Introducing the Briggs Family

Thanks to New Cousin Cathy, I now know about a whole new branch on the family tree.

As my grandma suspected, Myrtle's death certificate was incorrect listing her father as Doug Briggs.  Doug was her brother.  William Douglas Briggs to be more specific.  Myrtle's father's name was Jacob Pinkney Briggs.  He was born sometime around 1835 possibly in Tennessee. He lived in Yazoo County, Mississippi and Oklahoma where he was a Methodist preacher.  And he died presumably around 1890 in Oklahoma.  I have not been able to confirm a date or place yet, but that's where his information seems to leave off.

Myrtle's mother was not Jacob's first wife, so Myrtle had some half-siblings.  Jacob's first wife was Leannah Dyer, and they had four children together. Leannah is presumed to have died around 1875.

Myrtle's mother has been a bit more difficult to track down.  Even her name is complicated. I have seen her listed on documents or referenced by family members as Tina, Tinia, Tinnie, Tunie, and Tiny.  One of her grandchildren thought her maiden name was Hartley but there has, to my knowledge, never been anything else to confirm that.

She was born according to one census in October of 1860.  She has been listed as being born in both Louisiana and Mississippi.  It is also not know when she died.  Presumably sometime after 5 Jun 1900 which is the last time she shows up on a census in Hunt County, Texas with her second husband Jess W. Abrams.

Ironically I know the date of Jacob's marriage to Leannah Dyer and the date of Tina's marriage to Jess Abrams, but I cannot find marriage records for Jacob and Tina's marriage.  Probably sometime between 1875 and 1879 based on when children were born.

Speaking of children, here are Jacob and Tina's children:

Jacob and Leanna:
Richard P. born 1860
Mary C. "Mollie" born 1870
Jacob M. born 1873
Cully C. born 1875

Jacob and Tina:
LaHanna "Annie" born 1879
William Douglas born 1882
Myrtle Victoria born 1886
Jesse Jewel born 1889

Tina and Jess:
J.C. Abrams born 1898

Discovering the Briggs Family

I decided to dig a little into my grandpa's mom's family a couple of months ago.  I honestly didn't expect to get very far because her family always seemed to be a bit of a mystery.  My mom barely remembers her.  My grandpa only spoke vaguely about her when he was alive.  My grandma loved her but doesn't seem to know (or remember) much about her family.

Her name was Myrtle Victoria Briggs-Carroll.  I also know she was married previously to a man with the last name Crawford because my grandfather had half-siblings with that last name.  I know that she was born 26 Jan 1886, although where seems to be up for debate.

About the only other thing I had to go on was a vague memory of my grandpa talking about visiting his Briggs family in Moyers, Oklahoma as a young man.  And on Myrtle's death certificate her father's name is listed as Doug Briggs.

When I showed my grandma the death certificate she thought I probably shouldn't put much stock in the father's name because it was supplied by Myrtle's husband (my grandpa's dad Earl) and not only was he never really that interested in Myrtle's family, he was also very old when he gave them that information.

I went digging through some of my grandparent's old pictures and found this!

Front

Back

As you can see, it says that it's a picture of "Uncle Doug Briggs - Mom's Brother." That's my grandpa's handwriting. And it says it was taken in Moyers, OK.  I'm not sure when he wrote this on the back but it may have been many years later as he got Doug's wife's name wrong, but it was something to go on.

I found out that Moyers is in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, so I started looking around on the internet to see what I could find out about it.  I came across this website:

Oklahoma GenWeb

As I began scrolling down, I noticed a few people named Briggs.  But I thought what are the chances it's my Briggs.  Sure there's a guy named William Douglas Briggs, but as I've discovered that's not the most unusual name in the world.

I took a chance and emailed the lady who submitted the pictures and, unbelievably, she is a distant cousin.  Those ARE my Briggs!!

New Cousin Cathy's grandma was the sister to my great-grandma Myrtle.  I knew Myrtle had a brother, but I didn't know about a sister.  Turns out Cathy has been researching "our Briggs" for many years and had tons of information on them!  She has been a treasure trove of information.  Plus it's fun to have someone to share your excitement with.

So, needless to say, I've been overwhelmed the past couple of months with sorting through all the information she's given me. Not to mention trying to fill in a few blanks here and there myself since new information comes online on almost a daily basis.

I'll try to begin posting what I'm finding out about my great-grandma Myrtle Victoria Briggs-Crawford-Carroll's family.