Arthur James Figgins

was born on 28 June 1890 in Shelby County, Illinois, the first child of Jacob and Laura Figgins. His mother was just sixteen years old when he was born. When he was 20, in 1910, he was working as a farmhand and living with a neighbor of his parents. By 1917 he was living in California where he signed in for the WWI Registration. There he states that he has a disability in his left hand and wrist. From about 1917 until 1930, he lived with his uncle Will and aunt Della according to census records.

He was married to Edna Vivian Markham, but I don't know when, where, or how long they were married. In her obituary in 1986, Art is called her beloved husband; but the 1940 census reports his marital status as d. (divorced).

Art ran a street car for about 12 years and drove a bus for many more after that. Art died on 25 July 1965 at the age of 75 in Stockton, California. He was buried on the 29th of July at the Park View Cemetery in Manteca, California. He had no children.

Fourteen Children

Jacob and Laura had fourteen children; the first was born in 1890 and the last in 1919. By the 1920 census, only six were still at home, the rest were already out on their own.

The children in birth order are: Arthur, Burl, Roscoe, Gaylord, Eldon, Doris (sometimes spelled Dorris), Thomas, Henry, Dorothy, Irvin, Elma, Mark, Osa, and Nada. Two, Art and Doris, had no children and the rest bore 37 grandchildren for Jacob and Laura. Some of the older grandchildren are the same age and the two youngest daughters of Jacob and Laura because of the 29 years that separate the oldest from the youngest!

My next fourteen posts will be a short biography of what I know about Jacob and Laura's children. If there are family members who have more information, I would love to hear about it. Please send me any stories that you might know.

Apologies Rendered!

I really hate it when someone starts something and doesn't continue. Like this and my other blogs. I apologize for getting started and not continuing, but I thought I needed to make some plans, find a direction that I wanted to take. You know, be organized! But, no matter what I have done - more research, more data entry in my Roots Magic database program, attending conferences, watching webinaires - I am not any more "prepared" for this. SO I AM JUST GOING TO DO IT!?!

In about three months we will again be joining cousins in Strasburg for our annual Figgins Reunion. Since many of us travel to the area on Saturday and stay over night for the big day on Sunday, we have an informal gathering Saturday night to get started on our catching up on what has been happening in our lives. On Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning our paths cross at the various cemeteries we visit to see the old graves and some more recent ones. We drive around the area and point out where the old generation lived and farmed in Big Spring Township to keep our own memories alive or to share with our children and grandchildren.

As we get older and so do our children, it's harder to get them to attend. They're not only busy with their own families but do not have the connection that we still have to this older generation. So knowing this, maybe they'll read this blog and learn about all those who have gone on before.

Here we have a family photo of Jacob and Laura and their fourteen children. All of them were in attendance at the anniversary party for the parents, except Eldon. If you look close, he is the one that was superimposed in the photo in front of the window. Our near future will be taking a closer look at these children!