George Washington Riggs

Description

Oil on canvas portrait painting of George Washington Riggs (1813-1881), 1867, by Charles Loring Elliot. George was born on July 4 at the Riggs ancestral home, known as the "Green Hill" Plantation. He attended Yale University and established a bank with another partner known as Corcoran & Riggs. Their bank loaned the Federal Government the money to fund the Mexican-American War in 1847 and 1848. By the 1850s, the firm was under the management of of George and his younger half-brother Elisha Riggs, Jr., which became known as Riggs & Co. He was heavily involved in the arts, politics, and railroads. George was the father of nine children with his wife Janet Riggs. He died at "Green Hill" and is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C.