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(15) Ira Briggs

01Oct1829 - 08Dec1906

Tioga County of New York and Tioga County of Pennsylvania were the beginning and end of Ira Briggs.  Ira Briggs was a prosperous farmer with a musical gift, whose lifetime spanned the early settlement of Tioga County, PA.

The second oldest son of (14) Oliver and Elizabeth Edwards Briggs, he was born in Spencer, Tioga County, NY on 01Oct1829.

Ira was born into a blended family.  The three older siblings were Jacob (1813), Elizabeth (1814), and Ebenezer (1816).  These children were from his father's first marriage to Lydia Hoag, who died in 1820.  Oliver married Elizabeth Edwards sometime before 1827.

Ira's brothers and sisters from his father's marriage to his mother, Elizabeth Edwards, are:  Edward (1827), Lydia (1828), Clarissa (1831), Walter (1833), Louisa (?1835), Oliver Jr. (1837), and Ali Ben Ali (1839/41).

(14) Oliver moved his family to Middlebury Township, Tioga County, PA in 1834 when Ira was 5 years old.  Oliver's sons, Ebenezer and Jacob had farms in Tioga County, PA.  Elizabeth and her husband, Perry Gaige also had moved to Tioga County.  In all probability, they may have told their father, Oliver, of the cheap and fertile farm land there.

Tioga County was not open to settlers until after the Revolutionary War because the fear of the Iroquois Confederacy kept settlers out.  Tioga is an Indian name meaning "gateway".  This was the gateway to the Seneca territory in the southern tier of New York, and the Seneca hunting grounds of the northern tier of Pennsylvania.  There were sentinels guarding the paths and anyone who did not enter the proper pathway was considered an enemy.  General John Sullivan defeated the forces of the British and their Indian allies, the Iroquois, at Newtown (Elmira, NY).  He then destroyed the crops and orchards along the Chemung River Valley.  A harsh winter came after the Indian military disaster and resulted in the disappearance of the Seneca threat to the settlers.

Tioga County was a forested and fertile land ripe for settlers but once it was opened, few took advantage of its cheap land until 1810.

The Tioga River Valley was beginning to be economically developed in the 1840's, grist and saw mills, tanneries, distilleries,iron works, and glass factories were able to produce goods for settlers and those traveling through to more western areas.  Tioga County had large forested areas, but farming was the leading occupation.  The Crooked Creek area farmers began to plant tobacco in 1870 until 1897, when the demand for Tioga County tobacco decreased.  This area was ideal for sheep herding.

Middlebury boasts the Crooked Creek valley as the main geological feature.  This area was and is a farming community, with many small villages along the river and the road.

When the Briggs family arrived in Tioga County in 1834, the county seat, Wellsboro, had only a few buildings.  There was the main road from Elmira to Wellsboro passing through Middlebury, but it was little more than a wide path with large ruts running through it.  There were few settlers, 7,000 people in the entire county.  Most of the homes were log houses which were replaced as the families began to prosper.

When (14) Oliver Briggs settled here, the land had to be cleared for farming, there were many strenuous chores to be done before farming could commence.  This was a primitive and rugged life.  A child did not have much time for play but was expected to help with the family business.

Ira's father's farm was located one half of a mile north of Middlebury Center on the state route 287.

Ira attended the district schools and grew to manhood as Tioga County grew in numbers and prosperity.

When Ira was nineteen years old, he left his father's farm to work for his brother Jacob, who had settled in Jackson Township.  His father was not happy with this arrangement, we know this because he reduced both Ira's and his brother Edward's inheritance by $100.00 and gave it to their sister Lydia, because they had not remained on the family farm until they were twenty-two years old.

He worked for Jacob for four years then he purchased a farm from the Bingham Estate.  Eight years later, Ira purchased an ajoining tract of land from Jacob, so that he had acquired 145 acres.  It was located on North Road about 3 miles north of the town of Holiday in the Crooked Creek area of Middlebury township.

Jacob had quitted Middlebury and went to live with Elizabeth in Jackson Township,  then settled his family there before they moved to New York.

Ira married Margaret Morrell in 1852.  She was the daughter of Stephen Morrell of Jackson Township, Tioga County.  I surmise that he met her while he was working for his brother Jacob in Jackson.  Ira was twenty-four years old, she was nineteen years old.  They lived together for twelve years then legally separated, this marriage bore no children.

The 1870 Census showed that Ira was living alone with no farm hands or family.

The family had a reputation of musical talent and Ira was no exception, he taught music from 1868 to 1871.

He married Ermina M. Conley, the daughter of Jacob Conley, 01Jan1871, in East Charleston, Tioga County, PA.  The Rev. C.A. Stone performed the nuptial.  He was forty-two years old and she was nineteen years old.  They had five children:  Bert J. (1872), Ettie May (1875), Rosa Nell (1876), Jenie V. (1883), and Mattie B. (1885).  Our principle interest is Jenie V., who was mother to Claribel Goodrich Newell.

As the years passed, Ira became a successful farmer.  He raised sheep, as did many other farmers in the Crooked Creek area.  The farms surrounding his were his immediate family and relatives.

Politically, Ira was a Republican.

He attended the Baptist Church.

Both Ettie May and Rosa Nell married in 1896, and Bert married in 1897.

The children were maturing and starting their own families.  And so the empty nest phase of life began for Ira and Ermina.

Ermina died in 1897, in New York.  Ira was sixty-eight years old, a widower and he had two teenage girls to finish raising.  The circomstances would lead one to believe the challenge was more than he could handle.  Jenie married when she was sixteen years old to Elmer J. Goodrich in 1899, and went to live on his parent's farm.  Mattie married Elmer's brother, Ervin P. Goodrich in 1900, when she was fifteen years old.  Both girls had their first child soon after their marriage.

Jenie died in 1901.  Mattie was divorced from Ervin P. Goodrich.  These two events must have brought sorrow to the heart of their elderly father.

Ira lived alone on his farm and pursued his agricultural interests until his death.  Ira died at home 08Dec1906, at seventy-seven years old and is buried in the Middlebury Union Cemetery, Tioga County, PA.

As was customary, his will, named as receiving a portion, Jenie who had died five years before her father.  He left every grandchild a ewe lamb to raise.  Jenie's daughter, Claribel, lamb was kept on her Uncle Bert's farm.

Note:  The preceeding account of Ira Briggs' life was compiled by Judith A. Smith (granddaughter of Claribel Goodrich Newell and great granddaughter of Jenie V. Briggs Goodrich).

The following references are listed:

1)  The History of Tioga County, PA, R.C. Brown and Co., 1897, pg. 369-378, & 799

2)  Tioga County Agitator, Tioga County, PA 11Jan1871

3)  Briggs Family Bible page

4)  Census Tioga County, PA - 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890

5)  Tioga County, PA Historical site Survey, Tioga County Planning Commission, 1980 pg. 21

6)  The will of Oliver Briggs

7)  The will of Ira Briggs

8)  Briggs History from Leora Gee Taylor dated 02Feb1982 Letters

9)  E. Helen Briggs Boyce of Wellsboro, PA (granddaughter of Bert and Sadie Briggs)

10)  Charles and Larry Briggs (great grandsons of Walter, Ira's brother)

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