Who is Archibald Higbie from Spoon River Anthology and what is their importance?

Archibald Higbie says he loathed Spoon River, and his loathing led him to Rome, where he lived among artists, spoke Italian and French, and did all he could to extirpate all trace of his roots. Archibald says he worked as an artist himself, but could never create anything with meaning. Archibald ascribes this deficiency in his work to a lack of culture in Spoon River; however, the shrewd reader cannot help but think the fault probably lay in Higbie's disowning of his roots.