. Also, Edwards's daughter Hulda was born in Colorado in 1892. So if this is the same family. It looks like this three-generation-of-Briggs-family-group moved while Judith was pregnant from Kansas to Colorado, then she gave birth in Colorado (going on Hulda's 1910 census entry).

1900 - None of the above people have been found in the 1900 census

except for...Georgia Carver (Edward's next wife) and her father are living in District 54 Durango, La Plata with her sister Kate Russell, husband and family. This area is where Georgia and Edward E. Brigss are found living in the 1910 census.

1901-2 - From the 1910 census it looks like Judith died sometime around 1901-2 in Colorado, but the death records for La Plata CO., CO did not start until 1920. Edward then married Georgia Carver -possibly in the Durango, La Plata County, Colorado around 1902.

1910 - May have found them in Colorado
Edward E Briggs 55 b abt 1855 in Illinois
Home in 1910: Animas, La Plata, Colorado - Series: T624, Roll: 121, Part: 1, Page: 110A
...Edward is now with his second wife. There are three children living with them from his previous marriage to Judy W. Rucker.

Briggs, Edward E. 55 m2 IL NY NY married to current wife for 8 years
Georgia B 46 m1 MI VT NY
Calvin A. 21 MO IL MO b. 1889
Richard F. 20 MO IL MO b. 1890
Hulda M. 18 CO IL MO b. 1892
Carver, George R. father-in-law 84 wd VT VT VT

From the notes gathered so far it kind-of looks like...

1888 to 1891-ish - Edward and Judith were in Bates Co., Missouri, and possibly later, Wichita, Kansas
1892-ish Edward and Judith are now in Colorado
1893 - Hulda was born
1893 to 1902 - Judith dies sometime during this period, possibly at Hulda’s birth, who was born in Colorado in 1893
1902 - Edward married Georgia B. Carver

1920 - None of the above people have been found in the 1920 census

1930 - Lowell, Cochise County, Arizona
Edward E. Briggs b. 1855 is now living with his son Calvin J. Briggs b. 1892 and his wife Bertha in Arizona. Their son Frank who was 9 was born in CO.

1945, March 14th - Edward Everett Briggs lived to be 91. He died in Phoenix, AZ on 14 March 1945 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery (not avaliable on the net). I downloaded the death certificate from the internet -it was one of the easiest and civilized things I've ever done. It has his father's name Calvin Briggs, mother unknown. His son Calvin J. Briggs was the Informant. Now, here's the crazy bit. The wife's name is listed as Annie Edith Briggs, so it looks like he may have married for a third time -unless you could get that name out of Judy W. or Georgia, but I don't really see how.

1963 - Found this information on the son Richard. Looks like he lived long enough to get a Social Security number. I ordered this information on 25 May 2005
BRIGGS, RICHARD - death info from Rootsweb SS search - sent for on 25 May 2005
548-12-8448
Birth: 15 Apr 1890
Death: Jan 1963

There is a possibility that Edward married a third time. On his death certificate it says that his wife's name was Annie Edith Briggs. However, on the son Richard's SS application form it says his mother was Anna Hunt. It's a bit confusing since his birth mother was Judith Ann Rucker, so I will be showing that there could be three wives for Edward Everett Briggs until further notice.

1900 - missing, should be in Colorado near La Plata or Animas counties

1910 - found in Animas, La Plata Co., Colorado

1920 - missing, either CO or AZ

1930 - found in Lowell, Cochise County, Arizona