I have wonderful news to share! My cousin Brent Riggs and his wife Nicole are the parents of a new baby boy, Griffin Oliver Riggs. He was born this afternoon, and mom and baby appear to be doing quite well, judging from the photos Nicole posted online.
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| Griffin Oliver Riggs – what a sweetie! |
Brent and Nicole told the extended family in August that they planned to name their son after Brent’s (and my) great-grandfather, G. Oliver Riggs. The G. in that case stood for George, but G. Oliver didn’t like the name George, so he used the initial.
It’s too soon to know what Griffin Oliver will think of his name, but there’s no doubt he will know that he’s loved. Congratulations to his parents and to big brothers Cody and Paul!
I don’t have any baby photos of my great-grandfather, G. Oliver – I wish I did. But I do have a photo of him with my grandfather, Ronald Graham Riggs, as a baby.
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| G. Oliver and Ronald, 1901. |
My grandfather weighed 8 pounds when he was born – the same as Griffin Oliver! According to his parents’ notes, Ronald sang his first tune at about age 15 months, “Hiawatha,” and walked at 16 months. No note was made about when he played his first instrument. At some point, he chose the clarinet.
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| Ronald Riggs, young clarinetist |
Here’s a photo I love because it represents four generations. The woman in the middle is Islea Graham Riggs, my great-grandmother and G. Oliver’s wife; she’s holding baby Ronald. The other woman is Islea’s mom, Flora Bassett Graham, and the distinguished gentleman is Flora’s father, Isaac Newton Bassett, a prominent lawyer in Aledo, Ill., who lived to be 95.
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| Grandmother Flora, Baby Ron, Mom Islea and Great-Grandfather Isaac Newton |
Here’s another photo of young Ronald, who was born 110 years ago. I plan to write more about his musical life next month. Stay tuned!
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| Ronald Graham Riggs, born Oct. 23, 1901 in Crookston, Minn. |
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