DRIGGS BIOGRAPHIES, Henry County, Missouri
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DRIGGS, John A. - b: 1843 Monroe Co, OH
source: 1883 History of Henry Missouri , National Historical Co. - page: 511
residence: Clinton Twp

John A. Driggs owes his nativity to Monroe County, Ohio, where he was born 
January 28, 1843. He was there reared and educated, following in his youth the 
occupation of farming, at which he was engaged at the commencement of the war. 
He then enlisted, in 1861, in Company E, Sixty-second Ohio Regiment, and served 
till the battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia, where he was wounded in one of the lower 
limbs, which maimed him for life. From that time till he was discharged, June, 
1865, he was in the hospital at Fort Monroe and Camp Dennison, Ohio, receiving 
his discharge from the latter place. In 1865, he returned home, and was occupied 
in merchandising at Ozark, Ohio, till 1869. In May of that year he came to Clinton, 
and in 1870 was elected circuit clerk, serving for four years in a very acceptable 
manner. Then for one year he was interested in the insurance business, after 
which he embarked in the furniture trade, continuing it till 1880. Mr. D. was 
married October 16, 1873, to Miss Estella Brown, a native of Ohio. They have one 
child, Eva M. He is a member of the I.O.O.F and A. O. U. W. fraternities, and also of 
the K. of P. He and his wife belong to the M. E. Church. In 1874, Mr. Driggs was a 
member of the city council of Clinton.

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DRIGGS, W. A. - b: 1854 Woodsfield, Monroe Co, OH
source: 1919 History of Henry Co MO, Uel W. Lamkin, Historical Publishing Co - 
page: 620
residence: Clinton, Clinton Twp

W. A. Driggs, president and manager of the Peoples Hardware Company at Clinton, 
Missouri, is one of the well-known and successful business men of Henry County. 
Mr. Driggs was born in Woodsfield, Monroe County, Ohio, September 28, 1854, and 
is a son of William and Sarah Louise (Boyd) Driggs, the former a native of 
Connecticut and the latter of Alexandria, Virginia. William Driggs, the father, 
came from New England to Ohio with his parents when he was a child. In 1868 he 
came from Ohio to Missouri, and settled in Henry County. At that time the nearest 
railroad to Henry County was at Warrensburg, and when he came here he made the 
trip from Warrensburg to Clinton by stage. He purchased a farm adjoining the city 
of Clinton on the north for which he paid forty dollars per acre. Here he followed 
farming and stock raising, the remainder of his life, with the exception of the 
last few years, when he built a home in Clinton and practically retired. He died 
April 28, 1891, age seventy-nine years, and his wife departed this life December 
23rd of the same year. Five of their children are now living, Estella, the wife of 
John H. Lust, Altamont, Kansas; W. A., the subject of this sketch; Sopha, the wife 
of John C. Goodell, Mound Valley, Kansas; A. L. Baldwin, Kansas; Mary Frances, the 
wife of E. L. Redding, San Francisco, California. W. A. Driggs was educated in the 
public schools of Henry County, receiving a good common school education. When 
he was nineteen years of age he went to learn the tinner's trade and for thirteen 
years worked as a journeyman tinner. He then engaged in the hardware business 
in Clinton, in partnership with G. W. Thomas, under the firm name of Driggs & 
Thomas. This firm did business about one year, when Mr. Driggs purchased his 
partner's interest and conducted the business alone until 1897, when he went to 
Nebraska. After remaining there about a year he went to Kansas and in 1901 
returned to Clinton, where he engaged in the furniture business, under the title of 
the Clinton Furniture Company. Three years later he disposed of the furniture 
business and bought the hardware business which had been conducted by Thomas 
& Foster, and in 1910 incorporated this business under the corporate name of the 
Peoples Hardware Company, and since that time has been president and manager 
of this institution. This is tone of the extensive hardware establishments of 
Henry County, and it is seldom that one finds such a complete line of hardware 
made up of such clean stock as is found in this establishment. The store is 
located on the east side of the square and has a frontage of twenty-three feet 
and is one hundred feet deep. Two stories are occupied by the hardware business 
besides a large warehouse in the rear. Mr. Driggs was united in marriage, June 12, 
1888, to Miss Nanna R. Holliday, a daughter of George H. Holliday, deceased. Two 
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Driggs, Mary Louise, who resides at home 
with her parents and John, who now holds a commission as first lieutenant in the 
National Army of the United States. Mr. Driggs is a member of the Independent 
Order of United Workman, Modern Woodmen of America and the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. One of the greatest bereavement of Mr. Driggs life occurred 
December 13, 1914, when Mrs. Driggs departed this life.

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