James F. Briggs

James Frankland Briggs (October 23, 1827 - January 21, 1905) was a U.S. Representative from New Hampshire, father of Frank Obadiah Briggs.

Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, Briggs immigrated to the United States in 1829 with his parents, who settled in Holderness (now Ashland), New Hampshire. He attended the common schools and Newbury Academy. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1851, practicing in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, until 1871.

He moved to Manchester and served as member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives 1856-1858 and in 1874. During the Civil War, he served as major of the Eleventh Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. He served in the New Hampshire Senate in 1876.

Briggs was elected as a Republican to the Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, and Forty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1877-March 3, 1883). He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Forty-seventh Congress). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1882 and resumed the practice of law.

He was again a member of the State house of representatives in 1883, 1891, and 1897, serving as speaker in 1897. He served as delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1889. He died in Manchester, January 21, 1905, and was interred in Green Grove Cemetery, Ashland, New Hampshire.

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