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- From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;
John C. Briggs, Richmond, was born September 21, 1853. His father, Cyrus, was born in 1820 in the house now occupied by his son, which was built by the father of Cyrus, Artemas, in 1817. The latter was born in 1786 in Dighton, Mass., and came on foot to Bristol, Ontario county, in 1806. In 1809 he married in Bristol, Fanny Gregg, born in 1789. His father, Jedediah, was born in 1738. He had thirteen children, several of whom came to this county. Artemas traded his farm in Bristol for one here, whither he removed in 1814. He served in the War of 1812, and fought in several of the battles on the Niagara frontier. He settled on the west side of Honeoye Lake, and owned land south of Main street in Honeoye. He and his son, Jedediah, each gave half the land for the original cemetery and he gave the land for the First Methodist church. He was one of the founders of the church here. The edifice stood on the site of Mrs. Phillips's house on Lake street. His children were: John G., born in 1811; Jedediah, born in 1815; Fanny, born in 1818; Cyrus, born in 1820, and Mary, born in 1823. Cyrus was educated at East Bloomfield Academy, and was a farmer. He married first Emeline McMichael, daughter of Thomas McMichael, a tanner here, and they had two sons: Zachary J., born in 1849, and John C. He married second Cynthia E. Hadley, by whom he had no children. He died in 1888. John C. married in 1878 Minnie A., daughter of John Van Buren. She was born November 8, 1857. They have had two children; Fred J., born in 1885, died in 1889, and Hattie F., born May 26 1889. Mr. Briggs farms the old original homestead first taken up by Abel Short and later owned by Artemas Briggs. Jedediah, brother of Artemas Briggs, was born in 1779 and was a sea captain. During the War of 1812 he was captured by the English and taken to England, returning after the war. Enoch, the oldest brother, born in 1770, came after Artemas, and settled in Bristol, where his descendants may be found at the present time. The ancestry of the family dates back to Sir Robert Briggs of England, who lived about thirteen generations back.
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