Santa
Clara County
Biographies
MOORE BRIGGS
As the present commander of the John
A. Dix Post, G. A. R., of San Jose, Cal., Moore Briggs, a retired citizen of
that city, has every claim to the honor conferred upon him, for he has a
military record of which he is justly proud. In 1862 he enlisted as a private
in Company H, Thirty-first Iowa Infantry, and rose rapidly from the ranks to
corporal, sergeant, adjutant and first lieutenant, being brevetted captain at
the close of the war. Although now past his seventy-third birthday, he has
every claim to longevity, as his father lived to be ninety years old and his
mother seventy-nine. Born in Akron, Ohio, May 15, 1831, Mr. Briggs is third in
a family of seven sons and three daughters born to Andrew and Betsey (Moore)
Briggs. His father went to New York when a young man, but in after years
settled on a farm in Summit county, Ohio, near Akron, and here for sixty-four
years he followed farm pursuits and finally died, his wife also dying on the
same place.
Mr. Briggs had exceptional
educational advantages in his youth; his common school education was
supplemented by a course in the high school, and he afterward took a course in
the Twinsburg Academy, the preparatory department of the Western Reserve
College. He then took up teaching as a profession and followed this occupation
for several years, teaching ten years in the state of Ohio alone. During this
time he was located principally in Summit county. In
1856 he removed to Iowa, locating at Wyoming, in Jones county,
and there he also taught one year. He then turned his attention to farm
pursuits and for a quarter of a century followed that occupation in that
county, removing in 1882 to Des Moines in the same state. Here, in connection
with farming, he engaged in the real estate business, buying land upon which he
built and afterward sold it at a fair profit. He made considerable money in
real estate speculations and made some important transfers. In 1894, on account
of failing health, he went to California and settled in the Santa Clara valley,
which has been his home ever since. Purchasing three and a half acres on
Lincoln avenue, near San Jose, he also built a nice
residence in that city at No. 563 South Tenth street, but makes his home on his
ranch.
Mr. Briggs has been married twice,
his first marriage taking place in Ohio, in 1855, when he was twenty-four; this
time he wedded Miss Huldah M. Oviatt,
formerly of Connecticut, and five children were born to them. They are as
follows; W. E., cashier in the bank of Swift & Co., at St. Paul, Minn.;
Clara A., wife of Dr. Bennett, of Kearney, Neb.; Lena, who resides with her
father; Walter H. and Gertrude, both deceased. The mother of these children
died many years ago and Mr. Briggs married, at Akron, Ohio, Miss Jennie H.
Chapman, who was a native of New York. Once more he was called upon to mourn
the loss of his companion, who died in the year 1900, but he finds comfort in
the presence of his daughter, who cares for him and his home. A Republican in
his political preferences, and at all times an active politician, he has
frequently served as a delegate to conventions of his favorite party.
Possessing, as he does, broad and liberal views, he is a valuable acquisition
to San Jose. The religious inclinations of the family favor the Second
Presbyterian Church, where they worship.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page 1300. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.