Charles Frederick Briggs

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Bibliographic Information

Howland, Harold. "Charles Frederick Briggs." Dictionary of American Biography. Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 2006. http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC.

Type: book ; Genre: biography

Abstract

This gives a brief biography of Charles F. Briggs.

People Mentioned in this Work

Briggs, Charles Frederick: Briggs was born on Nantucket to John and Sally Briggs. He had an early career as a sailor, but soon left that profession to become "engaged in mercantile pursuits in New York."

In 1839, he published the novel The Adventures of Harry Franco: A Tale of the Great Panic, which drew on experiences from his days as a sailor. "Harry Franco" would become a psuedonym used by Briggs in several later works. In 1843 he wrote The Haunted Merchant and in 1844 he founded the Broadway Journal.

Briggs accepted several of Poe's submissions and eventually made him an associate editor of the Broadway Journal. Briggs retired from the paper in 1845, and published in the next two years Working a Passage, more "reminisces" of his days as a sailor, and The Trippings of Tom Pepper. Some of his friends recognized themselves in the characters of the book and took offense and Briggs decided not to write fiction again.

In 1853, Briggs edited Putnam's Magazine with Parke Godwin and George William Curtis. He worked there for three years until the magazine stopped running, but was reinstated as an editor when it resumed ten years later. During the gap, Briggs worked as an editor at the New York Times and was put in charge of the paper when Henry J. Raymond when to Europe. Briggs also worked at the New York Custom House during this intirim. Briggs was made the financial editor of the Brooklyn Union in 1870, and worked there for three years before leaving to join the editorial staff of the Independent.

Briggs was also one of the first three member of the Board of Commissioners for Central Park. He wrote the "annual preface" for Trow's New York City Directory for twenty-four years. Briggs was also asked to write the sketch of Poe for the Encyclopedia Britannica because of their association, which he did under his psuedonym.

Briggs died a few hours after taking his job at the Independent. He died at home in Brooklyn and was survived by his wife and daughter.
Curtis, George William: Curtis edited Putnam's Magazine with Briggs and Parke Godwin in 1853.
Poe, Edgar Allan: Charles F. "Briggs, with characteristic friendliness, began by admiring Poe and defending him against criticism, but could not long remain blind to his talented associate's temperamental peculiarities and weaknesses." [Referring to Poe's contributions to Briggs' Broadway Journal.