September 5, 2021 – Fond du Lac Co., WI – When you’re sheriff, you never quite know what might get “dropped on your desk” next. Recently a pretty cool piece of Fond du Lac County sheriff history landed on my desk.
A moving company was clearing furniture out of a former bank in Oshkosh and found a wallet and badge in the drawer of an old wooden desk.
The items belonged to Fond du Lac County’s 39th sheriff, Arthur A. Briggs, who served a term in 1924 and 1925. Also interesting was the three-digit phone number of 427 and the address of 226 Linden St. on the business card found inside the wallet.
That was indeed the phone number and address of the old Sheriff’s Office and jail before the current building was constructed in the 1950s. The Linden St. location is now the employee parking lot for the City-County Government Center.
The leather wallet was from the Glasow & Leitman Company, presumably one of Fond du Lac’s numerous leather companies from back in the day.
This piece of history will make a great addition in our historical display cabinet, and if descendants of Sheriff Briggs see this, feel free to contact us if you wanted to see the items in person. If you have more to add about any of the history here, feel free to comment below.
Courtesy Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt