George Briggs was a United States Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from New York. Born near Broadalbin

Broadalbin, New York

Broadalbin may refer to:* Broadalbin , New York* Broadalbin , New York...

, Fulton County

Fulton County, New York

Fulton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 55,531. Its name is in honor of Robert Fulton, who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat...

, he moved to Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

 in 1812 with his parents, who settled in Bennington. He attended the public schools, engaged in business as a dealer in hardware, was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives

Vermont House of Representatives

The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members. Vermont legislative districting divides representing districts into 66 single-member districts and 42 two-member...

 in 1837 and returned to New York, settling in New York City in 1838 and continuing in the hardware business.

Briggs was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1849 to March 3, 1853. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1852, and was elected as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 to the Thirty-sixth Congress, holding office from March 4, 1859 to March 3, 1861. During the latter Congress he was chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1860 and retired. In 1866 he was a delegate to the Union National Convention at Philadelphia. He died at his summer home, "Woodlawn," at Saratoga Springs; interment was in Greenwood Cemetery

Green-Wood Cemetery

Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 as a rural cemetery in Brooklyn, Kings County , New York. It was granted National Historic Landmark status in 2006 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.-History:...

, New York City.