Otis Briggs

Otis Briggs was born on December 21, 1828, in Massachusetts. His family moved to Ohio in 1835. Mr. Briggs moved to Des Moines in 1848, traveling by horse and buggy. He paid for his journey by mending clocks and other similar tinkering. He had a jewelry business and later, a general merchandise business. Mr. Briggs moved to Nevada in 1857. Hecontinued his general business until the early 1870s when he sold his drug store. Then Otis Briggs and O. B. Dutton established the Farmers Bank, the first bank in Story County. Mr. Briggs invested heavily in land and was one of Story County’s largest landowners. He served as president of the schoolboard and postmaster. Otis Briggs was married twice. In 1854, he married Eliza Allen of Des Moines and they had four children, William, Dayton, Edward, and Nettie. Eliza died suddenly in 1867. Eliza’s half sister, Jennie, came to Nevada to help care for the children. In 1868, Jennie and Otis Briggs were married and had three children, Otis, Jr., Lida, and Clarence. In 1879, Otis and Jennie Briggs moved into their new brick home at 1204 H Avenue, known as Briggs Terrace. The residence took two years to build and cost about $10,000. Their daughter, Lida, and Jay G. Dutton, son of O.B. Dutton, were married at Briggs Terrace on August 18, 1891. Otis Briggs sold his interest in the Farmers Bank to Jay Dutton and J.A. Mills. In 1898, Jay and Lida Dutton moved into the Briggs Terrace residence and later renamed it Evergreen Lane. Jay and Lida Dutton had two children, Dorothy and Orson B. Dutton. Otis Briggs died in 1903 at the age of 75 and Jennie Briggs died in 1914 at the age of 69. Jay Dutton died in 1928 at the age of 62 and Lida Dutton died in 1958 at the age of 88.