Personal Data

Luther Briggs, Jr., was born on July 24, 1822, in North Pembroke, the son of Luther Briggs and his wife, Susanna Stetson.

He married on July 7, 1847, in Pembroke, to Adeline Collamore (b. 2Sep1820 in Roxbury; d. 14Mar1900 in Boston), daughter of Horace Collamore and his wife, Laura Briggs (daughter of Elisha Briggs).

Luther Briggs, Jr., died on October 15, 1905, at 119 Walnut Street in Boston.

Career

Luther Briggs, Jr., attended Hanover Academy in 1839 and then worked as a draftsman for Alexander Parris, an architect and engineer in Boston (Alexander Parris’s wife, Silvina Bonney (Stetson) Parris, was the sister of Luther Briggs’s mother, Susanna (Stetson) Briggs).

In about 1842, he joined the office of Gridley J. F. Bryant, working as a draftsman and architect. In 1844, he opened his own office as an architect and engineer, briefly in partnership with Joseph Howard and then as a sole practitioner.

In the early 1850s, he was primarily engaged in government contracts. He moved to Dorchester, where he was retained by the Neponset Wharf Company to lay out the streets and lots in Neponset and Port Norfolk districts.

He designed both public buildings and residences, including the Liberia College Building in Monrovia, Liberia (1856-1858).

In 1860, he designed 63-65 Chester Square for real estate dealer Paul Dean Wallis (65 Chester Square became the headquarters of the South End Historical Society in 1974). Drawings for 63 Chester Square are in the collections of Historic New England.

Luther Briggs, Jr., retired from active practice in the 1880s and consulted thereafter.

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