William Higby

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William Higby (August 18, 1813 - November 27, 1887) was a United States Representative from California. He was born in Willsboro, New York. He attended a preparatory school in Westport, New York and was graduated from the University of Vermont in Vermont in 1840. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1847 and commenced practice in Elizabethtown, New York. He moved to California in 1850 and settled in Calaveras County. He resumed the practice of law and was a district attorney 1853-1859.

Higby served in the California State Senate in 1862 and 1863. He was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, and Fortieth Congresses (March 4, 1863 - March 3, 1869). He served as chairman, Committee on Mines and Mining (Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses). He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1868. He served as the editor of the Calaveras Chronicle for several years. He was also the collector of internal revenue 1877-1881. He devoted himself to horticulture until his death. He died in Santa Rosa, California in 1887 and was buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, California.

This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.