Welcome! Rick Todd here. Whether you are close family, distant relative, or curious browser, I hope you find the relationships and stories of the Todd/Riggs/Ferguson/Jäder family tree interesting and enlightening.

 

I have my grand aunt Zilpha (Riggs) Lehmer to thank for this site and the family treasures it holds. At a visit in 1978 I had peppered her with family questions. A while later, Aunt Zilpha sent me a letter with her Riggs family DAR genealogy research written in her small delicate hand. They were names and dates, stretching back to the Revolutionary War. I knew there was a story behind each name and I wanted to learn more.

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The proliferation of genealogy websites and DNA testing companies opens up a universe of documents, information and possibilities. But, like fake news and conspiracy theories, false information abounds in the genealogy world. I have tried to apply my scientific training to the pursuit of family knowledge, seeking multiple documentary verification, weighing all possibilities, and clearly identifying and testing relationship theories. Many times I feel like a detective, piecing together a mystery, trying to solve a case with a handful of disparate clues. That's the fun of it.

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I dedicate this work to my ancestors, who came to America from Sweden, Finland, Scotland, Ireland, England, Germany and Switzerland; to my dear parents, siblings, children, grand children and cousins; and to my descendants, who I hope will continue the work to discover the lives and stories of their ancestors.