Higgins was captain of a fishing boat operating in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence during the 1760s.
He formed a partnership with James William Montgomery, Scotland's lord advocate, to develop this property.
Higgins operated a store at Georgetown, built a sawmill and gristmill and settled a number of tenants on his property.
He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island and was chosen as speaker in 1779 but resigned in March of the following year.
After experiencing financial losses and losing his property, his business and finally his wife, Higgins began drinking heavily and contracted a fever that led to his death in Charlottetown in 1783.