James and Owen Biggins from MonaghanJames and Owen Biggins from MonaghanCathi Biggins, Rosemary Biggins, Sean Biggins, Joan Carlin, and Virginia Biggins Carlin contributed to this story.
James Biggins Bio Patrick Biggins The Beggans of Drumgill Biggins/Beggan Irish Roots Biggins Farm Descendants Home Page
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An 1890 biography of James Biggins states that James and Owen Biggins were born in Co. Monaghan, Ireland, and immigrated to Illinois in 1840. This is important to me because my great great grandfather, Patrick Biggins, lived across the road from James and Owen in Will County, Illinois.
According to Cathi Biggins, great granddaughter of James, Owen and James came to Illinois through a Canadian port. They "worked on the Illinois & Michigan Canal and, with what they earned, bought their land from same." James BigginsJames Biggins was born in 1822. In the 1850 census, his last name was listed as Bagan. He was age 22, born in Ireland, worked as a laborer, and lived on the Hendricks farm in Northville Township, LaSalle County, Illinois (family 80). Northville is in the northeast corner of LaSalle County. In 1851, James purchased farmland from the Illinois-Michigan Canal Commission in Will Co., Illinois. His name was listed as Beagan. His land was on Normantown Road in what is now Romeoville. The James Biggins farm was next to a farm owned by his younger brother Owen Biggins. Romeoville is about 40 miles east of Northville. On February 9, 1861, James Beggins married Catherine Prior (1830-1913). They had six children: Mary Biggins, Owen Biggins, Eugene A. Biggins (1863-1937), James B. Biggins (1865-1908), Edward M. Biggins (1870-1951), and William F. Biggins (1875-1966). James died in Will County on June 15, 1884, at the age of 62.
The biography of James Biggins appears on pages 568 and 569 of Portrait and biographical album of Will County, Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, together with portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States and governors of the state. Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890. Cathi Biggins, a great granddaughter of James, says she was told that their name was Bennett before it was Biggins. "My great aunt who confirmed what my father had told us regarding our 'real' name. The story was that our name was O'Bennett and that James Biggins was an English soldier who was killed and his papers were taken by James O'Bennett and this is how he came to America. The story doesn't make sense as Owen came with James Biggins and he would have needed papers also. I do think the original name was other than Biggins and that the story of the English sailor was embellishment (blarney) added to enchant us as young children." Owen BigginsOwen Biggins was born in 1825. In the 1850 census, his last name was listed as Bagan. He was age 25, born in Ireland, worked as a laborer, and lived on the Rood farm in Mission Township, LaSalle County, Illinois (family 2182). Mission is the next township south of Northville, where his older brother James lived. In 1848, Owen purchased farmland from the Illinois-Michigan Canal Commission in Will Co., Illinois. His name was listed as Bagin. His land was on Normantown Road in what is now Romeoville. The Owen Biggins farm was next to a farm owned by his older brother James Biggins. Romeoville is about 40 miles east of Mission. In 1855, Owen Bagans married Rosanna O’Callaghan. They had no children. Sometime in the 1870s they were divorced. Owen died on April 20, 1885, at the age of 60. The April 23, 1885 issue of The Will County Commercial Advertiser contained an obituary: "Died:- At his residence in Dupage on Monday, April 20th, 1885, Mr. Owen Biggins. The funeral took place yesterday with a solemn high mass celebrated at St. Dennis church by Rev. Dr. McGovern."
Patrick BigginsAcross the road from the farms owned by James and Owen was a farm purchased by my great great grandfather Patrick Biggins on the same day as Owen. Patrick was 15 years older than James and 18 years older than Owen. The biography of James Biggins mentions his brother Owen, but not Patrick. Patrick came to America after first living in Ontario, Canada, where his second child, Ann, was born in 1835.
Name ConvergenceWhile the last name of James and Owen initially was different, it eventually converged on Biggins. There were no Biggins household in the Griffith's Valuation property survey of 1848-64 for County Monaghan. The prevailing names were Began (16 households) and Beggan (14 households).
DNA TestingIn 2008, I had my Y-chromosome DNA tested. The next year, Sean Biggins, a descendant of James Biggins who lived across the road from my ancestor Patrick Biggins, had his DNA tested. The tests confirm that there is a fairly close relationship between our great great grandfathers, Patrick and James Biggins, but not close enough to confirm that they were brothers or even close cousins. There are two kinds of markers for Y-chromosome DNA: STRs and SNPs.
Sean and Peter are two among 12 men within Clan Colla who have "Biggins" DNA. Their names all are derived from beag, the Irish word for little. Surnames were adopted in Ireland for the first time in the 11th and 12th centuries. Historian Peadar Livingstone reported these names in southern Co. Fermanagh and northern Co. Monaghan. See Biggins/Beggan Irish Roots, Family Tree DNA Biggins Project, and DNA of the Three Collas. Sean and Peter have the BY3164 (1376 AD) SNP, as do the three other "Biggins" testers who have tested for it under Big Y. Sean has a later SNP, FT17167 (1409 AD), that he shares with four others, but not Peter. The dates are very rough estimates, but Peter and Sean are appear to be far distant cousins. As indicated by the aqua values for markers 413b and 561, Sean and Peter share unique values shared by all 12 "Biggins" testers among the large group of Clan Colla testers. As indicated by the yellow values, Sean and Peter have differences in eight STR markers. The first four are faster mutating markers, but the last four are slower mutating markers. Red indicates more rapidly mutating markers.
| James and Catherine Prior Biggins: 6 children, 7 grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren
| 2009 Email from Virginia Biggins CarlinThe following is from an email from Virginia Carlin, November 17, 2009, to her daughter, Joan, who found this page on the Internet. Virgina was born Virginia Mary Catherine Biggins in 1921. She is the daughter of William F. Biggins (1875-1966) and Elizabeth Molloy (1895-1988) and the granddaughter of James Biggins (1822-1884) and Catherine Pryor (1830-1913). From my grandfather's obituary -- Catherine had 6 children. Mary (not Mae?) died at birth or shortly thereafter (maybe a breach?). Catherine, aunt Mary told my mother, never forgot it. [Mary Malloy Biggins (1858-1947) was married to was Eugene Biggins (1863-1937).] She never had another girl but fervently wanted one. Five boys followed. There was a George, and I think he was the one who was thrown from his horse and died as a young man, and I recall my mother said he was married. (I must ck that out sometime with St.Denis' Church records). I also had read my grandfather's obit, at the church years ago. Eugene and Mary moved into Joliet before 1920 when my mother, who was living with them, married my father in Sept. 1920. I was born in Nov. 1921. The house they had bought was a virtual mansion, up several STEPS from the avenue where it was located. It had a huge vestibule on entry with a ceiling to floor mirror, two stories, huge living room, dining room and great kitchen. Eugene was no businessman but Aunt Mary wanted the best. They hadn't yet sold their farm but had a renter who was farming some of it. My father had begun an Oil business with another man, a Mr. Williams. They sold oil to farmers, most of whom my dad knew. It was the era of farm machinery replacing manual labor. All went well until the great depression 1929. Aunt Mary and Eugene couldn' sell their farm or their lovely home, got their renter out of the farm house and moved back to the farm. Then they rented out the house. That's how Ray & I could visit them in the summers. [Raymond Biggins (1924-2007) was Virginia's brother.] Life was hard for everyone. Our family had a nice warm home but taxes, Insurance, heat, food, etc. had to be paid. Money was going out but none was coming in. There were no jobs. Men were knocking on doors for food. My mother gave a sandwich, a cookie, and a cup of coffee to any who came--always a few each week. They sat outside. Someone told us about chalk marks on our street near our curb--which we learned was a welcome sign to others to our house for food. Most people wouldn't or couldn't share what they had. Eugene and Mary, while living in town, came often to visit us. Eugene never worried about anything. My father had to handle finances etc. for them. When I was little I would crawl up on Eugene's lap and play with his whiskers, calling them fetters. If a certain lamp was on and it cast shadows, he would put his hand up at an angle and and turning his fingers, he could make figures of shadows on the wall which fascinated me. Aunt Mary was bossy and kept him hopping, but many times he ignored her. When Ray & I would visit on the farm Aunt Mary had a list of chores for us to do but if we wanted to go out on our own or play in the haystack, he would tell us to "get going, run, before she finds you!" He loved to play old records on the old Edison' phonograph which enterained us in the evenings. Aunt Mary hated it - probably because she had to listen to it so often. She had a pet hen she called "Biddy". It came faithfully, every morning we were there, to her back porch door and Aunt Mary would say "come in Biddy". She ran through the kitchen, thru the long dining room and into the living room, jumped up on the couch and laid an egg on the little sheet Mary put there for her. (Talk about fresh eggs-----you couldn't get any fresher!!!! Never learned what happened to Biddy. Probably died of old age; never for dinner. Uncle Eugene died first. My parents took in aunt Mary in her later years who was becoming senile but not from Alzheimers. Two important things to tell Peter. It couldn't have been Owen who died young. I now recall my mother telling me that my Dad was such a good fellow even as a young man. She said he went over to Uncle Owen to take care of him when he was sick and later dying. And my mother talked about an old Uncle Pat who, with his brother, were such good Catholics, would walk all the way from their home into Joliet for Sunday Mass in every kind of weather. (I can't believe they could walk that far. She knew and loved to talk about the past. She heard all those stories from Aunt Mary.) P.S. When the depression was ending my Dad got a job at Gerlach-Barklow Co. He learned Lithography and had many friends. He was a quiet man, but good as gold to his family and everyone.
| 2016 Obituary for Virginia Biggins CarlinSent by Jamee Ryan Carlin, whose father John Carlin is the brother of James F. Carlin, Virginia's husband. Virginia Carlin, age 94, long time resident of Marco Island FL passed away peacefully on October 21, 2016. Virginia was born in Joliet IL and attended Joliet High School. She was a graduate of DePaul University and also studied at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. Virginia was a lifelong member of the Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity for Women. Prior to her retirement on Marco Island, Virginia and her family resided for many years in Elmhurst IL. She looked back on a successful career with great pleasure, that included positions at Bausch and Lomb, Armour Foods and General Motors. A lifelong student and world traveler, in her retirement Virginia also enjoyed studying astronomy, photography, and singing in the San Marco Church Choir and the Marco Island Concert Choir. Among Virginia's many volunteer commitments she loved her time spent volunteering at the Tommy Barfield Elementary school. She was a well-known journalist writing her This 'n That column for the Marco Island Eagle for ten years, and continued to be an occasional contributor to the publication for many years. Her love of history lead her to serve as an Officer of the Marco Island Historical Society (MIHS) Board. One of Virginia's most enjoyable pursuits was the writing and publishing of her book I Remember Marco.... A Tale of Two Villages. She spent several years conducting research and interviewing living relatives of the original settlers of Marco Island. Through this endeavor Virginia created an entertaining, unique historical narrative of Marco Islands' past. A few years ago, Virginia extended her support of the Marco Island Historical Society by donating the proceeds of her book sales to benefit the MIHS. Her family extends their thanks to all those who cared for her, and to her many friends that comforted her. She is preceeded in death by her husband James, her brother Raymond Biggins, brother and sister-in-law John and Angeline Carlin, and nieces Sarah Jean Biggins, Suzanne Biggins, and Paulette Abromaitis. Virginia is survived by her children Joan, Jim, and Sharon, sister-in-law Lorrie Biggins, nieces and nephews Michael (Hillary) Biggins, Rosemary Biggins, Kevin (Ann) Biggins, her God-daughter Margaret (John) Murphy, Ed Abromaitis, and many cousins in Ireland including the Waldron children whom she loved dearly. Virginia will be remembered as a loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, friend, and author. Virginia never met a stranger and welcomed all that crossed her path with her beautiful smile. A memorial service will be held at St. Marks Episcopal Church, Marco Island FL on Saturday, November 5, 2016 at 10:00 am to celebrate her life. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers, please offer her your love and remember her in your prayers. If inclined, a donation made to your favorite charity in Virginia's name will be received with gratitude. Published in Naples Daily News on Oct. 26, 2016 James Biggins Patrick Biggins The Beggans of Drumgill Biggins/Beggan Irish Roots Biggins Farm Top Home Page | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
