 In 1817 Briggs helped to establish a Baptist church in Lanesboro ; in this congregation he met Harriet Hall , whom he married in 1818 ; their children were Harriet , George , and Henry . Briggs was also called upon to raise the four orphaned children of his brother Rufus , one of the brothers who supported him in his law studies . Rufus died in 1816 , followed by his wife not long afterward . 
