James M. Briggs 1845-1905

BRIGGS, GRAMLING, COTANT

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 9/18/2010 at 23:00:50

J. M. Briggs’ Body Found
Under M. & St.L. Trestle South of City
Body is Identified
Coroner’s Jury Says He Fell From Trestle and Met His Death Through Accident

The body of J. M. Briggs, who mysteriously disappeared Christmas night, was found by John F. Utz under the Minneapolis & St. Louis railroad trestle across the Des Moines river south of the city about 4:30 o’clock yesterday afternoon.

Coroner Birney was at once notified and the body was brought to the city under his direction and taken to Brees’ undertaking rooms. The identification was complete and there can be no doubt that the body is that of the unfortunate Briggs. The body was badly frozen and not so badly decomposed but that the features of the dead man were recognized by his friends. The inside of his cap bore a label with “J.M. Briggs” stamped upon it, a key ring tag in his pocket which had been given him by Bymer & Hendershot was numbered “861” and upon inquiry at this store it was found that the tag of this denomination had been given Mr. Briggs by Mr. Hendershot at the time of the firm’s opening last fall. His watch was found in the watch pocket of his trousers and the hands indicated that it had stopped at 11:10. His pocket book contained $8.56 in silver, and a knife, note book, tobacco pouch, glasses and other small articles were found on his person.

His left ear was nearly severed and the left side of his head bruised and his skull fractured, indicating that he had probably fallen from the trestle and broken his neck causing instant death. His arms were outstretched a though he had attempted to save himself from this fall.

Verdict of Coroner’s Jury
Coroner Birney empanelled a jury composed of H. A. Jehu, F. H. Morison and Geo. F. Schaad, Jr., with C. W. Crim acting as a clerk, and a hearing was held at Brees’ undertaking rooms this morning. The following witnesses were examined: H. C. Brees, who has the body in charge; E. Wheeler, towerman at Tower No. 2, south of the city, who was present when Coroner Birney and Mr. Brees removed the body from the place where it had been found; F. L. McCoy, who was with Briggs the night he disappeared, and Jacob Ruhle, the rug maker, who was alleged to have seen Briggs with McCoy at his place on East Lincoln street, Christmas night. He did not, however, identify Briggs as the man and McCoy subsequently testified that Peter Nelson was with him. The testimony did not differ materially from the facts as above set forth.

The verdict of the jury was to the effect that Briggs came to his death by accidentally falling from the trestle.

Disappeared Christmas Night
As far as known the last man who saw Briggs alive was Anton Fisher, the junk dealer. He met him Christmas night going east on Lincoln street in front of the public square. Prior to that time Briggs had been with F. L. McCoy during the evening and was somewhat under the influence of liquor. McCoy left him at his home at about 10 o’clock. Mrs. Briggs was not at home at the time and after he had carried in some coal he took a small amount of money and left the house. After that time, as far as known, no one saw him but Mr. Fisher and how he came to fall off the trestle or what induced him to go there will probably remain a mystery. The most plausible conjecture is that he started to walk to one of the neighboring towns, became bewildered and fell off.

The place where the body was found is not concealed and it seems remarkable that his body should have lain there more than five weeks and not been noticed. A wagon road – one of the most travelled in the county – is not more than 500 feet distant, and hundreds of person must have passed there daily.

Funeral to be Held Thursday
James M. Briggs was born in Ohio December 23, 1846, and was married to Olive Gramling in Center Point, Iowa, October 8, 1876. The family came to Estherville May 1, 1890. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Briggs and two are now living. Mrs. Ivan Cotant of St. Paul and Everett Briggs of Staples, Minnesota.

The funeral will be held from the home at 114 east Lincoln street at 1 o’clock Thursday if two brothers and a sister from Vinton and Cedar Rapids arrive by that time. (Estherville Enterprise, Estherville, IA, January 31, 1906)