John Warren Brigham was born on March 22, 1857 to Curtis and Esther Metcalf Brigham in Placer County, California. Brigham attended school in California before moving to Latah County in 1878. Here he claimed a homestead from the government, and was considered a pioneer of the Genesee community. In 1893, he married to Nellie Wilson.

Brigham was a member of the fifteenth territorial council, a member of the first state senate, and occupied a seat in the upper house of the general assembly. He introduced a bill which established the University of Idaho in 1889. This push was the last in the territorial legislature. Brigham's wife, Nellie, was one of the first students to enroll in the university.

At that time, Brigham was the youngest man in the council or the senate, being 32 years old. In 1939 he earned an honorary Bachelor of Arts degree during the university's commencement. John Warren Brigham died on February 25, 1940 in Genesee, Idaho.