Civil War Veterans Buried In Washington State - Oliver Briggs

Oliver Hill Briggs

Representing: Union


Unit History

  • 3rd Massachuetts Infantry H
  • 18th Massachusetts Unattached Militia Infantry Capt. Baker's Company

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Oliver  Briggs
Full Unit History

3rd MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
Organized: August/September, 1862
Mustered In: 9/23 and 9/26/1862 Camp Hooker Lakeville, MA
Mustered Out: 6/26/1863 Camp Hooker Lakeville, MA
 

18th MASSACHUSETTS UNATTACHED VOLUNTEER MILITIA INFANTRY COMPANY (100 days)
Organized: Summer, 1864 Readville, MA
Mustered In: 8/6/1864 Camp Meigs Readville, MA
Mustered Out: 11/14/1864 Camp Meigs Readsville, MA
 

18th MASSACHUSETTS UNATTACHED VOLUNTEER MILITIA INFANTRY COMPANY (1 year)
Re-organized: Fall, 1864 Taunton, MA
Mustered In: 12/6 &7/1864 Taunton, MA
Mustered Out: 5/12/1865

Regimental History

REGIMENTAL HISTORY: (3rd)
 

The 3rd Massachusetts was a nine month infantry regiment. Its period of service was spent within the Department of North Carolina which was within the western theater of the American Civil War (ACW).
 

Under the call of 8/4/1862 for nineteen thousand eighty nine month militia troops to be recruited in Massachusetts, the 3rd - which had served earlier - was re-activated.
 

Leaving the state on 10/22/1862 the 3rd reached Beaufort, NC on 10/26. From there it proceeded to Newbern. It remained there, not very active, until December when it embarked on the Goldsboro Expedition. During this movement it was present at Kinston, Whitehall and Goldsboro, but was only slightly engaged, so suffered only minimal loss.
 

In January, 1863 the regiment moved back to the defenses of Newbern. From that location it participated in several minor expeditions including one for the relief of Washington, D.C.
 

Its term of service expired, the 3rd was ordered back to Massachusetts. It was mustered out at its old Lakeville rendezvous camp on 6/26/1863.
 

REGIMENTAL LOSSES:
Officers Killed Or Mortally Wounded:  0; Officers Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 0; Enlisted Men Killed Or Mortally Wounded:  1; Enlisted Men Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.:  17.

 

REGIMENTAL HISTORY: (18th 100 days & 1 year)
 

Unattached organizations such as the 18th were short term units. They served either in the coastal forts of their home state or at interior points where needed. Occasionally a company, like the 18th, served for more than one term.
 

The 18th was initially constituted for 100 days. That period of service was spent stationed at Camp Meigs, Readville, MA within the eastern theater of the American Civil War (ACW).
 

Re-organized in 12/1864 for a period of one year, the 18th - again - was stationed at Readville, MA. It was mustered out on 5/12/1865.
 

REGIMENTAL LOSSES: (100 days & 1 yr.)
No Loss Numbers Available

Soldier History

SOLDIER: (3rd)
Residence: Dighton Bristol County, MA   Age: 28.3 yrs.
Enlisted/Enrolled: 9/18/1862   Rank: Pvt.
Mustered In: 9/23/1862 Camp Hooker Lakeville, MA
Mustered Out: 6/26/1863 Camp Hooker Lakeville, MA
Highest Rank: Pvt.
Rank At Discharge: Pvt.
 

SOLDIER: (18th: 100 days)
Residence: Dighton Bristol County, MA   Age: 30.2 yrs.
Enlisted/Enrolled: 8/1/1864 Dighton Bristol County, MA Not Avail.   Rank: Pvt.
Mustered In: 8/6/1864 Readville, MA
Mustered Out: 11/14/1864 Boston, MA
Highest Rank: Pvt.
Rank At Discharge: Pvt.
 

SOLDIER: (18th 1 yr.)
Residence: Dighton Bristol County, MA   Age: 30.6 yrs.
Enlisted/Enrolled: 12/7/1864   Rank: Pvt.
Mustered In: 12/7/1864
Mustered Out: 5/12/1865
Highest Rank: Pvt.
Rank At Discharge: Pvt.

Family History

OLIVER H. BRIGGS
3rd MASSACHUSETTES INFANTRY Co. "H"
18th UNATTACHED COMPANY MASSACHUSETTES MILITIA INFANTRY
18th UNATTACHED COMPANY MASSACHUSETTES MILITIA INFANTRY
G.A.R.:



PERSONAL/FAMILY HISTORY:
 

NOTE: The birth - to - death biographical profile of Oliver Briggs was created in June, 2022 near the end of the Covid-19 medical pandemic. It contains less depth of detail than many other biographies within this website because military service, pension and other veteran-related files housed in Washington, D.C.'s National Archives were not available. At a later time those documents may be obtained and the data contained therein added to the narrative which follows.
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Oliver Hill Briggs was born 6/4/1834. His community of birth was Dighton Bristol County, MA.
 

Parenting Oliver were Ebenezer Briggs (b. 1801 MA) and Nancy (no nee b. 1807 MA) Briggs. The Briggs were a farming family.
 

As best as can be determined, Oliver was the eldest of five children. His younger siblings were Lyman Briggs (b. 1838 MA), Nancy J. Briggs (b. ca. 1840 MA), Isaac L. Briggs (b. ca. 1842 MA) and Emma E. Briggs (b. ca. 1849 MA).In the U.S. Census of 1850 Oliver noted his occupation as "ship wright", i.e. ship carpenter.
 

Oliver appears to have remained on this parents' farm until he wed on 11/28/1860 in Dighton Bristol County, MA. His bride was Jane M. Borden. Jane had been born in Massachusetts during 1843. It appears that after marrying the couple settled in Dighton.
 

During their years together Oliver and Jane produced at least four children. They were: Ann "Annie" J. Briggs (b. 1/24/1862 Dighton Bristol County, MA), Bertha A. Briggs (b. 2/21/1871 Taunton Bristol County, MA), Victoria A. Briggs (b. 9/17/1876 - d. 9/17/1876 Dighton Bristol County, MA) and Charles W. Briggs (b. 6/10/1877 Taunton, MA - d. 4/11/1884 New Bedford Bristol County, MA).
 

Sadly, Jane Briggs died during 1880. Her passing came in New Bedford Bristol County, MA. Details of her death are not available.
 

Widowed with three young children to be cared for, following Jane's death Oliver did not wait long to remarry. That having been said, no date for this second Mrs. Brigg's wedding date has been located.
 

Oliver's second wife was the previous wed, Anna C.  (nee Tibbits b. 11/5/1844 ME) Severance. How the two had met is another unknown. She brought one child into the marriage: George A. Severance (b. ca. 1870). Oliver and Anna produced no children of their own.
 

Dropping back to the 1860s, not long after the birth of daughter Annie, Oliver left his wife and young child to enlist in the U.S. Army. Although not documented, it is very possible the enlistment was financially motivated. In the early 1860s financial times were tough in the U.S. Enlistment meant not only a possible signing bonus or "bounty," but a thirteen dollar per month salary. In 1862 thirteen dollars was a tidy sum that could be sent home to support a family.
 

Private Oliver Briggs' initial unit of service was the 3rd Massachusetts Infantry. The 3rd was a "nine month", primarily non-combat regiment.  Without accessing his military service records little can be said about Private Briggs' period of enlistment. As a carpenter, he was assigned to detached duties. Also, he survived and returned to his family.
 

Oliver did not remain home for long. In 8/1864 he, again, enlisted. On this occasion hie was in another short-tenured, non-combat unit. Initially known as Captain Baker's Unattached Company of Massachusetts Militia Infantry, after Federal muster it was re-designated the 18th Unattached Company Massachusetts Military Infantry. A rear echelon organization, Private Briggs served two enlistments in the 18th. Neither was lengthy or placed him in harm's way.
 

With army life behind him, Oliver returned to Massachusetts to grow his family. Post ACW, the Briggs family continued to reside in Bristol County, close to the area's shipbuilding industry. However, beginning with the 1870 U.S. Census, besides Dighton, two additional communities of residence are documented: Taunton and New Bedford.
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 Although the timeline is not documented, by 6/1890 the Briggs family had quitted Massachusetts and removed to King County, WA. Here, they settled in the community of Ballard. In 1890 an independent community, Ballard is now a northwest Seattle neighborhood.
 

When Oliver and family arrived here is not known. What may have lured them to the far Pacific Northwest and the shores of Puget Sound was likely the great Seattle fire of 1889. The rebuilding of almost the entire city provided many carpentry opportunities. Further, as a ship building city, Seattle also offered openings for ship wrights.
 

Oliver H. Briggs died in Seattle, WA. His death date was 3/24/1907. Cause of his passing was noted as "paralysis" (stroke).  Dead at the age of seventy three years and nine months,  the former ACW private was/is buried in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery located just south of Ballard on Seattle's Queen Anne Hill.
 

Noting the "uncertainty of life and certainty of death" in his last will and testament, Oliver bequeathed five dollars each to daughters Annie and Bertha. The same amount was left to step-son, George. The remainder of his estate went to wife Anna.
 

On 8/18/1890 Oliver had applied for and been granted a U.S. Government disability pension based on his days of Civil War soldiering. Without accessing former Private Briggs' pension file the details of his monthly stipend remain unknown.
 

Almost immediately following Oliver's death his widow petitioned the Government to continue receiving at least a portion of his monthly pension allowance. The request was granted, but again, without the widow's pension file the size of her initial stipend is not known.
 

Anna Briggs lived out her years in the Seattle area. She died in Seattle on 9/15/1919. Her burial was/is in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery with Oliver.

 

POSTED: 9/20/2022
UPDATED:

Cemetery

Buried at Mt Pleasant Cemetery AKA Free Methodist & Seattle IOOF


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