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Finding aid for the Dr. Benjamin Bennett Briggs family papers
0394
0394
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Title: Dr. Benjamin Bennett Briggs family papers
Collection number: 0394
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.42 linear ft.
1 box
Date (inclusive): 1849-1916
Abstract: Dr. Benjamin Bennett Briggs was a horticulturist and medical doctor who originally came to California from Ohio during the
Gold Rush but returned to Ohio where he married and established a medical practice. He later returned to California to continue
with horticultural pursuits and was one of the founders of La Crescenta, where he hoped to establish a health resort. Though
he died before he could accomplish all his dreams, today's Crescenta-Canada valley was home to many sanitariums and health
resorts owing to its excellent quality of air. Briggs is also remembered for having started the first school in the valley,
the first church, the first public park, and the first full-time medical practice in the area. Shedding light on the daily
lives of one of Southern California's pioneer families, the Briggs family papers is a small but historically important resource.
creator:
Briggs, Abby Crane, d.1863
creator:
Briggs, Benjamin , fl. 1873-1879
[Box/folder# or item name], Dr. Benjamin Bennett Briggs Family Papers, Collection no. 0394, Regional History Collection, Special
Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
The collection was presented to USC Libraries by Benjamin Briggs' great-great-grandson, Dr. Chester Ward, and his wife, Sally
Ward.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Advance notice required for access.
Additional information on the Briggs family history:
La Crescenta History: http://www.freewebs.com/lacrescentawomansclub/lacrescentahistory.htm
Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley: http://www.cvhistory.org/histsites/histsites.htm
History of La Canada-Flintridge: http://pasadenahomesandlifestyle.com/surrounding-cities/la-canada-flintridge/
In 1986, Sally Ward, the wife of Dr. Chester L. Ward, M.D., wrote a short description of Benjamin Bennett Briggs' life and
his descendents based upon information compiled earlier by Irene Ward Kennedy, the sister of Benjamin Briggs Ward, Sr. The
document that Sally Ward created is the first folder in the collection and helps to identify various family members through
the generations as well as summarize the life of Benjamin Bennett Briggs specifically.
Benjamin Bennett Briggs was born on June 2, 1827 in Bristol, New York. The seventh of at least nine children born to Thomas
Briggs and Abigail Gregg, Benjamin and his family moved to Ohio in 1835 where they farmed and where the children learned about
horticulture.
In the spring of 1849, Benjamin and two of his brothers as well as a neighbor, set out for California (from Missouri) across
the plains with an ox team. Benjamin was 22 years old; the youngest brother on the journey, John, was only 18. It took the
group nine months to make the trip, during which time Benjamin was accidentally injured by a bullet which affected his health
for the rest of his life. When the men arrived in California, two of them went to the mines as planned; Benjamin and his brother
George became successful gardeners. Eventually, however, Benjamin's poor health led him to return to his Ohio home while George
continued to plant orchards in Knights Landing, Oroville, and Marysville, California. Unfortunately the floods of 1861-62
destroyed the 300 acres of his Marysville orchard which was eventually completely covered by mining deposits.
Upon returning to Ohio, Benjamin married Abby Crane in 1852; their only child Irene was born in 1853 in Wadsworth, Ohio. Benjamin
and his family later spent time in California again looking at property and prospects; Abby died of tuberculosis in Santa
Paula in 1863. Benjamin and his daughter returned to Ohio where, at age 35, Benjamin enrolled in medical school. Continuing
his medical studies in 1865, Benjamin traveled to Heidelberg, Germany and Paris, France, accompanied by his daughter Irene
and her cousin Louise N. Crane, daughter of his oldest sister, Louise Briggs Crane.
After their return to the United States, Benjamin had a medical practice in Crawfordsville, Indiana for about 13 years. His
daughter Irene married Reverend Samuel Lawrence Ward in 1873 and they went to Persia as missionaries of the Presbyterian Church
for over twenty years.
In the early 1880s, Benjamin returned to California to continue with horticultural pursuits and was one of the founders of
La Crescenta, where he hoped to establish a health resort. (Briggs coined the name "Crescenta" to indicate the crescent-shaped
valley nestled between the Sierra Madre mountains and the Verdugo Hills.) Though he died before he could accomplish all his
dreams, today's Crescenta-Cañada valley was home to many sanitariums and health resorts owing to its excellent air quality.
Briggs is also remembered for having started the first school in the valley, the first church, the first public park, and
the first full-time medical practice in the area. Dr. Benjamin Bennett Briggs died in 1893 at the age of 65.
This small collection of family papers centers around Dr. Benjamin Bennett Briggs (1827-1893) whose 1849 diary chronicles
his account of moving from Ohio to California by covered wagon. Briggs was the great-great-grandfather of the collection's
donor, Dr. Chester Ward. In addition to the diary, the collection includes a small account book/diary from 1862--also kept
by Briggs--as well as a number of letters to and from family members. There are also a few Presbyterian missionary materials
because Benjamin's daughter, Irene, married Samuel Lawrence Ward; they went to Persia as missionaries of the Presbyterian
Church from 1876 to 1897. Other noteworthy items in the collection include a very small (and fragile) Arabic prayer book and
an 1896 book of "pressed flowers from the Holy Land" in excellent condition.
Assistance in processing the Briggs papers was provided by Tiffany Chu.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Briggs family -- Archives
Briggs, Abby Crane, d.1863 -- Archives
Briggs, Benjamin , fl. 1873-1879 -- Archives
Briggs, Irene Crane, 1853- -- Archives
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.. -- Correspondence
Ward, Samuel Lawrence -- Archives
Correspondence
Diaries
La Cañada (Calif.)--History--Archival resources
La Cañada Flintridge (Calif.)--History--Archival resources
La Crescenta (Calif.)--History--Archival resources
Overland journeys to the Pacific--Archival resources
Panama--Photographs
Pioneers--California--Biography
Pioneers--West (U.S.)--Diaries
United States--History--1849-1877--Archival resources