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- The
Shelby Museum Of History
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- Recorders
of Shelby Pictorial History
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- Early
Shelby Photographers and their Photographs
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- W.
Jesse Briggs c. 1909
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- The
only current photo example of W. Jesse Briggs dates from 1909.
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- As
can be seen (below) on the reverse of the Marvin Library photo
shown above, it is stamped "Photo By W. JESSE BRIGGS, Shelby,
Ohio". The writer of the post card writes, " This is
where I get my reading to keep me busy on Sundays. It is not
so fine from the outside but the interior is elegantly furnished."
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photo is composed nicely, quite sharp, and the photo production
process was well done. The card has weathered 100 years very
well.
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- Who
was William Jesse Briggs? There were two living in Shelby at
the time (August 29, 1909) this photo was mailed.
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- Jacob
P. Briggs was born in England in 1846 and came to the US in 1848
with his parents, Jesse and Ruth Bartram Briggs and three sisters:
Eliza, Martha and Mary.
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- Jesse
and Ruth Briggs settled on a farm in the Plymouth Township area
of Richland County and lived here most all their lives. Jacob's
older sister Martha (born 1842) married Samuel Whitney, George
and Catherine Salsbury Whitney's oldest son in 1861. Jacob continued
to work on his father's farm until 1866, when he married Mary
Melinda Lucinda Whitney (born 1850) who was Samuel Whitney's
younger sister.
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after their marriage, Jacob and his new wife moved to the area
of North Bloomfield in Morrow County, Ohio. Jacob listed his
trade on the 1870 census as "ditcher". It was here
in Morrow County that William Jesse Briggs Sr. was born on September
20, 1867. He was to be the oldest of 13 children, born to Jacob
and Lucinda Whitney Briggs.
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continued to work as a ditcher in the Morrow County area through
the time of the 1880 census, but by 1900 he and Mary were again
living in Shelby, this time at 13 Seltzer Avenue. Son William
Jesse Briggs had married in 1887 to Emma Black and they were
living at 41 West Street . William Sr. was employed at the Shelby
Spring Hinge working as a shipping clerk. while wife Emma was
busy with their family of 3 children: Gertrude 11, William Jesse
9, and Emma Estella 6.
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in 1909 when the above photo was sold, we have William Jesse
Briggs Sr. 44, employee of the Shelby Spring Hinge and William
Jesse Briggs Jr. 18 who is listed in the 1908 Shelby directory
as "student boarding at 41 West Street".
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- William
Jesse Briggs Sr. was to continue his employment at the Shelby
Spring Hinge in the shipping department for the rest of his working
career (according to 1920, 1930 censuses as well as Shelby directories).
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his WWI draft registration William Jesse Briggs Jr. listed his
occupation as "druggist at the H. L. Crowell store"
in Shelby. He was a "student at college" in the 1920
census. On his WWII draft registration in 1942, he signed his
name as: "W. J. Briggs - O. D." ( Doctor of Optometry;
Optometrist. ) When he provided information for his mother's
death certificate in 1949, he signed: "Dr. W. J. Briggs".
Dr. Briggs died in 1954 and is buried in the Oakland Cemetery
in Shelby.
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is this researcher's opinion that the photographer "W. Jesse
Briggs - Shelby, Ohio" was William Jesse Briggs Jr. He seems
to have been the type that was searching various avenues for
his career. It appears that in 1920 at the age of 30 he was back
in school probably preparing himself for his final career as
an optometrist. He was associated with the Crowell's Drug Store
and there have been many post cards of the Shelby area that were
produced by, and marked "published by H. L. Crowell".
Most of these cards were of 1907 - 1912 vintage, so William Jesse
Jr. could have been exposed to this (or perhaps been a part of
it) with his association with the H. L. Crowell Store.
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we are only aware of this one card, it would be unwise to speculate
over what period W. Jesse Briggs produced photo post cards, but
as more cards are discovered the results will be included here.
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- July
2017 - A second W. Jesse Briggs photo has been discovered. The
subjects in the photo are
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at this time, however, the photo was taken at the front door
of either Grant or Hayes
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school.
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- Unfortunately
the post card was not used and therefore has no cancellation
date stamp
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aid in establishing a time frame. It does appear that the "W.
JESSE BRIGGS" back stamp
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identical to that used on the reverse of Shelby Public Library
card (above). The fact that
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was applied at an angle would indicate that a hand stamp was
used.
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- Please
contact us at the Shelby Museum if you have information re. the
subjects in
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photo, or if you can determine which school is pictured.
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- If
you have examples of Briggs photo post cards, please contact
us at the Shelby Museum.
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- If
you have questions or if you would like more information, please
contact :
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- The
Shelby Museum of History
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Sally Maier
- 76
Raymond Ave.
- Shelby,
Ohio 44875
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Copyright
© 2000 - 2019 - The Shelby Museum Of History, Inc.
