Ansel Briggs

BRIGGS

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 10/29/2008 at 07:04:26

ANSEL BRIGGS – FIRST GOVERNOR

The First General Assembly convened at Iowa City in the Old Stone Capitol on November 30, 1846. Both the election and the session were legally out of order, for Iowa was not actually a State as yet, but no one cared. Ansel Briggs was sworn into office at a salary of $1,000 a year. This sum may seem very small, even considering the difference in monetary purchasing power a century ago, but in this case it was unimportant, for Briggs was a modest and a humble man. A native of Vermont, whence many an early Iowan migrated, he had established himself in the Territory of Iowa in 1836 as a stagecoach driver, carrying the mails. It has been said that “he was a diligent and honest man who had absorbed a great deal of horse sense while driving stage-coaches.” He soon became interested in politics and began his progress to the gubernatorial chair by becoming the sheriff of Jackson County where he demonstrated his integrity and ability. Often his supporters found it necessary to apologize for their leader’s spelling but no one ever had need to apologize for his official acts.

-William J. Petersen, The Story of Iowa, Lewis Historical Publishing, Inc., 1952.