John & Mattie Biggs
This website is dedicated to John Henry Biggs and Martha Jane (Mattie) Herring and their posterity. Their lives spanned a period that included the American Civil War, WW1 and WW2. They were contemporaries of events that transformed this country and influenced the world. Their hard-scrabble lives displayed true 19th century Americana and from these beginnings, generations sprang, infused with values and ethics gained "the hard way". Although John & Mattie would count themselves as ordinary people, their lives are worthy symbols of strength and character.
Do you have a desire to know more about our Biggs family? ...searching here is a good start! However, you'll gain more by picking up the phone and calling a cousin or uncle that you haven't seen for a while. Nothing replaces good old-fashioned human contact. So while you browse through the names and pictures here, promise yourself that you'll contact someone. Then truly, something good will happen!
General contact information will not be provided on this website. However, if you contact me (see below), I may be able to help.
John & Mattie's Story is a fusion of family stories and a good deal of research. It adds life and meaning to the lives of the people described here. After reading, come back again at a later date - additional stories are appended from time to time.
Descendants of John & Mattie. You will find all of our family here. Pictures can be viewed by clicking "scrapbook" next to each name. Information on living people is limited to names only.
Ancestors of John or Mattie. Both of our Biggs and Herring lines came from England to Virginia during early colonial America.
Search for people by surname.
Famous Biggs people (and infamous too!) are described here. Are we closely related?...who knows?! However, Asa Biggs is fairly close - he was John's grandfather's first cousin and they shared the same name. This "famous" Asa Biggs was born 23 years after ours was born and I like to think he was named after "our" Asa. If you are interested in learning more about this man, read his autobiography.
Reunion pictures are displayed here. All are posted for a short time and then most are taken down except the group shot which is retained perpetually. In some pictures, there may be unidentified people. If you think you know who they are, please contact me.
Links to related websites. Whether your surname is Biggs or not, your heritage is a blend, no matter where you fit in. Click here to see what others are doing.
Download GEDCOM file (107,664 bytes) If you have genealogy software, you can download my information with this link and then import it to your database. (You may need to right-click on the link and "save target as"