# Elias Riggs

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American missionary

Elias Riggs Born (1810-11-19)19 November 1810 New Providence, New Jersey, U.S. Died 17 January 1901(1901-01-17) (aged 90) Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey) Resting place Feriköy Protestant Cemetery, Istanbul, Turkey Education Hanover College; Amherst College; Andover Theological Seminary Occupations missionary, linguist Employer American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions Known for the Translation of the Scriptures into Armenian and Bulgarian Spouse Martha Jane Dalzel ​ ​ (m. 1832; died 1887)​ Children eight

**Elias Riggs** (November 19, 1810 – January 17, 1901) was an American [Presbyterian](/source/Presbyterian) [missionary](/source/Missionary) and linguist.[1][2][3]

## Biography

Elias Riggs was born on November 19, 1810, in [New Providence, New Jersey](/source/New_Providence%2C_New_Jersey).[1] He was the second son of Elias and Margaret (Congar) Hudson Riggs. His father was the pastor of the local Presbyterian church.[4][5]

During his missionary activities in the [Ottoman Empire](/source/Ottoman_Empire) he contributed greatly to the [Bulgarian National Revival](/source/Bulgarian_National_Revival). He organized with [Albert Long](/source/Albert_Long) the first translation (by [Neofit Rilski](/source/Neofit_Rilski)), and worked on editing, printing and dissemination of [a translation of the Bible into modern Bulgarian](/source/Bible_translations_into_Bulgarian).[6][7][8] In 1844 he published the first [Grammar](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Notes_on_the_Grammar_of_the_Bulgarian_language) of the modern Bulgarian language. Riggs did research on [Chaldee Language](/source/Biblical_Aramaic), and also guided the [translation of the Bible into modern Armenian language](/source/Bible_translations_into_Armenian).[4][9]

The government and church of newly independent [Greece](/source/Greece) originally opposed Riggs' mission, but later had to accept American and British [Protestant](/source/Protestant) activities among Christians other than Greeks. Riggs took part in negotiations identifying the then actual ethnic [delimitation](/source/National_boundary_delimitation) between Greeks and [Bulgarians](/source/Bulgarians) in the Ottoman Empire, resulting in an approximate line drawn between [Serres](/source/Serres) and [Edessa](/source/Edessa%2C_Greece) in [Macedonia](/source/Macedonia_(region)) north of which the Christian population was recognized as predominantly Bulgarian. Subsequently, the 1876 [Constantinople Conference](/source/Constantinople_Conference) of the Great Powers confirmed that early delimitation in its more comprehensive definition of ethnic [Bulgarian](/source/Bulgaria) lands as of the late 19th century.[9]

## Publications

- *[Suggested Emendations of the Authorized English Version of the Old Testament](https://archive.org/details/suggestedemendat00rigg/page/n5/mode/2up)* (1873)

- *[Suggested Modifications of the Revised Version of the New Testament](https://archive.org/details/suggestedmodific00rigg/page/n5/mode/2up)*

- *[Some Reasons in Favor of Retouching the Revised English Version of the Scriptures](https://archive.org/details/somereasonsinfav00rigg/mode/2up)*

- *Notes on difficult passages of the New Testament*

- *[A Manual of the Chaldee Language](https://archive.org/details/manualofchaldeel00rigg/page/n5/mode/2up)*

## Honour

[Riggs Peak](/source/Riggs_Peak) on [Smith Island](/source/Smith_Island_(South_Shetland_Islands)), [South Shetland Islands](/source/South_Shetland_Islands) is named after Elias Riggs.[10]

[Christodul Costovich](https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A5%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%83%D0%BB_%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87_%D0%A1%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B0%D0%BD-%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2), Elias Riggs, [Albert Long](/source/Albert_Long) and [Petko Slaveikov](/source/Petko_Slaveikov) in Constantinople, circa 1864-1865

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Who's_Who_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Who's_Who_1-1) Leonard, John. W., ed. (1900). [*WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA; A Biographical Dictionary of Living Men and Women of the United States 1899-1900*](https://archive.org/stream/whoswhoinameric01marqgoog#page/n647/mode/2up) (1 ed.). Chicago: A.N. Marquis & Company. p. 606. Retrieved August 30, 2018 – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Schaff, Philip](/source/Philip_Schaff); [Jackson, Samuel Macauley](/source/Samuel_Macauley_Jackson), eds. (1887). ["RIGGS, Elias D.D."](https://books.google.com/books?id=iIdIAAAAYAAJ&dq=Albert+Limerick+Long&pg=PP9). *Encyclopedia of Living Divines and Christian Workers of All Denominations in Europe and America*. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, Publishers. p. [181](https://books.google.com/books?id=iIdIAAAAYAAJ&q=Riggs+&pg=PA181).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Stowe, David M. (1998). "RIGGS, Elias". In Anderson, Gerald H. (ed.). [*Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions*](https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000unse_p1w3/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater). New York: Macmillan Reference USA. pp. [570-571](https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000unse_p1w3/page/570/mode/2up?view=theater).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Wright_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Wright_4-1) Wright Jr., Walter L. (1935). ["Riggs, Elias"](https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofamer15amer#page/602/mode/2up). In [Malone, Dumas](/source/Dumas_Malone) (ed.). *Dictionary of American Biography*. Vol. 15 (Platt-Roberdeau). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 602–603. Retrieved April 13, 2018 – via Internet Archive.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Doğan, Mehmet Ali (2011). ["Elias Riggs and the Missionary Activities of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in Greece (1832-1838)"](https://www.academia.edu/9596940). *International Review of Turkology*. **IV** (8). Retrieved September 10, 2015. "The second son of a Presbyterian clergyman, Elias Riggs was born at New Providence, New Jersey, on November 19, 1810, the year in which the ABCFM was established."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Wiener, Leo](/source/Leo_Wiener) (February 1898). ["America's Share in the Regeneration of Bulgaria (1840-1859)"](https://archive.org/details/jstor-2918140/page/n3). *Modern Language Notes*. **13** (2): 33–41. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/2918140](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2918140). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [2918140](https://www.jstor.org/stable/2918140). Retrieved January 4, 2020 – via Internet Archive.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Hamlin, Cyrus](/source/Cyrus_Hamlin_(missionary)) (1877). [*Among the Turks*](https://archive.org/stream/amongturks00hamluoft#page/260/mode/2up) (1 ed.). New York: American Tract Society. pp. 261–262. Retrieved 1 September 2018 – via Internet Archive.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Washburn, George](/source/George_Washburn_(educator)) (1909). [*Fifty Years in Constantinople and Recollections of Robert College*](https://archive.org/stream/fiftyyearsincons00wash#page/n64/mode/2up) (1 ed.). Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 65, 276. Retrieved August 30, 2018 – via Internet Archive.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Genov_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Genov_9-1) Georgi Genov. [American Elias Riggs and his contribution to the Bulgarian National Revival](http://web.orbitel.bg/classica/history.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080503094848/http://web.orbitel.bg/classica/history.htm) 2008-05-03 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). *Historical Archives*. Sofia, Issue 9-10, November 2000 - May 2001. (in Bulgarian)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Riggs Peak"](https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/scar/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=136717), *SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica*, retrieved 30 August 2018

## External links

- [Notes on the Grammar of the Bulgarian language](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Notes_on_the_Grammar_of_the_Bulgarian_language) - 1844 - Smyrna (now [İzmir](/source/%C4%B0zmir)) - Elias Riggs

- [*Reminiscences for My Children by Elias Riggs, Missionary of the A.B.C.F.M. in Greece and Turkey (not published)*](https://web.archive.org/web/20160921001026/http://www.dlir.org/archive/items/show/11472). 1891. Archived from [the original](http://www.dlir.org/archive/items/show/11472) on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2021 – via Digital Library for International Research.

- [Dwight, Henry O.](/source/Henry_Otis_Dwight) (March 1901). ["A Mighty Worker before the Lord"](https://archive.org/details/sim_missionary-herald_1901-03_97_3/mode/2up?view=theater). *The Missionary Herald*: [98-103](https://archive.org/details/sim_missionary-herald_1901-03_97_3/page/98/mode/2up?view=theater). Retrieved 10 November 2021 – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive).

- [*Memorial service for the late Rev. Elias Riggs, D.D., LL.D.: missionary of the American Board of commissioners for Foreign Missions*](http://www.dlir.org/archive/orc-exhibit/items/show/collection/6/id/11128). 1901. Retrieved 9 November 2021.

- [Works by or about Elias Riggs](https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3A%22Riggs%2C%20Elias%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Elias%20Riggs%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Riggs%2C%20Elias%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Elias%20Riggs%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Riggs%2C%20E%2E%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Elias%20Riggs%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Riggs%2C%20Elias%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Elias%20Riggs%22%29%20OR%20%28%221810-1901%22%20AND%20Riggs%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at the [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive)

- Clarke, Rev. J. F. (1901). [*Sketch of the European Turkey Mission of the American Board*](https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nnc2.ark:/13960/t47q2b09j?urlappend=%3Bseq=10). Boston: American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. p. 10. [hdl](/source/Hdl_(identifier)):[2027/nnc2.ark:/13960/t47q2b09j](https://hdl.handle.net/2027%2Fnnc2.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft47q2b09j?urlappend=%3Bseq=10). Retrieved September 6, 2018 – via HathiTrust Digital Library.

- [*The Riggs Papers*](http://www.dlir.org/aba-the-riggs-papers.html), retrieved August 31, 2018 – via Digital Library for International Research

- [Buchan, John](/source/John_Buchan), ed. (1924). ["Bulgaria"](https://archive.org/details/nationsoftodayne12buch/page/n17/mode/2up). [*Bulgaria and Romania: The Nations of Today; A New History of the World*](https://archive.org/details/nationsoftodayne12buch/page/n5/mode/2up). Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. [36](https://archive.org/details/nationsoftodayne12buch/page/36/mode/2up). Retrieved 19 June 2021 – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive).

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States France BnF data Israel Other IdRef Open Library SNAC Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Elias Riggs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elias_Riggs) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elias_Riggs?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.