 He was nominated by the Whigs in 1843 to run against Democratic Governor Marcus Morton as part of a Whig bid for more rural votes , and easily won election until 1849 . Although he sought to avoid the contentious issue of slavery , he protested South Carolina policy allowing the imprisonment of free African Americans . He supported capital punishment , notably refusing to commute the death sentence of John White Webster for the murder of George <unk> . Briggs died of an accidental gunshot wound at his home in Pittsfield , Massachusetts . 
