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From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 947-948
WILLIAM T. BRIGGS, one of the representative men of Muscoda, Grant county, can trace back his family history to the very early days of this country. Mr. BRIGGS was born in Addison county, Vt., April 24, 1823, a son of William and Kasiah (RICAHRDSON) BRIGGS. William BRIGGS, Sr., was a native of Massachusetts, and the son of Owen BRIGGS, a soldier in the Revolutionary war, which fact entitles the subject of this sketch to membership in the order of Sons of the Revolution. According to the history of the BRIGGS family, the grandfather, Owen BRIGGS, was one of three brothers who emigrated to America prior to the Revolution, and their descendants can be found in great numbers throughout the eastern States. The father of our subject, William BRIGGS, Sr., was a soldier in the war of 1812, participating in the battle of Plattsburg, and in another important engagement. His wife was of Scotch ancestry, while the BRIGGS family originated in England.
Taking with him his wife and four children, in 1831, William BRIGGS, Sr., migrated to the Western Reserve, in Ohio; in 1845 removed to Mason county, Ill., and about 1850 settled in Eagle, Richland Co., Wis., where this worthy couple passed the remainder of their lives. Mr. BRIGGS, Sr., was a collier by trade, but during his later years was engaged in farming. Upright and honorable in all his dealings, he gained the hearty respect of his fellow citizens, and he and his wife were consistent members of the Methodist church, in which Mr. BRIGGS was a class-leader for nearly half a century. Physical this grand old pioneer was one of the most powerful men of his day, and possessed a constitution of iron, dying at the advanced age of eighty-nine. Of the four children of this worthy couple, three were living in 1900; Maranda, widow of T. R. McCLAFLIN, of Oberlin, Ohio; William T., the subject of this sketch; Daniel, of Eagle, Richland Co., Wis.; and Lucy, deceased, who married Levi COAT, and passed her life in Mason county, Illinois.
William T. BRIGGS, the immediate subject of this biography, lived at home until twenty-one, then started out in life for himself. In 1855 he removed from Mason county, Ill., to Dane county, Wis., and in 1862 located in Richland county, where he remained until 1883, at which time he came to Muscoda, and has since resided here.
On Oct. 14, 1844, Mr. BRIGGS was married to Miss Mary Jane BURRINGTON, born Oct. 15, 1828, in Vermont, a daughter of John and Irene BURRINGTON, who removed to the State of New York, and later to Ohio, with their family. Later they migrated to Windsor, Dane Co., Wis., where the parents passed their remaining days. Mrs. BRIGGS was one of a family of twelve, six sons and six daughters, eleven of whom grew to mature years, but only five survive (1900), namely: Daniel F., Riol and Charles, all of Richland county; Mrs. BRIGGS, and Kaziah, wife of W. W. HALL, also of Richland county.
Mr. and Mrs. BRIGGS have three children, two sons and a daughter: Marvin, of Muscoda; Willis, of Eagle, Richland county; and Irene, wife of John MATHEW, of Richland county. Their grandchildren are nine in number, and it is a remarkable fact that during the fifty-six years Mr. and Mrs. BRIGGS have been married death has not visited any of their family, not even in the second generation. Contented and happy, knowing that their children and children's children are well and prosperous, and looking back over well-spent lives, Mr. and Mrs. BRIGGS, are slowly descending the hill of life. In religion Mr. BRIGGS is a Restorationist, while Mrs. BRIGGS is a member of the M. E. Church. Mr. BRIGGS is a Master Mason, having joined the fraternity in 1864, and is as prominent in his lodge as he is in the social and religious life of Muscoda, while Mrs. BRIGGS is equally esteemed among her circle of friends.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck