William Cornelius Biggs & Rosetta McClain
affectionately known as Pa & Ma

William (Pa) – May 4, 1854 – September 30, 1944
It has been suggested that our true history started during slavery time in Amity, Arkansas with the birth of William Cornelius (aka Neil and Pa) on May 4, 1854.  However, William’s official death certificate lists his birthplace as Georgia and this information was supplied to the coroner by Mattie Duncan, William’s daughter who he lived with in Arkadelphia, Arkansas at the time of his death.

Also on this death certificate, William’s parents are listed as John Biggs (slave owner) and Margaret Johnson (slave) and his date of death as September 30, 1944 at the age of 90.

Rosetta (Ma) – July 10, 1862 (not 1857) – June 19, 1930
NOTE:  Our history indicates that Ma was born on July 10, 1857, however, her death certificate signed in 1930 lists her age at death as 67 years, 11 months and 9 days old.  If that information is correct, this places Ma’s date of birth in the year 1862.

To investigate Ma’s birth year, we find that the 1870 Census of Clark County lists Ma’s age as 7 years old.  The 1900 census lists her age at 40 years old and the 1910 census records Ma’s age as 48 years old.  These official documents indicate a birth year of 1862 and not 1857 as previously thought. 

The August 13, 1870 census of Elkins Township, Clark County, Arkansas, listed the members in Rosetta McClain’s (Ma) household as follows:
Father:  Henry McClain (29 years old)
Mother:  Millie (29 years old)
Children:  Samuel (10 years old), Rosetta (7 years old turning 8 yo in July of that year) George (4 years old), and Luis (1 year old).

Rosetta’s death certificate lists her place of birth as Arkansas, Clark County. 

Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln on the 22nd day of September in the year 1862 proclaimed that on January 1,1863, all slaves were free.  Shortly after that proclamation was instituted, William left the slave quarters around the age of 9 or 10 years old.  Because of the discrepancy of Ma’s year of birth, we do not know if she was born before or after the institution of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Slaves usually adopted the last name of the slave owner, but in this case, Pa was the actual son of the European slave owner John Biggs and he carried that Biggs surname into his new free life.

Ma & Pa
We are not certain what Pa did after being freed, but we do know that Pa and Ma were married on October 24, 1878, with Pa being 24 years old and Ma being either 15 or 21 years old (her birth year is unclear). 

Pa and Ma were married in Clark County Arkansas and throughout their marriage records indicate they lived in Elkins, Clark County, Arkansas in June 1880, Caddo, Clark County in June 1900, Arkansas and Boughton, Nevada County, Arkansas in 1910.  

From this union came 19 children and their names are as follows in birth order (searching for the two missing children’s name):
1.   Annie Biggs, 1879
2.   William M. Biggs, Jan. 1882
3.   Elizabeth Biggs, August 1884
4.   Margaret Biggs, April 1886
5.   Samuel Biggs, June 1888
6.   Barbara Biggs, Dec. 1889
7.   George F Biggs, May 1892
8.   Addison Biggs, July 1893
9.   Charlie Biggs, Feb. 1894
10.  John Biggs, 1895
11. Tony Lawrence Biggs, Jan 1896
12.  Charles Biggs, July 1898
13.  Tyree Biggs, 1900
14.  Bookier T. Biggs, 1902
15.  Mattie Leola Biggs, March 1905
16.  Jessie L. Biggs, 1906
17.  Rufus Biggs, August 1909

This website is for the descendants of that 19th child, Rufus Biggs.