HORACE J. BRIGGS, of Solon township, Kent county, Mich., is one of the few survivors of those hardy and courageous men who, in company with women no less brave and willing to undergo the known hardships of pioneer life, cast their lot with those who in all ages have lived, as it were, on the skirmish line of civilization. It was due to their intrepid character and fearless spirits that the wilderness was made to blossom as the rose and cities to stand where for centuries only the wild beast or still wilder man roamed in utter ignorance of what was soon to supplant them. This old pioneer, now bent with the weight of years, made more heavy by the hard labor done, is one of the most interesting characters to be met in this part of the state. Bowed with bodily infirmities, but with intellect unclouded, he entertains his visitors with incident and anecdote illustrative of those strictly pioneer days when neighbors were three miles apart and the bear, or Indian was a common sight. Horace J. Briggs was born in Potter, Yates county, N. Y., November I8S, I823, a son of Vaughn and Eliza Ann (Andrews) Briggs. The Briggs ancestry is traced to two brothers, John and James, who came from Scotland and probably settled in Rhode Island. In 1788 Peleg Briggs, the father of Francis, who was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, settled in Yates county, N. Y., where they were among the first. Francis secured -the farm where Horace, as well as his father, Vaughn Briggs, was born. He was in many respects a remarkable man, weighing, it is said, 440 pounds, and lived to the age of I04, while Vaughn died at thirty. Benoni B. and Charles M. Briggs, brothers of Horace J., reside at Cedar Springs, while another brother, Spencer B., lives at St. Louis, Mich. After his father's death, when Horace was ten years of age, his mother married Hiram Briggs, a cousin of her former husband. Of this marriage, two children were born, one of whom; Josie, is now the wife of -Charles Ford, of Cedar Springs. Horace remained with his stepfather until seventeen years of age, becoming quite handy in the use of tools, having worked a while at the cooper's trade. In I842 Horace J. Briggs came to this state, and until his marriage, on the 5th of July, I848, he worked at clearing land, cutting cord wood, and at such other labor as he could secure, having meantime returned to New York, but only for a few months. He was married in Jackson county, to Miss Roda M. Downing, whom he had known as a child in his native state. The eight years following his labor was of a similar character. Being determined to secure a home of his own he, in I856, entered land in Newaygo county, not far from his present home. It was in a dense pine forest, ~the nearest road being four miles away, and the nearest house three miles distant. It was a bold move for a young man and wife to take, but he acted upon Greeley's advice to young men: to secure homes in the new country north of Grand Rapids and quit drinking whisky and loafing around the eastern villages. He paid seventy-five cents per acre for T 6o acres of wild, wet land, and had but five dollars left to live on. It is a great satisfaction now, nearly fifty years later, to be able to show his grandchildren one of those gold dollars that made up his then cash capital. His wife was as brave as himself, as it required the stuff that true pioneers are made of for her to take two children into so dense a forest, away from friends. The only evidence of animal life heard for weeks was the howl of wolves, the screech of the wild cat, or the more dreaded whoop of still wilder men. He blazed trees to indicate the road to his clearing, and even then it was doubtful if he found his way, when caught at a distance if night came on. Their wants were somewhat' supplied by the abundant game, which his trusty rifle seldom failed to reach. No better shot roamed the north woods, and the old friend that never failed him is still prized above all the mementoes of those years. Many interesting relics adorn his home, to remind him and show other generations something of what pioneer life really was. What the forest did not supply in one way, it did in another. He felled the monarchs of the wood and cut and shaved them into shingles, which, by the assistance of a neighbor some miles distant, he hauled sixteen miles to Plainfield, where they were sold for seventy-five cents per thousand. This was a slow and laborious work, but by it he secured such necessities as the outside world supplied. A favorable opportunity came to sell his farm, which had grown to considerable proportions, and in I868 he purchased his present location, paying $900 for I60 acres, heavily timbered with oak and pine. About this time the lumber industry became important and in a few years many millions of feet of valuable lumber were cut from the surrounding country. He was identified for some time with this industry but held his own timber until its value was enhanced by the depletion of the surrounding forests. He then made an advantageous sale, receiving $5,ooo for the pine, and $3.000 for the hardwood on about IOO acres of land. He has added until he now owns 400 acres, about i6o being under cultivation. In those lumbering days excellent home markets existed for everything grown on the farm, hay often selling from $I5 to $25 per ton. He thus reached such affluence, that the hardships and privations of earlier years are in strong contrast to the ease and comfort in which his declining years are passing. In early life a whig, he became a republican on the organization of this party. Few men can now say they were present. at the birth of the republican party, yet Mr. Briggs is one of those who can claim that honor. He attended the meeting at Jackson in 1854, when that name was first applied to the party; it was not only a birth, but a christening. How ever, his views were modified in later years, and since I884 he has been connected with the democratic party, seeing in that a greater safeguard to the rights of the common people and a firmer adherence to the foundation principles of our free government. After forty-five years together, in adversity and in affluence, his wife was called to the great beyond July 17, 1893; and he, having felt also the chill of the icy hand in a protracted sickness, and arranging for the disposal of his earthlv accumulations in accordance with his own ideas, now lives largely in the memory of other days, and enjoys recounting to his auditors the thrilling incidents that were so important a part of that pioneer life which is not being repeated in any part of our country. The children born to this venerable pair were named Ichabod, who died at two years, soon followed by Amanda, who married Jacob Eyer and died in 1870, leaving two children, the elder of whom is Malcom Eyer, who, since his mother's death, has lived with his grandfather. The second child, R. K., died in infancy. Her death was followed by that of her little brother Ichabod, aged two years. Cashmere A. is connected with the New York city street railway system. He has one son, Vernon, aged seventeen. Roby Selmer Briggs also died at the age of seventeen years. Atlanta E. Briggs, the youngest, is now operating the farm. He went west, learned the printer's trade, and also worked three years as a machinist in Grand Rapids. His wife is Eva M. Fullington, and they have one son, Leland A., aged seven, and have lost two sons, Lloyd and Leon. Now that most of those grand men and women of a former generation, whose bravery and courage did so much to pave the way for the present civilization, are passed to the great beyond, or live but in the memory of noble deeds done, it behooves their descendants to 568 THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS honor them with word and pen. It has been a pleasure to review even thus briefly the interesting career of one of them, and it is hoped a valuable lesson will be conveyed to young men, and faint hearts be buoyed up by the story. Mr. Briggs is a man of strong personality, and though deprived of advantages for an education, his close observation and reading have with the study of nature, in its various forms, well stored his mind with valuable information. Now, as the forest turns to gold and yellow, his mind is turned towards the contemplation of that which is beyond; and realizing the approach of the dread master of all, he awaits the dire summons with fortitude, yearning to be again with her whose youthful years were so tenderly interwoven with his own.