Hubert Paxton Wiggins, of Homestead, Pa., one of the owners
of the Messenger publishing company, publishers of the News-Messenger, a
leading daily paper, was born at Redwood Falls, Minn., July 16, 1870, son of Coulter and Adelaide M. (CRAIGEN) WIGGINS. Mr. Wiggins is
descended, on his father's side, from John KINTER, and traces his ancestry as follows: Coulter WIGGINS, born in
White township, Indiana Co, Pa, Jan. 23, 1840; Robert WIGGINS, born on
Ackerson's farm, White township, Indiana Co, Pa., March 26, 1810and died June 25, 1890;
Eliza COULTER, born in Indiana county, Pa, April 11, 1817, married Robert WIGGINS Nov. 2, 1836, and
died June 20, 1855; Thomas WIGGINS, born on Ackerson's farm, White
township, Indiana Co., Pa.; Elizabeth LYTLE, born near Princeton, N.J. and married Thomas WIGGINS; Samuel
WIGGINS, native of Ireland, of Scotch descent, came to the United States in the latter part
of the eighteenth century; Margaret WIGGINS, his wife, native of
Ireland, of Scotch descent; James COULTER, father of Eliza COULTER, born in Georgia, Sept. 30, 1791, and died March 6,
1863; Catherine KINTER, native of Indiana county, Pa., born Dec. 27,
1791, married James COULTER, and died on March 15, 1852; John KINTER, native
of Huntingdon county, Pa., served three terms of three months each in
the patriot army during the American Revolution, and died in his
eighty-second year; Isabella FINDLEY, native of Huntingdon county, Pa., married John KINTER, and died in her ninetieth year;
Philip KINTER, emigrant from Holland; Barbara KING, wife of Philip
KINTER, emigrant from Holland.
Mr. Wiggins is descended, on his mother's side, from
the CRAIGENs of Scotland, one of whom, Robert CRAIGEN, fought in the
battle of Culloden, March 16, 1746, and the ancestral line is as
follows: Adelaide M. CRAIGEN, born in Hampshire county, W. Va., Dec. 23, 1843, married Coulter WIGGINS, Aug. 15, 1868; Jacob I.
CRAIGEN, born in Hardy county, W. Va., May 10, 1807, was a slave holder at the
opening of the Civil War, but espoused the federal side, experienced many
thrilling adventures, and now resides on the old farm at the age of ninety-seven;
Eliza Sein PARSONS, born at Washington, D.C. in 1811, married Jacob
CRAIGEN, April 3, 1833, and died Oct. 13, 1872; John CRAIGEN, born in Winchester county,
Va., and died at the age of fifty-seven years; Mary LEE, native of Hardy county,
W. Va., married John CRAIGEN and died in her eightieth year; Robert CRAIGEN, born
in Scotland, emigrated to Maryland and finally located in Winchester county, Va.;
Susanna PERRIN, native of Maryland, married Robert CRAIGEN; George LEE and Keziah
BORGART, parents of Mary LEE, resided in Hardy county, W. Va.; Joseph PARSONS,
father of Eliza Sein PARSONS, born at Rye Beach, Mass., moved to Washington, D.C.,
and was a trader and merchant; Elizabeth Betsy MONROE, a native of
Washington, D.C., and the wife of Joseph PARSONS.
Coulter Wiggins, father of H. P. Wiggins, removed from
Redwood Falls, Minn., where he had gone in search of health, to his
former house at Indiana, Pa., and, in 1890, located in Blairsville, Pa.,
where he now resides and practices law with much ability and unusual success, and is one of the leading citizens of
that community. At Indiana his son was reared and educated, being a
graduate of the State normal school at that place, and later he located in Homestead, Pa., where he secured
employment as a printer, which trade he had learned at Indiana, in the establishment
of M.P. & J.R. Schooley, then the proprietors of the Homestead News. Subsequently,
Mr. WIGGINS purchased the plant of the Homestead Messenger, a daily paper, and
associated with him Miss Sarah PARRY. The News was then bought, and the two papers
consolidated as the News-Messenger. Later Miss PARRY disposed of her interest to
A. D. Slocum, and Messrs WIGGINS and Slocum have continued the newspaper and jobbing
business under the name of the Messenger publishing company, and have one of the best
equipped plants in the Monongahela valley, while the News-Messenger is a splendid
daily paper, which carries great weight and exerts an immense influence in the community.
The young men have also acquired considerable property about Homestead.
Mr. WIGGINS was married, in 1896, to Miriam E., daughter
of Thomas L. PARRY, a retired mill roller of Homestead, and they have
one child, Hubert Parry. Memoirs of Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Madison, WI: Northwestern Historical Association, 1904. 2 vols.
Vol I: p. 274-5 |
