Dr. Thomas Whitaker Briggs, Sr.
1810-1883
Dr. Thomas Whitaker Briggs, Sr. (my great great grandfather) was born December 24th 1810 in South Carolina's Fairfield District. He was the only son of Dr. Thomas and Jemimah Jones Briggs.
Thomas first married Sarah Ann Ragin on 21 Dec. 1837.1 Sarah was born Aug 9, 1818, the daughter of Richard and Anne Ransom Lawson Ragin. Thomas and Sarah had two children: Ann Ransome Briggs (10/5/1838-6/20/1901) and Richard Ragin Briggs (12/7/1839-9/17/1910) . Sarah died a little over a month after the birth of her son on the 21st of January, 1840.2
1840 Census Sumter District, South Carolina, p. 23 (image 43/114)
The details of the 1840 census:
- one male less than five years old: Richard Ragin Briggs (born 1839)
- two males aged 20-30: at least one would be
30-year-old Dr. Thomas Whitaker Briggs.
- We're not yet sure who the other male listed is... perhaps another family relation. There is no record that Thomas had a brother.
- One female less than five years old: Ann R Briggs (born 1838)
- the fact that there are no other females listed indicates that Thomas's first wife had died by the time of this census enumeration.
In about 1843, Thomas married Margaret Susan Spain (daughter of Hartwell H and Elizabeth Ann Chambers Spain3).
1850 census: Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina; page 340a (image 63/230)
Although difficult to read—especially the enumerator's rendition of Thomas his middle initial "W"—we can see 40-year-old Thomas is listed as a physician. We also see Thomas and Margaret's first two children: Thomas Whitaker Briggs, Jr., Age 4; and William S, age 2. The 22-year-old Elizabeth Spain is almost certainly part of Margaret's family—likely her sister.
We do not know the reasons why Thomas's two children from his previous marriage are not enumerated in the same household. However, we find that 11-year-old Ann and 10-year-old Richard R Briggs are living with their 60-year-old grandfather Richard Ragin in the same town.4
1860 Census: Clarendon Township (Wrights Bluff Post Office), Clarendon, South Carolina, p. 204 (image 30/116)
By 1860, we see that Thomas is doing quite well as his real estate is worth $20,000 and his personal estate, $87, 325. However, looking next door we see that Thomas' son Richard and his new wife Elizabeth have amassed an even bigger fortune.
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| The Daily Phoenix, Columbia, SC August 5, 1866; page 1 |
Thomas and his fellow delegates were meeting in Columbia in early August of 1866 to select a head of their delegation and to establish their policy in advance of a National Union Convention (also known as the Southern Loyalist Convention or the Arm-in-Arm Convention), which was to be held in Philadelphia in two weeks time.
Basically, the convention was set up to try and elicit support for Pres. Andrew Johnson and as a counterbalance to the more radical Republicans, who were suggesting policies inimical to the interests of those wealthy landowners who saw a threat in some of the more stringent policies regarding Reconstruction in the South.
In this conference Thomas attended in Columbia, delegates elected South Carolina Governor James Lawrence Orr as head of their delegation in Philadelphia. During that convention, Gov. Orr marched arm-in-arm with Massachusetts delegate, General Darius Nash Couch—in a supposed display of solidarity in the aftermath of the Civil War. In the end, the convention was unable to help president Johnson, who was later impeached in 1868.
1870 Census St Paul YP (PO Manning), Clarendon, South Carolina, p. 555A
1870: Clarendon Co., SC Sarah Spain, although listed as "asst Keeping House," is Thomas' sister-in-law. Sarah can also be found below in the 1880 census.
1880 Census, St. Paul's District, Clarendon, SC, p. 8 (image 8/22)
In the 1880 Census, Thomas, wife Margaret (ages 69/56) and family are living in the St. Paul's District of Clarendon County. Thomas' sister-in-law Sarah J. Spain is also living with the family.
Thomas Whitaker Briggs, Sr. died in March of 1883 in Clarendon County, South Carolina.
by his first wife, Sarah Ann Ragin (1818-1840)
- Ann Ragin Briggs (1838-1901; married James Adger Smyth)
- Richard Ragin Briggs (1839-1910)
by his second wife, Margaret Susan Spain
- Thomas Whitaker Briggs, Jr. (~1846- ?)
- William Spain Briggs (1848-1906)
- Abram Darling Jones Briggs, Sr. (1850-1927)
- Hartwell Spain Briggs, Sr. (1851-1926)
- Alburtus Spain Briggs ,Sr. (~1855-1931)
- Ashley Cain Briggs Sr. (~1859-1943)
- Edward Percy Briggs, Sr. (1860-1912)
- Ida Briggs (1863-?)5
- Marriage info from William Candler online family tree.
- Ibid.
- click here for more information about the Spain family
- 1850 census Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina; page 381A
- Newspaper clipping outlining Ida's wedding to James Henderson (includes
many details on family members and confirms status of Anne and Richard).
the Watchman and Southron; October 26, 1886; page 2
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