James H. Higgins | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 50th Governor of Rhode Island | |
| In office January 3, 1907 – January 5, 1909 | |
| Lieutenant | Frederick H. Jackson |
| Preceded by | George H. Utter |
| Succeeded by | Aram J. Pothier |
| Member of theRhode Island House of Representatives | |
| In office 1901 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1876-01-22)January 22, 1876 Lincoln,Rhode Island |
| Died | September 16, 1927(1927-09-16) (aged 51) Pawtucket, Rhode Island |
| Resting place | St. Mary's Cemetery,Pawtucket, Rhode Island |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Ellen F. Maguire |
| Alma mater | Brown University, Georgetown University |
James Henry Higgins (January 22, 1876 – September 16, 1927) was an American politician and the 50thgovernor of Rhode Island from 1907 to 1909.
James Henry Higgins was born on January 22, 1876, in the village of Saylesville inLincoln, Rhode Island. His parents, Thomas F. and Elizabeth Ann Mather died while he was young. James attended Pawtucket High School, and put himself throughBrown University, earning aBachelor of Arts in 1898. He studied law atGeorgetown University Law Center and graduated in 1900, before returning toRhode Island.
In 1901, Higgins was elected to theRhode Island General Assembly, representingPawtucket. The next year, at the age of 26, he was elected to the first of four consecutive terms as mayor of Pawtucket.
In 1906, Higgins was nominated as theDemocratic candidate for Governor of Rhode Island, challenging incumbentRepublican governorGeorge H. Utter.The New York Times attributed the popularity of the "boy Mayor of Pawtucket" to "his personality and private character. He does not drink or smoke." His acceptance speech echoed the Democratic convention platform, attackingcorruption and the "boss system" of government, pledging aneight-hour workday for state and municipal workers, and endorsing the election of Rhode Island'sUnited States senators bydirect vote. (Popular election of U.S. senators eventually came to pass through the ratification of theSeventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1914.) Higgins' candidacy was endorsed by ColonelRobert Hale Ives Goddard and the short-lived Lincoln Party, which had been organized around Goddard's bid to succeedGeorge P. Wetmore in the U.S. Senate and "smash the state machine".[1]
After a campaign which seized on public discontent with the influence oflobbyist and Rhode Island Republican Party Central Committee chairman, GeneralCharles R. Brayton, Higgins was elected over Utter by a margin of 1,238 votes, becoming Rhode Island's youngest governor, and its firstCatholic governor.[2]
Higgins was sworn into office on January 3, 1907. In his inaugural speech, he built upon the themes of his campaign, warning that "the evils of lobbying" had compromised the state government to "a disgraceful extent," and that the power of lobbying had become "an exclusive and oppressive monopoly" in the hand of Brayton, a "coarse and venal boss" who was operating out of theRhode Island State House offices ofHigh Sheriff ofProvidence County, General Hunter C. White.[3] Higgins' attacks on "Braytonism" were echoed inThe New York Times, which in February published an article on "Rhode Island's Despot," alleging that "for forty years Brayton's control over the General Assembly, and consequently over all legislation, has been practically absolute".[4]
In March 1907, Higgins wrote an open letter about Brayton to White: "Year in and year out he has occupied and used your office for his vile purposes, with your knowledge and consent ... clean this moral and political pest out of your office." White took no action, but in July Brayton resigned from the Executive Committee of the State Central Committee of the Republican Party.[5][6]
In November 1907, Higgins won a second one-year term over a challenge by RepublicanLieutenant Governor of Rhode Island, Frederick H. Jackson. Higgins declined to seek a third term as governor.[7]
A number of laws concerning workers were also passed during his tenure.[8]
In November, 1908, Higgins married Ellen F. Maguire of Pawtucket. In 1912, he ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic candidate in theUnited States Senate election in Rhode Island.[9]
Higgins died September 16, 1927. He is buried at St. Mary's Cemetery inPawtucket, Rhode Island.
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Rhode Island 1906,1907 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Rhode Island January 3, 1907 – January 5, 1909 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
