John M. Higgins, foreman of the bindery department of the state printing office and a member of the General Assembly of California, is a native of New Jersey, born September 3, 1863.
He pursued his education in the grammar and high schools of San Francisco and was graduated at seventeen years of age. He then entered upon his business career by being apprenticed to the bookbinder’s trade under A. Buswell. After the retirement of Mr. Buswell in 1885, Mr. Higgins purchased the business of his employer, which he conducted under the firm style of J. M. Higgins & Company until 1889. In that year he sold out and came to Sacramento to accept an appointment in the state printing office, where he continued until March 1903, as a journeyman. At that date he was appointed foreman of the bindery department and is now acting in that capacity, his practical and comprehensive knowledge of the business well qualifying him for the discharge of the duties which devolve upon him in this connection.
Mr. Higgins is a member of the Bookbinders’ Union, No. 35, and he also holds membership relations with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. In his political views he is an earnest and stalwart Republican, having taken an active interest in local and state politics. He has labored earnestly for the success of his party and has frequently been a delegate to county and state conventions. In 1903 he was a member of the thirty-fifth General Assembly from the eighteenth district of California. He has a wide acquaintance among the leading statesmen of California as well as in business circles and merits the high regard in which he is universally held.
Source: Leigh H. Irvine; A History of the New California Its Resources and People, 2 Volumes; New York and Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903.