Frank O. Briggs

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See also Frank P. Briggs, a U.S. Senator from Missouri.
Frank O. Briggs
Frank O. Briggs

Frank Obadiah Briggs (August 12, 1851 - May 8, 1913) was a United States Senator from New Jersey.

Born in Concord, New Hampshire, he attended the public schools, Francestown Academy, and Phillips Academy; he graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1872 and served in the Second Regiment, United States Infantry, as second lieutenant until 1877, when he resigned from the Army.

In 1877, he moved to Trenton, New Jersey and engaged in the manufacture of wire and wire products; he was a member of the Trenton School Board from 1884 to 1892 and was mayor of Trenton from 1899 to 1902. In 1901 and 1902, he was a member of the State Board of Education, and was State Treasurer from 1902 to 1907.

Briggs was Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee from 1904 to 1907[1][2] and again from 1910 to until his death in 1913.[3][4] He was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate, serving from March 4, 1907, to March 3, 1913; he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection.

While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Geological Survey (Sixty-first Congress) and a member of the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expense (Sixty-second Congress). He resumed his former business pursuits in Trenton, where he died in 1913, aged 61; interment was there in Riverview Cemetery.

Frank O. Briggs' father, James Frankland Briggs, had been a U.S. Representative from New Hampshire from 1877 to 1883.

Preceded by
Franklin Murphy
Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee
19041907
Succeeded by
Franklin Murphy
Preceded by
John F. Dryden
United States Senator (Class 2) from New Jersey
19071913
Served alongside: John Kean (New Jersey), James E. Martine
Succeeded by
William Hughes
Preceded by
Franklin Murphy
Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee
19101913
Succeeded by
Newton A.K. Bugbee

[edit] References

  1. ^ "A Business Man for New Jersey Senator". The New York Times, February 17, 1907. Accessed March 30, 2008. ("In 1902, Gov. Voorhees named Mr. Briggs for State Treasurer. ... Two years later Mr. Briggs became Chairman of the Republican State Committee, and in 1905 was again chosen State Treasurer.")
  2. ^ "Stokes To Stump For Fort; Ex-Gov. Murphy to Succeed Senator Briggs as State Chairman in Jersey". The New York Times, September 24, 1907. Accessed March 30, 2008.
  3. ^ "Briggs To Be Chairman; He Is Lewis's Choice to Succeed Franklin Murphy.". The New York Times, September 27, 1910. Accessed March 30, 2008.
  4. ^ "Ex-Senator Briggs Dead in Trenton.". The New York Times, May 19, 1913. Accessed March 30, 2008. (Briggs "was Chairman of the Republican State Committee until his death.")