Cora Skillings Briggs[n 1] (13 May 1859, South Paris, Maine – 12 December 1935[1][2]) was an American composer and organist. She studied harmony with Stephen A. Emery and piano and organ with Hermann Kotzschmar and E. W. Hanscom; performed as the organist for the First Congregational Church of her birthplace for forty-eight years.[3][4][5] She wrote around eighty sacred Christian songs, the most famous one being Hold Thou My Hand.[2][3][6] Her husband, George A. Briggs was a vocalist.[7][8]
Some of the compositions are stored in Christopher A. Reynolds Collection of Women’s Song.
BRIGGS, Cora Skilling (Mrs. George A.); b. May 13, 1859, South Paris, ME; d. Dec. 12, 1935, USA [Coh, Smi, Ste]
A pupil in piano and organ with Hermann Kotzschmar in Portland and Edward Hanscombe in Auburn, she also studied harmony with Stephen Emery in Boston. She wrote 80 anthems and songs and the Portand Public Library owns copies of Hold Thou My hand and Song of Confidence.
The group viewed his gravesite in Riverside Cemetery, the site of his home place, the Congregational Church where his daughter, Cora Briggs, played the organ for many years....
Have you heard of the early 20th-century composer C. S. Briggs, who lived in South Paris and frequently traveled to Norway to visit friends and concertize?
