Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
BRIGGS, Ansel
BRIGGS, Ansel. (VT, Feb. 3, 1806--IA, May 5, 1881). Iowa's first governor. Briggs successfully operated a stage and mail route over the OLD MILITARY ROAD between Dubuque and Burlington, Iowa, before his election to public office. Briggs owned two jerkies, a two-horse rig capable of carrying five passengers, and a Concord coach that carried nine passengers.
Jerkies made the run to and from Dubuque once a week at a cost of three dollars per passenger with baggage charged extra. Briggs was one of the few Iowa stagecoach operators who could afford to own a Concord coach.