Biggs House - Boneyfiddle Commercial District - Portsmouth, OH
Posted by: 
silverquill
N 38° 43.846 W 083° 00.203
17S E 325860 N 4288805
Built in 1872, this fine Italianate style hotel was well known on the Ohio River. It was built by William Biggs who operated a line of Keel boats on the Ohio and Big Sandy rivers. There is a high water mark on the side from the 1937 flood.
Waymark Code: WM5EPT
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 12/29/2008
Views: 6
William Biggs, Senior, was born October 19, 1800, at Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, the son of Andrew and Judith (Robertson) Biggs. Andrew Biggs was engaged in business there, keeping a tavern, but failing when his son William, was thirteen years of age, he removed to Greenup county, Kentucky. The son was early thrown upon his own resources, and when quite young carried the mail from the mouth of Big Sandy to Greenup and from Mt. Sterling to the mouth of Big Sandy and return, and by good management soon became a land holder. His farm being heavily timbered, he kept a woodyard on the bank of the Ohio river and also in a line of keel boats on the Ohio and Big Sandy rivers. He could relate many thrilling incidents of early days. He was a shrewd business man of sterling character, being noted for his keen sense of justice to all men. He became identified with the business interests of Portsmouth about 1850, when he bought a hotel, since called the "Biggs House." Mr. Biggs was a large slave holder until 1862. He was a kind and indulgent master. In the thirties, his slaves would cross the Ohio river, and work in the state of Ohio, but they did not attempt to run away.
He as a whig during the existence of the Whig party and afterwards became a democrat and remained such the remainder of his life. In the last twenty years of his life, he was a member of the Presbyterian church. His wife was Lucy Bragg Davis, daughter of Captain George Naylor Davis, a soldier of the war of 1812. She was also a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Biggs enjoyed good health all of his life. He never had a spell of sickness except in 1868. He was exact in his business methods, and was always prompt about his obligations and arranged his business to pay cash, but at the same time, was lenient and indulgent to those who owed him. He extended the utmost confidence to those in his employ, and they never abused it.
His family consisted of the following children: Andrew, William and Robinson, twirls; Thomas; James Davis, of Wurtland, Greenup county, Kentucky; Anna Eliza, who married James Hockaday, both deceased; Susan, who died at the age of eighteen: Romulus, a physician in Greenup, Kentucky; George Nicholas,. engaged in business in Huntington, West Virginia; Lucy, wife of Doctor Andrew Beardsley, of Huntington, West Virginia; Samuel, deceased; Lola, deceased wife of Judge William Thompson. Mr. Biggs began with nothing and left a colossal fortune at his death. His wife died June 13, 1889, and he survived until July 24, 1897.
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