George Gregg Briggs (1824 - 1885)

Born 24 Jul 1824 in Bristol, Ontario, New York, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Emma Hortense (Dinsmore) Briggs — married 1848 in USA

Died 1 Jan 1885 at age 60 in Davis, Yolo, California, United States

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Biography

George Briggs is Notable.

George Gregg Briggs " The California Pioneer ", was born on July 24,1824 Ontario, New York and died on January 1, 1885 at Briggs Orchard, Ventura, California. His parents are Thomas Briggs and Abigail Gregg and (8) siblings: Louisa Maria Briggs, Olinda Briggs, Warren Briggs, John Briggs, Silas Briggs, Thomas Briggs, Benjamin B Briggs, Marie Antoinette Briggs. In 1848, he married Emma Densmore and had (4) children: Abby Briggs, May Briggs, Georgianna Briggs and Theodore Briggs.^[1]

The Life of George Gregg Briggs:

Briggs Avenue between High Street and Fernside Boulevard on the East End recalls George Gregg Briggs, who owned the property that the street traverses.

Briggs was a Forty-Niner who first tried his luck in the gold fields along the Yuba River. The Ohio native didn’t spend much time digging for gold, however. instead he turned to a profession deeply rooted in his family, growing fruit. A contemporary report said that Briggs first cultivated watermelon.

He made a $5,000 profit, which he invested in fruit trees. By 1859, George Briggs had orchards not only along the Yuba River, but on the shores of the Feather and Sacramento rivers as well. He grossed more than $100,000 from his orchards that year. Three years later, the rains came.

Historian J. S. Holliday writes that the "Biblical disaster of January 1862" delivered an avalanche of mud through Briggs’ orchard along the Yuba River.

Mud, three feet deep, destroyed 58,000 of Briggs’ fruit trees. He sold his property in the Gold Country and moved south to the Rancho Santa Paula y Saticoy near Ventura (where the mud and slickens would not reach.)

The Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura, California remarked that "one of the most important events in the history of the rancho is the advent thereon in 1862, of Mr. Geo. G. Briggs of Marysville, Yuba County."

George Briggs purchased a plot of land two miles up the Santa Clara River from the Indian town of Saticoy. He nurtured his trees and would have enjoyed success had his fruit not matured too early.

In 1864 his wife, Emma, died. Briggs abandoned his orchards, subdivided the land into 150-acre lots, sold the property and moved back to Northern California.

"Of the 25,000 thrifty trees, but a few miserable stragglers now remain," The Memorial and Biographical History reported. "Mr. N. W. Blanchard, who visited the valley in the spring of 1865, reported grass then as high as one’s head."

In 1868 showed Briggs living in Oakland, and he likely purchased the Alameda property at that time. The 1870s found Briggs in the town of Davisville, today’s Davis. He planted orchards once again and added some vineyards to the mix. To irrigate his crops Briggs built a reservoir. You can still see its remains on the south bank of Putah Creek at the arboretum on the UC Davis campus.

"The concrete walls jutting out above the south bank of Putah Creek may seem out of place among the foliage of the arboretum," writes Mike Sinetos. "But, in fact, the moss-covered structures have stood for much longer than some of the surrounding trees. The walls are all that remain of Briggs Reservoir."

According to Sinetos, Briggs built the reservoir, along with 200 miles of distributing pipes, to irrigate his acres of orchards and vineyards. Gasoline engines pumped water into 12-inch concrete pipes until modern farmers destroyed them. The establishment of the arboretum in 1936 protected what remained of Briggs Reservoir.

George Gregg Briggs died on Jan. 3, 1885, in Davis.

The Briggs School District in Saticoy, the Briggs Reservoir in Davis and Briggs Avenue in Alameda all recall this California pioneer.

Compliments to Dennis Evanosky and Alameda Sun for this amazing story.^[2]

United States Census, 1880

Name George G Briggs

Event Type Census Event Date 1880 Event Place Tremont, Solano, California, United States

Gender Male

Age 55

Marital Status Married

Race White Race (Original) W

Occupation Fruit Grower

Relationship to Head of Household Self Relationship to Head of Household (Original) Self

Birth Year (Estimated) 1825 Birthplace New York, United States

Father's Birthplace Massachusetts, United States

Mother's Birthplace Massachusetts, United States

Sheet Letter C Sheet Number 451 Person Number 0 Volume 1

HOUSEHOLD

George G Briggs Self M 55 New York, United States

Emma H Briggs Wife F 51 Maine, United States (Research Note: Emma is listed in this census which is after the, " In 1864 his wife, Emma, died," stated in the biography. Baraboo-1 15:03, 29 August 2016 (EDT)

May J Briggs Daughter F 24 California, United States ^[3]

AMERICAN PHRENOLOGICAL JOURNAL. 1859

"GEORGE GREGG BRIGGS. PHRENOLOGICAL, CHARACTER AND BIOGRAPHY.

PHRENOLOGICAL. CHARACTER. You have a predominance of the mental tem perament, which gives a tendency to mental rather than to physical action. Your mind always goes in advance of your body, and you work in pursuance of a purpose. You are sensitive to external influences, quick to feel and perceive, and quite ardent and strong in your mental emotions. You need a great deal of physical labor in order to keep your body hardy and strong ; and if your business permit manly exercise, your disposition leads you to take as much of it as is necessary. You are remarkable for force of character."

"The subject of this sketch, George Gregg Briggs, is a signal instance of heroic and successful ad venture in the great work of tilling the soil. When tens of thousands from all trades and pursuits were rushing to the mines in California, Mr. Briggs went to one of the richest valleys of the Golden State, and single-handed has become the greatest fruit grower in the world."

Research note: (Three Pages of subject including a portrait.) Baraboo-1 15:26, 29 August 2016 (EDT)

• Fact: Residence (1860) Marysville City 4th Ward, Yuba, California, United States
• Fact: Residence (1880) Tremont, Solano, California, United States
• Fact: Burial (3 January 1885) California, United States

Sources

1. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:3MK6-C1K
2. ↑ http://alamedasun.com/news/what%E2%80%99s-name-briggs-avenue
3. ↑ [("United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6PL-9GM : 14 July 2016), George G Briggs, Tremont, Solano, California, United States; citing enumeration district ED 117, sheet 451C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0083; FHL microfilm 1,254,083.)]

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 15 August 2021, 18:31), entry for George Briggs (PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:KZGW-52X ); contributed by various users.
• World Family Tree, Volume 1, pre-1600 to present
• Fitzpatrick Home Library

CITING THIS RECORD: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:3MK6-HNK : accessed 2016-08-29), entry for George /Briggs/.

• "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN66-H6C : 17 October 2014), G G Briggs, California, United States; citing p. 182, family 1360, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 545,567.

View the original document. The original may contain more information than was indexed. (Fruit Dealer) (Real estate Valued at $50,000)