William Higby
American politician (1813-1887)
William Higby (August 18, 1813 – November 27, 1887) was a 19th-century American politician, a Republican, a lawyer, a district attorney, a judge, a newspaper editor, and a United States representative from California, serving three terms, from 1863 to 1869.
Biography
Higby was born in Willsboro, New York. He spent his boyhood on his father's farm and worked in the lumber and iron business. He attended a preparatory school in Westport, New York and was graduated from the University of Vermont in 1840, where he was a founding member of the Lambda Iota Society. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1847 and commenced practice in Elizabethtown, New York.
Career
Higby moved to California in 1850 and settled in Calaveras County. After an unsuccessful attempt in the mining business, he resumed the practice of law and was a district attorney from 1853 to 1859. Due to his harsh treatment of criminals, he earned the rough nickname, "Bloody Bill". He was a district judge from 1859 to 1861. Higby served in the California State Senate in 1862 and 1863.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “William Higby” as american politician (1813-1887). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american politician (1813-1887). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2579280. VIAF identifies the subject as 56447116. The Library of Congress control number is nr00003374. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1813, 1887, 1863 and 1869.
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This entry incorporates text from “William Higby” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.