Briggs Burial Grounds, Middlebury Township, Tioga County PA 2006 LCR [gps 41.85241-77.26550]

Briggs Cemeteries, Middlebury Township, Tioga County, PA

Middlebury Township Page

Photos by Joyce M. Tice April 2006
Briggs Burial Ground One at right

These two very old burial grounds are located in a difficult to access back area off Route 287 in Middlebury on PRIVATE land. This area was once nearer a road than it is now. The relocation of the roads isolated these small burial grounds. One can drive part way on a farm path and then walk a mile or so to the grounds.

The smaller of the two contains maybe eight to ten graves all marked ONLY with uninscribed field stones. No identification is possible.

The second burial ground is in a wooded area maybe 1500 feet from it. It has recently (April 2006) been cleared of the multiflora rose and grapevine that had choked it. It has possibly 50 to 70 burials but only a dozen are inscribed tombstones. Many graves marked by both headstone and footstone ( field stones brought up from the creek below) are very short and indicate a large number of children. Lola WETHERBEE Franke recorded the larger cemetery in ca 1972, but only noted four tombstones and did not mention the smaller cemetery. Her list was published in Tioga County Cemetery Inscriptions, Vol. 5, p. 14. The remainder are uninscribed field stone markers only. The oldest stone that could be read was about 1824 indicating our earliest pioneer population.

Linda Cornell Reese has recorded the tombstones and that list will be presented here as soon as it is ready. I took photos of both and am presenting some of them on this page. Our only other resource are obituaries for burials here. if you find any,. please submit them to me. Thanks Joyce M. Tice


Briggs Burial Ground two	Briggs Burial Ground two

Rhoana Huntsinger "Keeney"	Coralinn Keeney

Name of Cemetery: Briggs Cemetery
Read By: Linda C. Reese & Joyce M. Tice
Date Read: April. 2006
Typed By: Pat Smith Raymond
Location: Middlebury Twp., Tioga County, PA
Other Comments: 50 - 80 Graves mostly marked w/field stones
Many short graves indicating children & infants - Many graves no markers remain at all

Last Name	First Name	Date of Birth	Date of Death	Age	Inscription/Relationship/Comments
Keeney	Ransom	Apr.5.1812	Uncut
Keeney	Rhoana Huntsinger	Dec.31.1819	Dec.1.1895	76 yr	On marker w/Ransom
Keeney	Sleeman E.		Apr.30.1868	22y11m24d
Keeney	Sherman	May.24.1845	Apr.30.1868		Co. F 11th Pa Cav. - Note: Sherman stone against base of Sleeman stone which is older: They are same person
Keeney	Coralinn		Oct.24.1843	5y5m18d	d/o Ransom & Roana
Goodwin	Emery C.		Jan.14.1852	21y7m20d	s/o Benjamin & Sally J.
Goodwin	Matilda		Dec.5.1824	15y5m24d	w/o Calvin Goodwin
					1 Fieldstone w/ E. K (Short grave)
					1 Fieldstone w/ E. S. (Short grave)
					Side 1-In Memory of the Briggs Family/erected by E.H. Briggs
Briggs	E. H.	Jan.15.1816	Uncut		Side 2
Briggs	Rhoda	Aug.25.1820	Aug.13.1874		Side 2 - w/o E. H.
	Clara A.				Stone broken-Clara was a Briggs b. 1845, m. 1870 to Lewis W. Fenton
					in Steuben, NY--died before 1877
	C.A.F.				Footstone
	J.A.B.				Prob. Jacob, s/o E.H. & Rhoda Briggs
	R.B.				Rhoda Briggs
Hess	Francis D.		Jun.6.1864	7y3m	s/o David & Larena Hess

NOTE	1860 Census	Middlebury
Hess	David	Age 30 M			All Born in PA
Hess	Marena	Age 26 F
Hess	Jane	Age 6 F
Hess	Frances	Age 3 F

Joyce Tip Box -- December 2007 -

If you are not navigating this Tri-Counties Site via the left and right sidebars of the Current What's New page you are doing yourself a disservice. You can get to any place on the site easily by making yourself familiar with these subject and place topics. Try them all to be as familiar with the site's 16,000 plus pages as you can. Stop groping in the dark and take the lighted path. That's also the only way you'll find the search engines for the site or have access to the necessary messages I may leave for you. Make it easy on yourself.

August 2006 - Hi Joyce,
Was poking around on your site and found that you and Linda Reese visited the "Briggs Cemetery" in April 2006. My brother (Larry) and I finally located the cemetery in 2000/2001 and visited it. It had not been cleared of brush at that time. Attached is a photo of Ebenezer's marker.
Ebenezer was a brother of my ggrandfather (Walter).
Also attached is a map showing location.

I talked to an old resident nearby (since died) and he told me a story that he had heard in his early days. A nearby house close to the railroad burned in the early 1900s and when investigating the remains, the foundation was laid up with stones taken from the nearby Briggs Cemetery ?????
Chuck Briggs

This is the grave marker for Ebenezer H. Briggs (son of (14) Oliver Briggs and Lydia Hoag) and his wife (Rhoda Smith).

The inscription reads:

E. H. BRIGGS

BORN

Jan. 15, 1816

RHODA

HIS WIFE BORN

Aug. 25, 1820

Died Aug. 13, 1874

The date that Ebenezer died is not on the stone (although there is space left for it). Apparently Rhoda died first and then when Ebenezer died the date
did not get put on the stone.

Published on Tri-Counties 14 APR 2006

Tioga County PA History and Genealogy

The History Center Genealogy database includes over 100,000 individuals with ties to Mansfield, Richmond, Sullivan, Rutland, Covington, Jackson, Liberty, Ward, Charleston and surrounding areas. Our objective is to collect photos and develop life histories of the families and persons who have been part of our community. You can participate by sharing your research with this community genealogy. tioga.genealogy@gmail.com

The History Center on Main Street
83 & 61 N. Main Street, Mansfield PA 16933 histcent83@gmail.com

We are a member-supported non-profit 501c3 corporation.
Your membership or donations make our work possible.
http://www.joycetice.com/histcent/membership.html
WebSite established 1996 as Tri-Counties Genealogy & History

The History Center on Main Street

61 North Main Street, Mansfield, Pennsylvania 16933

Community Genealogy & History