In June of 1815, David Stearns of Vermont became the first permanent white settler in what is today North Olmsted. The site of his farm is marked with a plaque on the north side of Lorain Road, just west of Stearns Road. Two years later, Thomas and Abiah Briggs arrived with their six children from Guilford, Vermont. They settled on land east of the Stearns homestead. Thomas Briggs served with David Stearns and Postmaster Elias Frost as an officer in Lenox Township which became Olmsted Township in 1830.
John Ames, a carpenter, came to Olmsted from Troy, New York in 1834. Thomas Briggs hired him in 1836 to build a new home which would replace his primitive cabin. Ames used the Greek Revival style which was popular in the nation during the early 19 th Century. Characteristics of style in the Briggs House include a symmetrical design, low-pitched gabled roof, and front porch with columns. Ames built another Greek Revival house that survives today on Butternut Ridge and Canterbury roads. Variations of the style can be seen in two other structures which Ames helped to build, the Universalist Church on Porter Road in North Olmsted and the Barton Road Church now at Frostville. Thomas Brigg’s son, Amos, was one of the founders of this church.
The Briggs House remained in the family for over 130 years until being given to the Olmsted Historical Society and moved to Frostville in 1969. Society members, Marion (Elliot) Crider and her brother, Will Elliot, are descendants of Thomas Briggs. Another member, Harry Crider courted Marion while she lived in the house. Robert Crider like his parents is also active in the society. He has made generous donations to restore the Barton Road Church.
The Briggs House today is a museum primarily displaying exhibits from the nation’s wars. The Civil War Room features a diorama of the Johnson’s Island Prison. Cassius Briggs, a descendant of Thomas Briggs, served in the 15
th
Ohio Battery. He died in Bowling Green Kentucky on January 10, 1863.
Brigg's House c1836
