Businessman, Banker. He was born in Georgetown, then a city in the District of Columbia, and brought up in Baltimore. In 1840 Riggs began a banking partnership with Thomas W. Corcoran. The bank was immediately successful and got a major boost in 1844, when the U.S. government assigned Corcoran & Riggs to be the only federal depository in Washington. Corcoran & Riggs financed Samuel Morse's invention of the telegraph in 1845 and handled bond sales to finance the Mexican War. He later built and owned Riggs House, a prominent Washington hotel located at 15th and K Streets, NW. In 1873 Riggs was chairman of the committee that petitioned Congress for an investigation into the conduct of the Board of Public Works. As a result of this investigation, the existing territorial government was abolished and a new government was installed with all authority vested in the U.S. Congress. Though the chairman of the Board of Public Works, Alexander Robey "Boss" Shepherd, was found to have violated no laws, he was ousted from his influential position in the city. Shepherd is also buried in Rock Creek Cemetery. On June 23, 1840 Mr. Riggs married Janet Madeleine Cecilia Shedden of Glasgow, Scotland. They had nine children. Riggs died at his home, Green Hill, in Prince George's County, Maryland. Although a member of the Episcopal Church since early in his life, he became a Roman Catholic during his final weeks.
Businessman, Banker. He was born in Georgetown, then a city in the District of Columbia, and brought up in Baltimore. In 1840 Riggs began a banking partnership with Thomas W. Corcoran. The bank was immediately successful and got a major boost in 1844, when the U.S. government assigned Corcoran & Riggs to be the only federal depository in Washington. Corcoran & Riggs financed Samuel Morse's invention of the telegraph in 1845 and handled bond sales to finance the Mexican War. He later built and owned Riggs House, a prominent Washington hotel located at 15th and K Streets, NW. In 1873 Riggs was chairman of the committee that petitioned Congress for an investigation into the conduct of the Board of Public Works. As a result of this investigation, the existing territorial government was abolished and a new government was installed with all authority vested in the U.S. Congress. Though the chairman of the Board of Public Works, Alexander Robey "Boss" Shepherd, was found to have violated no laws, he was ousted from his influential position in the city. Shepherd is also buried in Rock Creek Cemetery. On June 23, 1840 Mr. Riggs married Janet Madeleine Cecilia Shedden of Glasgow, Scotland. They had nine children. Riggs died at his home, Green Hill, in Prince George's County, Maryland. Although a member of the Episcopal Church since early in his life, he became a Roman Catholic during his final weeks.
Bio by: Robert Holt
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