Cenotaph Honoring Staff Sergeant James A. Riggs

At Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery is a cenotaph in memory of Staff Sergeant James A. Riggs, who lost his life in World War Two. A cenotaph is a monument in memory of someone who is buried elsewhere. James A. Riggs enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 4, 1942. He was the son of Harry and Elizabeth Riggs of Sandusky, Ohio. During World War Two, Staff Sergeant James A. Riggs served with the 550th Bomber Squadron and the 395th Bomber Group. The February 7, 1944 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News reported that in June of 1943, a Flying Fortress was lost in the North Atlantic theater. James A. Riggs was among the crew of ten. All were lost, and their bodies were not recovered. Staff Sergeant James A. Riggs was honored, along with over one hundred other Erie County residents who lost their lives during World War Two in a community wide tribute held in Sandusky on August 21, 1946. You can read all the names of the 108 Erie County War Dead from World War Two in the August 19, 1946 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News, on microfilm at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

Jefferson Riggs

Jefferson Riggs was born in 1846 in Belmont County, Ohio. He served with Company H of the Third West Virginia Cavalry during the Civil War. In 1919, he was residing at the U.S. National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Grant County, Indiana.














By 1924, Jefferson Riggs was residing at the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Home in Sandusky, Ohio. He died in Sandusky on June 2, 1924, and is buried in the cemetery at what is now known as the Ohio Veterans Home.

Howard Grant Riggs

The 1900 U.S. Census tells us that Howard Grant Riggs was born in Ohio in February, 1864. He was residing on Washington Street in Sandusky in 1900 with his parents, Thomas and Emma Riggs, along with two of his brothers. His occupation was listed as machinist. After a brief illness, Thomas Grant Riggs died at his home on January 12, 1905. Mr. Riggs had been a member of the mechanics' union, the Knights of Pythias, and the Woodmen of the World. An article in the January 14, 1905 issue of the Sandusky Register asked the local members of the Woodmen of the World to attend the funeral of Thomas G. Riggs as a group.

An early benefit of membership in the Woodmen of the World was a tombstone in the shape of a tree stump. This program ended in the 1920's, but the life of Thomas Grant Riggs was honored with a distinctive tombstone in the shape of a tree stump from the Woodmen of the World. Thomas Grant Riggs was buried in Oakland Cemetery. He was survived by his parents, two sisters, and four brothers. The tree stump shaped tombstone reminds us that the life of Thomas Grant Riggs was cut short.