| bio | Briggs, Nicholas, A., of Canterbury, NH, William Brigg's brother (see below), was born in 1841, in Providence,
RI. He was brought to the Shakers July 23, 1852. together with his little brother. then not quite 2 years old.
Nicholas was trained in kitchen garden maintenance. He was teaching boys in 1861-1862. and was appointed 2nd
elder in 1866, to assist Henry Blinn, serving until 1869; in the same year he was sent to Mt. Lebanon, to teach music.
He was then appointed to be a family deacon for one year, and in 1870 he was appointed trustee, serving until 1872
(when appointed elder of the North F. for one year, and then sent to South Union, KY, to teach music). He was back
as a trustee in 1874 (serving with Benjamin Smith), until 1880, when he was appointed senior elder. As a trustee Br.
Nicholas became responsible for marketing a "laundry apparatus," corn brooms and brushes, hosiery, Ca~terbury
medicines (e.g. in 1879, Corbett's Sarsaparilla Syrup), apple sauce, and maple syrup. A story about him (Irene
Zieget, 1974), relates that upon buying a washing machine for the Canterbury Sisters, and being dissatisfied with it,
he built one himself from scratch. Built in three parts, it was exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876, and
earned the Canterbury Shakers a medal. A patent was granted to him August 7. 1877 for an "Improved Washing-
Machine" [sic]. (His sister, Julia Jane Briggs (1844-1930), was appointed family deaconess in 1876). In 1894 he was
teaching boys in winter term, but in the 1895 winter term the school had to be closed due to his apostasy. He wrote
an account about his life at Canterbury, titled "Forty
Years a Shaker," which appeared in THE GRANITE MONTHLY, in three installments in 1920-1921.
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