The Griggs, Pergande and
Related Family Trees
of Monroe County, Wisconsin
Welcome to the Griggs, Pergande and Related Family Trees of Monroe County, Wisconsin. We have been researching our family trees for nearly 35 years and have information on more than 60,000 direct ancestors, indirect ancestors, and members of our "extended family" through marriages to other families in Monroe County.
The "Griggs and Pergande Ancestors" report, below, includes all of the known ancestors of James LaVerne "Vern" Griggs and his wife Bernice Gertrude Pergande, who married in Monroe County in 1939. This report does not contain most of the recent family members. Rather, it is shaped like a "V" and includes key ancestors on both sides of the family, going back as far as we have been able to trace our ancestry in the various surnames.
Our Griggs Ancestors
The direct ancestors on the Griggs side of our family are shown on the "Pedigree Chart--Our Griggs Ancestors." The earliest-known individuals in the chart's ancestral families are contained in the reports entitled "Descendants of John Griggs," "Descendants of Reverend Samuel Griswold," "Descendants of Josiah Root," and "Descendants of Simeon Dewey." These families emigrated to America primarily from The British Isles and settled in Monroe County in the mid- and late-1800's. These reports start at the earliest known individual, and move forward in time to include all of their known descendants.
Our Griggs ancestors have been traced back to John Griggs, who was born in 1436 in Somerton, Suffolk County, England—about 100 miles northeast of London. His descendants emigrated to Essex County, Massachusetts, in 1639—less than twenty years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. From Massachusetts, our branch of the Griggs family moved through Connecticut, Vermont, and western Wisconsin, before settling in LaGrange Township, north of Tomah, in 1866.
Our Root ancestors have been traced back to Josiah Root, who was born in 1756 in, we believe, Tolland County, Connecticut. The report of his descendants traces our branch of his family's movement to New York and Pennsylvania, before settling in Monroe County in the 1850's. We are attempting to link Josiah to what is believed to be the earliest-known Root/Roote family, which has been traced to Thomas Roote, who was born in Badby, England, in the 1500's.
Our branches of the Griggs and Root families came together when Samuel Hiram Griggs married Eva Jane Root in Tomah Township in 1908.
Through the work of professional genealogists, we have traced one branch of our Griggs ancestral family back to the 1st century. The mother of Eva Jane Root was Mary Minerva Dewey. Researchers have been able to trace her Dewey ancestry back through more than 80 generations. To trace back through this branch of our family tree to the 1st century, follow the people with a "(*+)" following their name.
Our Pergande Ancestors
The direct ancestors on the Pergande side of our family are shown on the "Pedigree Chart--Our Pergande Ancestors." The earliest-known individuals in the chart's ancestral families are contained in the reports entitled "Descendants of (Unknown) Pergande," "Descendants of Johann Wilde," "Descendants of Gottfried Jaskiewicz" (later changed to Kewit), and "Descendants of Martin Achtenberg." These families emigrated from Prussia (now part of Germany and Poland) to the Ridgeville Township area of Monroe County in the mid- to late-1800's.
As you move down through the "Descendants" reports, you will see all of the known children in each family. The person in each family that is marked with a single asterisk in parentheses is the one that is part of a direct link to our family. So—whether you are moving up or down the tree—follow the people with the "(*)" after their name to determine who is our direct ancestor.
If you are related to any of our ancestors and would like more information, or if you have additional information about people in any of these families, please contact me.
This website is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Bernice (Pergande) Griggs, who—as our family historian—assembled much of our early information and was the inspiration for this on-going research. She passed away in July 2000 and we miss her dearly. She would be proud that you are looking at much of her life's work and pleased that you share her interest in our family.
Family Tree Reports:
Our Griggs Ancestors:
Pedigree Chart--Our Griggs Ancestors
Descendants of Reverend Samuel Griswold
Our Pergande Ancestors:
Pedigree Chart--Our Pergande Ancestors
Descendants of (Unknown) Pergande
Descendants of Gottfried Jaskiewicz (Kewit)
Descendants of Martin Achtenberg
Follow the first link below to get to a website that contains genealogy information on more than 400 men with surnames of families that settled in Monroe County in the mid- to late-1800's, or who are related to them by marriage. The reports on those sites contain hundreds of present-day Tomah-area families.
The second link leads to a website that commemorates the many families in the Tomah area that descend from the Pilgrims and “Strangers” who were passengers on the Mayflower on its voyage to America in 1620. Many present-day Monroe County families are listed on that site, as well.
The third link leads to a website that contains reports of nearly 7,000 early decedents and the various lot owners in Tomah's Oak Grove Cemetery.
The fourth link leads to a website that contains the records of births, baptisms, confirmations, marriages, deaths and burials that are recorded in Book I of the Parish Register of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ridgeville Township. Book I covers the period between 1862 and 1889.
The last link returns you to the website main page.
Gary Griggs
Pawleys Island, SC