One ancestor of special note was one Edward Piggford son of Robert
Piggford who was a Durham miner who emigrated to Pennsylvania, USA.
Edward was actually born in Pennsylvania and he joined the Seventh Cavalry
and fought at the battle of The Little Big Horn.
Fortunately for him he was with Major Reno’s troop and they attacked the Indian village first, they were being
soundly beaten when the Indians left them to attack General Custer, although wounded he, together with the
other survivors escaped to a nearby hilltop where they survived three days of constant attack by the Indians until
reinforcements rescued them. Edward was discharged from the army for ‘concealed minority enlistment’
He continued to work as a miner in Pennsylvania and eventually died in 1932 aged 78 years.
He was married twice and his second wife Pheobe Hairl was rumoured to have accidentally shot her first husband
However the cause of death on Pheobe’s death certificate was ‘Gunshot to the right side of the head. Accidental.’
Edward Piggford with his friend Toots Clarke, he was 76 when this photo was taken
Edward Piggford’s gravestone in Dravosburg cemetery, Pennsylvania.
