Ranford Riggs was born around 1833 in Connecticut to William and Harriet Riggs. His father worked as a joiner. Riggs lived in Derby, Connecticut, until the 1850s, when he moved to Orange, Connecticut. By 1860, he was working as a laborer and living on the farm of Jeremiah and Charlotte Woodruff. He married a woman named Mary sometime in the early 1860s.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on September 10, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company F of the 27^th Connecticut Infantry on October 18. The regiment took part in the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, and the Battle of Gettysburg. He mustered out on July 27, 1863. He was drafted back into the Union army almost immediately, and he mustered into Company B of the 14^th Connecticut Infantry. The regiment took part in the Overland Campaign, the siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox campaign. He mustered out on June 23, 1865.

 

He returned to Connecticut after the war. He was arrested sometime in the mid-1860s, and he spent time in the state prison. He was eventually released, but he was arrested again in October 1880. He applied for a federal pension in November 1893 and eventually secured one. The family lived in New Haven, Connecticut, until the 1890s, when they moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut. Riggs died there sometime after 1898.

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