Van Berg/Berge Briggs

Updated 10/26/2019(CLM):Photo from Ms.C. Mathews-Hull. Photo may have been taken in 1915.I have very little to go on. V.B.Briggs was an absent father . Also, he was described as a gambler who ran up debts and left the family in need and a drunk. He was a Boiler Maker and according to the Hannibal, MO,City Directory he was a switchman. According to his WWI draft card he was of slender build. Find A Grave#94576330. After my Grandmother Catherine B.Harrison died the family found a letter post marked 1958 on the envelope. The letter now lost stated that V.B. wanted to know if he could live with the family in Florida. He made his case that he could support himself with various jobs. I(CLM) think he may have tried to reach out to his children and they would have nothing to do with him , or have him near their children. It is sad that he may have died alone without family. The following is from V.B.'s Find A Grave Profile.Van Berg Briggs was the son of Ira H.Briggs(1861-1934) and Estella Briggs(1862-1953).He was the father of three children including my Grandmother Catherine B.Harrison(1919-1986).Grandfather to Catherine Ann(Harrison)Mathews(1944-2012).

All I know is that he was a boiler maker and an absent father. After much searching I have found V.B.Briggs in Nevada. His grave marker is a picture of a simple wooden cross with a rusted metal plate with V.B.Briggs.I would like to thank M.Christensen for his work and help. I am very interested in contact with other descendants, for an exchange of information. 

I recently was sent an obituary , and wish to thank Pershing County Cemetery,Administrator Ms. Loa R.Long for her help. The following is from Review Miner of 10/25/1962:" Van Berge Briggs,73, retired Southern Pacific boilermaker, was found dead in bed in his Dartmouth avenue apartment Monday. He had died during the night from natural causes.

He had been in bad health for years. He was best known here as the friendly person who carried a stool with him so that he could rest frequently.

Mr. Briggs was born in Hannibal, MO, on April 8,1889. He was a boilermaker for the Southern Pacific railroad during the steam locomotive era His last skilled work was in the Imlay SP shop. After retiring, he was a cashier for a number of years in the Imlay Railroad Club. In recent years he had lived in Lovelock." Since my(CLM) last post a new grave marker has been place at the grave.http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=briggs&GSbyre...

Please consult Sources.