Preceded by District created Name John Driggs Battles/wars Civil War Succeeded by Randolph Strickland | Rank Colonel Party Republican Party Political party Republican Role Politician | |
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Full Name John Fletcher Driggs Born March 8, 1813
Kinderhook, New York ( 1813-03-08 ) Resting place Forest Lawn Cemetery, Saginaw Allegiance United States of America Died December 17, 1877, East Saginaw Unit 29th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment | ||
Battles and wars American Civil War Service/branch United States Army | ||
John Fletcher Driggs (March 8, 1813 – December 17, 1877) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.
Driggs was born in Kinderhook, New York. He completed preparatory studies and moved with his parents to Tarrytown, New York, in 1825. He moved to New York City in 1827, where he was an apprentice, journeyman, and master mechanic in the trade of sash, door, and blind manufacturing, 1829–1856. He was superintendent of the New York penitentiary and public institutions on Blackwells Island in 1844
Driggs moved to Michigan in 1856 and engaged in the real-estate business and salt manufacturing. He was president of the common council of East Saginaw, Michigan, in 1858. He was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, 1859–1860. He was tendered an appointment as colonel during the Civil War and organized the Twenty-ninth Michigan Infantry, July 29, 1864.
Driggs was elected as a Republican becoming the first person to represent Michigan's 6th congressional district to the 38th, 39th, and 40th Congresses, serving from March 4, 1863 to March 3, 1869. He was one of the committee members appointed to accompany the body of President Abraham Lincoln to Springfield, Illinois, for interment.
Driggs was injured by a fall on the ice in the winter of 1875–1876, as a result of which he died in East Saginaw. He was interred in Brady Hill Cemetery, Saginaw and was re-interred in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Saginaw.