His father was pastor of the church at Lyme, and moved the family to Aranelius (now Auburn, New York in 1801.

[1] Before 1812, David attended Yale Law School for two years, and moved to Cambridge, Maryland to tutor for a private family.

[1] In Norwalk, Higgins practiced law privately, until he was elected by the legislature as President Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit of Ohio.

After the election of President James K. Polk, Higgins was appointed to a clerkship with the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., which he retained until his death in 1873.

[1] While riding in his carriage in 1834 in Norwalk, Ohio, his horse ran away, and Higgins injured his foot in jumping to safety.