F. E. Driggs owned fly rod case Driggs River History

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classicflyuser
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Joined: 02/05/13 15:28

F. E. Driggs owned fly rod case Driggs River History

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Post by classicflyuser »

This is the story of " Where It All Began" which relates to an identified and historic vintage fishing tackle artifact from the late nineteenth century. This artifact is a William Mills and Sons leather fly rod case which is tied to the history of the Driggs River of Michigan. The case's dimensions are 50" in length and 6" in diameter and it was ordered from William Mills and Sons Co of NYC by Frederick E. Driggs sometime during the late nineteenth century. F. E. Driggs is inscribed on the brass plate located on the top cover ( per image link below) . Frederick Eugene Driggs was born in New York City on August 20, 1838. He was a prominent Detroit lawyer in the 19th and early 20th centuries and remained there for nearly fifty years until his death in 1913.

The Driggs River is named after F. E. Driggs being located in close proximity to the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan. Laurie Tansy of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge recently confirmed to me that The Driggs River was named after F. E. Driggs. I also found the following information online from a book titled Michigan Place Names which confirms that The Driggs River was named after F. E. Driggs.

Michigan Place Names Page 163


DRIGGS, Schoolcraft County: several railroad house and a station , 8 miles west of Seney, on the Detroit , Mackinaw & Marquette Railroad; named for Frederick E. Driggs ( 1838-1919) who came from New York City to Detroit in 1859; a lawyer, he helped finance and build the railroad of which he was also a director, as well as a manager of the Peninsula Land Co.; a logging area until 1889, its station operated from a least 1882 to 1896; a lake as well as a river flowing from it, in the same county, were also named for him ( GSM 1883-1895; Escanaba Press Dec. 27, 1967 ; H. R. Driggs, Driggs Family History).

The Driggs River was one of Paul H. Young's favorite places to fish and he named one of the well known tapers he produced ( The Driggs River Special) after this river.
I am interested in opinions on what year or year range this fly rod case was manufactured by The William Mills and Sons Company. I believe that this Case was likely made in the late 1880's to mid 1890's. Links to F. E. Driggs' bio which includes a photo of him and images of this case are below.

F. E. Driggs Bio and a cabinet photo of him is at the link below.
http://books.google.com/books?id=NrU-AQ ... gs&f=false





http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/jackw ... sort=3&o=4
http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/jackw ... g.html?o=2
http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/jackw ... g.html?o=3
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAwMFg3NDY=/ ... y/$_57.JPG
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAwMFg3NDY=/ ... 5/$_57.JPG
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAwMFg3NDY=/ ... g/$_57.JPG
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTE5NVgxNjAw/ ... d/$_57.JPG
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMTk1/ ... 2/$_57.JPG
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMTk1/ ... u/$_57.JPG

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