Riley Riggs, one of the leading farmers of Franklin Township, was born in Iowa, March 1, 1849, and is the son of Horace and Sarah (Helterbrand) Riggs, natives of Shelby County, Ind.; the former born in 1816, and died about 1851, and the latter born about 1824. In 1860 she married Richard S. Verbryck, and now resides in Kansas. When four years of age the immediate subject of this sketch came with his mother to Johnson County, and here was educated in the common schools. In 1881, Mr. Riggs purchased his present farm, and the same is well improved, and located about two miles from Franklin. Mr. Riggs was married in 1875, to Miss Carrie Byers a native of this county, born in 1851. She is the daughter of Henry S. Byers, Sr., and a member of the Baptist Church.