Representative Clay Stone Briggs

Clay Stone Briggs (January 8, 1876 – April 29, 1933) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas, serving from March 4, 1919, through his death in 1933. Over the course of eight consecutive terms in Congress, he represented Texas’s 7th congressional district and participated actively in the legislative process during a significant period in American history, including the post–World War I era, the 1920s, and the early years of the Great Depression.

Briggs was born in Galveston, Texas, on January 8, 1876. He spent his childhood in that Gulf Coast city and attended both public and private schools there, receiving a foundational education that prepared him for advanced study. Growing up in Galveston during a period of rapid economic and social development in Texas helped shape his understanding of the needs and interests of his future constituents.

For his higher education, Briggs attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he became a member of the Nu chapter of the Chi Phi fraternity. He continued his studies at Harvard University and then pursued legal training at Yale Law School, from which he graduated. This combination of education at leading institutions provided him with a broad intellectual background and a professional grounding in the law that would guide his subsequent public career.

Shortly after completing his formal education, Briggs entered public life in Texas. He ran for and won a seat in the Texas House of Representatives, serving as a state legislator from 1907 to 1909. In that role, he gained early experience in lawmaking and in representing the interests of his fellow Texans at the state level. Following his legislative service, he continued his public career in the judiciary, serving as a judge in the Tenth Judicial District of Texas. He held this judicial position until 1919, presiding over legal matters in his district and building a reputation that helped propel him to national office.

In 1918, Briggs sought election to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat from Texas’s 7th congressional district. He won the seat and entered Congress on March 4, 1919. He remained in the House of Representatives continuously from 1919 until his death in 1933, serving eight terms. During this extended tenure, Briggs contributed to the legislative process and participated in the democratic governance of the nation, representing the interests of his Texas constituents through periods of economic growth, social change, and mounting economic crisis. As a member of the Democratic Party, he aligned with his party’s positions on national policy while maintaining a focus on the needs of his district.

Clay Stone Briggs died in office in Washington, D.C., on April 29, 1933, while still serving as a member of the United States House of Representatives. His death placed him among the members of Congress who have died while in service during the first half of the twentieth century. Following his death, he was interred in Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, New York, marking the close of a public career that spanned state legislative service, judicial office, and more than a decade in the national legislature.