James Briggs

Born: August 1828 in England

Died: 1877 between Fairview and Salina, Sevier County, Utah

Married: Hannah Smith on June 10, 1850 in Manchester, England

Children: William, Ann, Sarah, John, Eliza, Robert, James

Relationship to Me: 4th Great Grandfather (Graham Branch)

Information on James Briggs has been quite difficult to find. I have not yet found an exact birth date for him, nor have I found the names of his parents. He married Hannah Smith in 1850, and together the two had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood. It seems as though he and his family made the journey from England to Utah sometime in the early 1870's. This time frame makes immigration and emigration information difficult to obtain, since after the railroad reached Utah in 1868, records were no longer as meticulously kept about who had emigrated to the territory. He, Hannah, and their children, lived in Fairview. In 1877 there was a drought and James set out for Salina in search of water to bring back to his family. Somewhere between the two towns he had died on the road. Some passersby discovered his body and buried it along the roadside.

Ann Briggs Graham

Ann Briggs Graham

Born: January 22, 1853 in Chorlton Upon Medlock, Lancashire, England

Died: April 17, 1880 in Fairview, Sanpete County, Utah

Parents: James and Hannah Smith Briggs

Married: George Graham December 11, 1873 in Salina, Utah

Children: George William and James Richard

Relationship to Me: 3rd Great Grandmother (Graham Branch)

George William, Ann, and James Richard

Information on Ann Briggs has been somewhat difficult for me to find, aside from the facts listed above. She  had a twin named William who died when he was about 2 years old. She came to Utah with her parents, and married George in 1873. Their first son, George William, was born in 1874, and their second son, James Richard was born in 1876. Both boys were born in a one-room log house that George had built for his family in Fairview. The next year was a very difficult one for Ann, as she lost both her father and her husband in the same year. Although I have not yet found any information pertaining to the death of her husband George, I have found some information on the death of her father James. There was a drought going on in Fairview, and James had set off to Salina to get water, but had died somewhere along the way. Some passersby found his body and buried him along the roadside. Ann died in 1880, at the age of 27, leaving her two young boys orphans. The boys' grandmother, Hannah Smith Briggs, moved in with the boys and, with the help of her daughters, raised them.