Frederick L Briggs of Iowa

Briggs
227 Main Street
Ottumwa, IA

Frederick Leonard Briggs
(1851 - 1903)

1851
North Wayne, ME, state records, Frederick L. Briggs is born in Michigan to Henry Briggs and Albina Farr
1856
Bloomfield. IA, state census F L Briggs as child living with parents
1880
Ottumwa, IA, US census,as photographer living at boarding house
1886
Ottumwa, IA, F L Briggs marries Harriet M Merwin
1887 Jul
Iowa, state records Fred L Brigs son Fred W Briggs is born
1895
Ottumwa, IA, state census F L Briggs no occupation known
1900 Jun 03
Ottumwa, IA, US census as photographer; res 128 e Court

1901
Ottumwa, IA, city directory F L Briggs as photographer at Leighton Block; res 128 e Court; Iowa Gazetteer as photographer at 108 s Market
1903
Ottumwa, IA, city directory F L Briggs as photographer at Leighton Block;
1903 Dec 01
Cedar Falls (IA) Gazette news item from Ottumwa on death of Frederick L Briggs

Frederick L. Briggs was in the photography business from about 1880 to his death in 1903. No documents so far show when Briggs operated at 227 Main Street as shown on the cabinet card in this collection.

Cedar Falls(IA)Gazette - 01 Dec 1903

Here is an interesting item that ran in several Iowa newspapers all around the same date.

Fitchburg (IA) Sentinel - 15 Aug 1900

Ottemwa (IA) Semi-Weekly Courier -
13 Dec 1900

photographer: Briggs
Southwest corner of square, Fairfield, IA
example from contributor

photographer: Briggs
227 Main, Ottumwa, IA
example from contributor

photographer: Briggs
The Ground Floor Studio
311 East Main, Ottumwa, IA
example from contributor

The example at the right is by photographer Briggs at Minneapolis, MN. No documents have been found that places Frederick L Briggs in Minneapolis, MN, at any time. Since Ottumwa, IA, is more than 300 miles from Minneapolis, MN, it is quite unlikely that F L Briggs might have had a separate studio there. It would be about a five hour trip on a train.

Note also the logo imprint is quite dissimilar to the imprints from Ottumwa, IA.

photographer: Briggs
Clinton, MA
example from contributor
(No connection has been made to Briggs of Iowa.)

photographer: Briggs and Co
ottumwa, IA
Example found at PhotoTree

photographer: Briggs and Co
ottumwa, IA
Example found at PhotoTree

photographer: Briggs
Humansville, MO
example from auction site

The example at the left imprinted "Briggs, Humansville, Missouri."

No documents have been found showing that Frederick L Briggs ever ventured outside of Ottumwa, IA. Humansville, MO, is 270 miles from Ottumwa, IA.

Note, however, that the Humansville logo design is identical to the Ottumwa design. Also, in the general area, no OTHER photographer has been found named Briggs.

There are no city directories available for the two small towns. No newspaper items have been found about photographer Briggs in either city.

Not the one you were looking for? Here's the photographer's INDEX by name. All the Cabinet Card photographers of the 19th century found in LOST GALLERY are listed there.

Cabinet cards typically have the photographer’s name and address printed on the bottom edge or the reverse of the card. 19th century photographers moved around a lot. The basic idea here is to find WHEN a photographer was WHERE, which will help date an unidentified CABINET CARD from your family album.

This is a work always in progress.

Aditional information and New examples are always welcome. Any additional information will help narrow the time that these precious antiques were made.

All submissions should be free of glare and shadows.
Do not crop.
Leave a border around each card. The edges are sometimes an important clue to the age of the card.
Email to the address found in the profile at the bottom of this page.

Some examples on this page have been enhanced or restored for clarity and presentation here.

This page is free for educational and research purposes only but, as always, if the original owner of any of these examples objects to the use on this page, just let me know and they will be immediately removed.