Worldwide Genealogy: Color Me Confused

Today is the 25th of the month so it's my turn to contribute a post to Worldwide Genealogy -- A Genealogical Collaboration. I'm asking for help understanding the genealogical proof standard and here's why.

For years my grandmother, father, and I have had the same Riggin brick wall, which stopped at John C Riggin, my four times great grandfather. Family lore said he came to Illinois from Tennessee and that his father was a minister, who rode a circuit, preaching at several churches on rotating Sundays. What we could never figure out were the names of his parents or any siblings.

Learn why a Lincoln scholar, James T. Hickey, is my new genealogy hero:

James T. Hickey (1922-1996), photograph
courtesy of the Lincoln Newsletter, a publication
of the Lincoln College Museum

And why my latest research into the Riggin family history led me to Somerset County, Maryland, in the 1650s; why it has left me scratching my head; and how I plan to sort out my confusion. I hope you'll click over to post, Confusion and the Proof Standard, to read how I plan to solve my latest research problem.