David C. Biggs

David C. Biggs became the second governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on February 5, 1919. He resigned on December 31, 1928.

A native of Pike County, Missouri, Biggs was born in 1866. Prior to moving to St. Louis in 1891, Biggs farmed in Pike County, Missouri, until the age of twenty-one and then worked for the Bank of Curryville for two years as an assistant cashier.

When Biggs first moved to St. Louis in 1891, he worked for Merchants National Bank. He eventually was hired at Roberts, Johnson and Rand Shoe Company as credit manager and cashier in 1895. He then became treasurer at the International Shoe Company in 1907, eventually holding the position of director for the company.

Prior to serving as governor (an early term for Reserve Bank president), Biggs held the position of director on the St. Louis Fed’s board of directors from January 1916 to January 1919. While serving as a director, he served as chairman of the board of directors’ committee of manufacturers, wholesalers, and jobbers.

After Rolla Wells resigned in December 1918, Biggs became governor in February 1919. During his term as governor, construction of the current Reserve Bank building at Locust Ave. and Fourth St. was approved.

When he retired from the St. Louis Fed, Biggs declared his plans to return to Pike County, where he owned a farm. He died in 1931 at the age of sixty-five.

Written by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. See disclaimer.