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Springfield, OR

History

By Paula Guthrie

There has been much written about the town of Springfield, but what about the man who founded it?

Elias M. Briggs was born in Floyd County, Kentucky, in 1824 to Isaac and Elizabeth “Betsy” Briggs. He was their only child. The Briggs family moved to Iowa in 1836, where they pioneered
the Church of Christ movement. Later, the family joined a wagon train and continued further west. Elias married Mary Johnson on May 18, 1847, in Missouri before the family started their journey to Oregon.

The four members of the Briggs family traveled the southern route of the Applegate Trail. They found their way to Pleasant Hill, where they settled next to Elijah Bristow. In 1850, the Briggs were one of the founding families of the Pleasant Hill Christian Church.

Elias went on to secure a donation land claim of 640 acres on October 15, 1849, through the Oregon Land Grant program. He chose acreage right next to the Willamette River, three miles upstream from Eugene Skinner’s claim in what is now the heart of downtown Springfield. Elias named the town he founded after a spring that bubbled forth in a field where he built his cabin. His father soon sold his acreage in Pleasant Hill and claimed 640 acres next to Elias’ land.

Elias was a born entrepreneur. His first venture was starting a ferry across the Willamette to serve the people coming from the north going to the California gold mines. A great flood in 1851 engulfed the entire site of Springfield. As the water receded, Elias and his father were able to detect the lowest points of land, allowing them to plot the course of a millrace. Together they dug a 3.5-mile millrace that served as a fast water source to build and power their grist and saw mills.

There isn’t much written about Elias during his middle and late years. He probably spent most of his years farming. He sold his flour and saw mills to Byron J. Pengra in 1865. Elias and Mary had six children: Edward, Mary, Isaac, Abraham, Charles and George. Two of the children died during childhood and were buried on a two-acre plot in the Pioneer Cemetery on 2nd Street, which Elias had deeded to the City of Springfield in 1866.

At age 70, Elias was admitted to the Salem Insane Asylum (Oregon State Hospital). His admission records state that he was “delusional, began wandering about, neglecting himself and imagining all kinds of things about his neighbors.” Based on this evidence, modern scholars believe that Elias had probably developed Alzheimer’s disease or some other neurological disorder.

Elias died at the hospital on January 16, 1896; his death records state that he had cancer. He was buried in the Salem Hospital Cemetery. According to his obituary, he was survived by just two sons, Charles and George.