[1] John Briggs West was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts on August 6, 1852.
[2] His parents were William Carter, a bookkeeper, and Louisa Phoebe West.
[3][2] In 1870, at the age of 18, West, who was neither a lawyer nor a college graduate, began work as a salesman for the D.D.
He made disparaging remarks about the West key-number digest system, and within a decade his new company lost a major lawsuit and was soon out of business.
[5] He died March 14, 1922, and was buried at the Oakland Cemetery in Saint Paul.