Abram Trigg

Abram Trigg was born on his father's farm near New London in then vast Lunenberg County in what was then the Colony of Virginia. That particular area became Bedford County in 1754. His grandfather of the same name had emigrated from Cornwall, England about 1710, and his father, William Trigg (1716–1773), served as a judge in Bedford County for many years. His mother, the former Mary Johns Trigg (1720–1773), bore eight children during that marriage. His brother, John, would serve with him in Congress. Another brother, Stephen Trigg, had been a member of a land commission in Kentucky in 1779, and died commanding a regiment at the Battle of Blue Licks. Another brother, William Trigg, had descendants including Congressman Connally Findlay Trigg and Richmond shipbuilder William Robertson Trigg.Tyler

Trigg was admitted to the bar and began his legal career in then-vast Montgomery County, Virginia. He lived on his estate, "Buchanan's Bottom", on the New River and held local offices, such as clerk and judge, and various other offices in Montgomery County..[https://books.google.com/books?id=wSpGQcJPLp4C Hale, John P. Trans-Allegheny Pioneers (West Virginia and Ohio): Historical Sketches of the First White Settlers West of the Alleghenies, 1748 and After. (1886) Heritage Books, reprint, 2009.] He served in the Revolutionary War as lieutenant colonel of militia in 1782 and later as general of militia in Virginia.

Trigg was a delegate to the Virginia ratification convention of 1788, and voted with Patrick Henry and the Anti-federalists against ratification of the United States Constitution.Elliot, Jonathan, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ajoOAAAAIAAJ The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution...] (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1891), 3:665. He was elected as a Republican to the Fifth and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1809). He died and was buried on the family estate, death date unknown.

Like his father, brothers and others of his class, Trigg farmed using enslaved labor. According to the 1787 Virginia Tax census, he owned five slaves, six horses and 20 cattle in Montgomery County, slightly fewer than did Daniel Trigg, possibly a relative and who served several terms in the Virginia House of Delegates.Netti Schreiner-Yantis and Florene Speakman Love, The 1787 Census of Virginia (Springfield, Genealogical Books in Print 1987) pp. 451

In 1779 Abram married Susannah Ingles, daughter of William Ingles and Mary Draper Ingles, who escaped from Indian captivity and walked 800 miles to return to her home in 1755. The couple had ten children.

• 1797; Trigg was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives unopposed.
• 1799; Trigg was re-elected with 88.47% of the vote, defeating Federalist William Preston.
• 1801; Trigg was re-elected unopposed.
• 1803; Trigg was re-elected unopposed.
• 1805; Trigg was re-elected unopposed.
• 1807; Trigg was re-elected defeating Federalist Daniel Sheffey.

{{CongBio|T000368}} Retrieved on 2009-02-26

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Category:1750 births

Category:Year of death unknown

Category:People from Bedford, Virginia

Category:Virginia militiamen in the American Revolution

Category:Virginia lawyers

Category:Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia

Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Category:18th-century members of the United States House of Representatives