David Higgins (August 2, 1789 – December 15, 1873) was a politician and judge from the

U.S. State In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He was the

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of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

1826 to 1827.

Early life

David Higgins was born at

Lyme, Connecticut Lyme is a New England town, town in New London County, Connecticut, New London County, Connecticut, United States, situated on the eastern side of the Connecticut River. The population was 2,352 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Lyme i ...

on August 2, 1789. His parents were Rev. David Higgins and Emma (Gelbert) Higgins. His father was pastor of the church at Lyme, and moved the family to Aranelius (now

Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...

in 1801. Before 1812, David attended

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

for two years, and moved to

Cambridge, Maryland Cambridge is a city in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 13,096 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Dorchester County and the county's largest municipality. Cambridge is the fourth most populous city in Maryl ...

to tutor for a private family. While in Maryland, he met and married Cecilia Davis of

Harper's Ferry, Virginia Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Situated at the confluence o ...

Professional

The young family moved to

Angelica, New York Angelica is a town in the middle of Allegany County, New York, United States. The population was 1,284 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Angelica Schuyler Church, a daughter of General Philip Schuyler, sister-in-law of Founding Father ...

, where Higgins practiced law, and by 1816 moved to

Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Ohio, United States. Located north of Cincinnati, Hamilton is the second largest city in the Greater Cincinnati area and the 10th largest city in Ohio. The population was 63,399 at th ...

by horseback with an infant son. In 1818 or 1819 they moved to

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approxim ...

, where their third child was born in 1820. While in Springfield, Higgins was elected four years in a row to the

, the last of which, (1826-'7), he served as the speaker of the house. In 1828, they moved again, this time to Norwalk in northern Ohio. In Norwalk, Higgins practiced law privately, until he was elected by the legislature as President Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit of Ohio. After the election of President

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...

, Higgins was appointed to a clerkship with the Treasury Department in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, which he retained until his death in 1873.

Personal

Higgins' first wife, Cecilia, died in Washington in October, 1846. He married Letitia King of Washington in 1848, and she survived him, along with two of his children. While riding in his carriage in 1834 in Norwalk, Ohio, his horse ran away, and Higgins injured his foot in jumping to safety. His leg was amputated below the knee, and he used a prosthesis the rest of his life. Higgins died on December 15, 1873. He is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, David 1789 births 1873 deaths Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) Ohio state court judges People from Norwalk, Ohio Politicians from Springfield, Ohio Speakers of the Ohio House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Yale Law School alumni People from Angelica, New York 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers