Stephen Foster Briggs

Who was Stephen Foster Briggs?

Stephen Foster Briggs was an American engineer, co-founder of the Briggs & Stratton manufacturing company, and founder of Outboard Marine Corporation.

Born in Watertown, South Dakota, S. F. Briggs graduated from South Dakota State College. His first product was a six-cylinder, two-cycle engine, which he developed during an upper level engineering course at SDSU. Eager to produce his engine, he entered the rapidly expanding automobile industry after graduation. Bill Juneau, a coach at South Dakota State, knew of Briggs's ambition and the entrepreneurial interests of Harold M. Stratton, a successful grain merchant who had a farm next to Juneau's, and introduced the two to each other.