Person:Thomas Briggs (20)

MEDIA: J0174 - Picture of Thomas Arnold Briggs from Rootsweb/RI GenWeb website (http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/article206.html). Picture originally from "History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical", NY: The American Historical Society, Inc. 1920

BIOGRAPHY: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~smithandyoung/Knight.htm#NancyKnight The following is a biography of Thomas A. Briggs from "History of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical"; NY: The American Historical Society, Inc. 1920 : p. 429 - 430:

  "THOMAS ARNOLD BRIGGS -- To the record of a family line old and distinguished, Mr. Briggs has added a chapter in industry and invention that reflects credit upon the family name. He is the president of the Boston Wire Stitcher Company, of East Greenwich, and the inventor of several machines of widespread use in the printing industry, including the wire-stitcher and automatic feeder, as well as a label making machine and a machine for attaching window shades to rollers..........

  (VIII) Thomas Arnold Briggs, son of Samuel Albert and Lucy Ann (Rice) Briggs, was born in Crompton, R. I., January 19, 1857. He was reared on a farm in Crompton, and until he was sixteen years of age attended the public schools. Becoming employed in a drug store at Centerville, he remained there for three years, gaining an experience in this line that led him, at the age of nineteen years, to establish an independent business. For two years he conducted a drug store at Pepperell, Mass., at the end of this time selling the business to devote himself entirely to the work that has since held him, invention and manufacturing. While proprietor of the store at Pepperell, he had perfected and patented a label machine, and when the machine had been manufactured he established the Rhode Island Label Works on Sabine street, Providence. This was a practical and highly successful invention and has been improved upon but little since that time. Mr. Briggs disposed of his patent rights in his invention, which is used the world over. 

  At this time he built for the Carter-Crume Company, now the American Sales Book Company, several special type high-speed machines for the printing and binding of their product, and installed them on a special agreement. These were the first machines combining the numerous processes necessary in the manufacture of sales books, and were a pronounced and unqualified success. With an assured income from this source, Mr. Briggs applied himself diligently to the perfection of another of his inventions, the wire-stitching machine, and, with his work completed, he arranged for the marketing of the machines through the American Type Founders' Company. At the same time he brought an automatic feeder for large presses to practical and efficient form, but the expense involved in establishing the manufacture of his wire-stitcher 

prevented his entering the feeder field. In 1900, Mr. Briggs organized the Boston Wire Stitcher Company, of which he is president, purchased a plant in East Greenwich, R. I., and there began the manufacture of the machine. In addition to the stitchers that figure as an important part of the equipment of every printing plant in the country, and the Boston Stitcher is unexcelled in performance, the company manufactures a machine for securing the window shades to rollers, and various machines and appliances for use in printing and allied trades. Inventor of the products manufactured in the East Greenwich plant, and with a talent for mechanics that amounts to genius, Mr. Briggs, in the management of his plant and the solution of perplexing business and industrial situations, has shown himself the able man-of-affairs as well, and the rosperity of his company, based upon the work of his productive mind, is due in large measure to his strong guidance.

  During the World War a machine gun cartridge belt, made of a paper and asphalt composition, was designed in the Ordnance Department to replace the old and expensive belt in use up to that time. The old type of belt, costly in its first manufacture, was loaded by a slow hand process, and was often reloaded many times on the field of battle. The advantages of the new belt were to be speed of manufacture, speed of loading, low cost of production, and the ability to discard them when firing had been completed. The design for the belt was turned over to Mr. Briggs by the war department with the charge of designing the machines to realize these advantages. It is a tribute to his inventive genius and wide technical knowledge that after a thorough study of the problems he and his associates produced a machine to manufacture the belt 

and another to load it with three hundred shells, the entire operation completed in one minute. This machinery was made in their factory and then shipped to the various ammunition plants throughout the country manufacturing machine gun belts and shells. This is a notable example of the instant and effective response of the industrial genius of the country to any demand made upon it, and Mr. Briggs, past the age for the firing line, ably improved this opportunity for service to the Allied cause.

  In 1913, Mr. Briggs was elected to the Warwick Town Council, and was reelected in 1914, becoming president of that body, but he resigned before the expiration of his term. He is interested in all that concerns the welfare of his town, and a supporter of all movements of civic progress. He maintains a residence in Providence, and has a summer home in Florida. 

His favorite recreations are golf and motoring, and he is fond of all out-of-door sports."

CENSUS: 1860 United States Federal Census Name: Thomas R Briggs Age in 1860: 3 Birth Year: abt 1857 Birthplace: Rhode Island Home in 1860: Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island Gender: Male Post Office: Centreville Source Citation: Year: 1860; Census Place: Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island; Roll: M653_1203; Page: 147; Image: 295.

1870 United States Federal Census Name: Thomas A Briggs Estimated Birth Year: abt 1857 Age in 1870: 13 Birthplace: Rhode Island Home in 1870: Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island Race: White Gender: Male Post Office: Centreville Source Citation: Year: 1870; Census Place: Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island; Roll: M593_1471; Page: 229; Image: 459.

1880 United States Federal Census Name: Thomas Briggs Home in 1880: Cranston, Providence, Rhode Island Age: 23 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1857 Birthplace: Rhode Island Relation to Head of Household: Self (Head) Spouse's Name: Alice Father's birthplace: Rhode Island Mother's birthplace: Rhode Island Occupation: Druggist Marital Status: Married Race: White Gender: Male Household Members: Name Age Thomas Briggs 23 Alice Briggs 19 Winnifred Briggs 1 Source Citation: Year: 1880; Census Place: Cranston, Providence, Rhode Island; Roll: T9_1214; Family History Film: 1255214; Page: 94.4000; Enumeration District: 102; .

1900 United States Federal Census Name: Thomas Briggs Home in 1900: Arlington, Middlesex, Massachusetts Age: 43 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1857 Birthplace: Rhode Island Relationship to head-of-house: Head Spouse's Name: Alice M Race: White Occupation: Builder of Machinery Household Members: Name Age Thomas Briggs 43 Alice M Briggs 39 Bennie Briggs 9 Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Arlington, Middlesex, Massachusetts; Roll: T623 655; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 659.

1920 United States Federal Census Name: Thomas Briggs Home in 1920: Providence Ward 1, Providence, Rhode Island Age: 63 years Estimated Birth Year: abt 1857 Birthplace: Rhode Island Relation to Head of House: Head Spouse's Name: Ellen Father's Birth Place: Rhode Island Mother's Birth Place: Rhode Island Marital Status: Married Race: White Sex: Male Home owned: Own Able to read: Yes Able to Write: Yes Image: 713 Household Members: Name Age Thomas Briggs 63 Ellen Briggs 59 Margaret Greene 27 Source Citation: Year: 1920;Census Place: Providence Ward 1, Providence, Rhode Island; Roll: T625_1676; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 164; Image: 713.

PASSPORT: U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 Name: Thomas A Briggs Birth Date: 19 Jan 1857 Birth Place: Warwick, Rhode Island Residence: Warwick, Rhode Island Passport Issue Date: 11 Jan 1911 Passport Includes a Photo: N Source: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925 (M1490) Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007

California Passenger and Crew Lists, 1893-1957 Name: Thomas A Briggs Arrival Date: 19 Apr 1927 Age: 69 Birth Date: abt 1858 Birthplace: Warwick, Rhode Island, United States Gender: Male Ship Name: Maui Port of Arrival: Honolulu, Hawaii Port of Departure: Honolulu, Hawaii Source Information: Ancestry.com. California Passenger and Crew Lists, 1893-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations

California Passenger and Crew Lists, 1893-1957 Name: Thomas Briggs Arrival Date: 27 Jan 1927 Age: 69 Birth Date: 19 Jan 1857 Birthplace: Warwick, Rhode Island, United States Gender: Male Ship Name: Franconia Port of Arrival: San Pedro, California Port of Departure: Kingston, Jamaica Source Information: Ancestry.com. California Passenger and Crew Lists, 1893-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 Name: Thomas A Briggs Arrival Date: 8 May 1926 Estimated Birth Year: 1857 Age: 69 Gender: Male Port of Departure: Boulogne Sur Mer, France Ship Name: Volendam Port of Arrival: New York, New York Nativity: Rhode Island Line: 6 Microfilm Serial: T715 Microfilm Roll: T715_3844 Birth Location: Rhode Island Birth Location Other: warrick Page Number: 194 Source Citation: Year: 1926; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_3844; Line: 6; . Source Information: Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: