James H. Webb (Pennsylvania politician)

James H. Webb was born December 4, 1820, in Tioga County, New York, in the portion of the county which is now Chemung County, New York.{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/historyofbradfor00brad/ |title= History of Bradford county, Pennsylvania |year= 1891 |last= Bradsby |first= Henry C. |publisher= S. B. Nelson & Co. |pages= [https://archive.org/details/historyofbradfor00brad/page/274 274], [https://archive.org/details/historyofbradfor00brad/page/1269/ 1269–1270] |accessdate= June 9, 2023 }} As a child, he moved with his family to Ridgebury Township, Pennsylvania, where he was raised and educated. He worked on his father's farm in Smithfield Township, and took over the management of the farm after his father's death in 1846. He moved his primary residence to the Smithfield farm in 1850.

Webb first became active in local politics with the Democratic Party. He was elected Register and Recorder of Bradford County in 1854, running on the Democratic Party ticket.{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/franklin-repository-and-chambersburg-whi/126146517/ |title= Political Intelligence |newspaper= Franklin Repository and Chambersburg Whig |date= September 20, 1854 |page= 1 |accessdate= June 9, 2023 |via= Newspapers.com }} But within a year he had switched his affiliation to the newly established Republican Party.{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/bradford-reporter-republican-county-conv/126146938/ |title= Republican Mass Convention |newspaper= Bradford Reporter |date= September 15, 1855 |page= 2 |accessdate= June 9, 2023 |via= Newspapers.com }} He was re-elected in 1857, running on the Republican Party ticket.

He was active for most of the next 20 years campaigning and organizing on behalf of the Republican Party and its wartime identity, the National Union Party. He next stood for office in 1866, when he won his first term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/bradford-reporter-madill-nom-register/19718497/ |title= Union State Ticket |newspaper= Bradford Reporter |date= September 13, 1866 |page= 2 |accessdate= June 9, 2023 |via= Newspapers.com }} He went on to win four more terms, serving continuously through the end of 1871. At the organization of the 1871 Pennsylvania Legislature, Webb was elected speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/harrisburg-telegraph/32016098/ |title= Organization of the House |newspaper= Harrisburg Telegraph |date= January 3, 1871 |page= 2 |accessdate= June 9, 2023 |via= Newspapers.com }} He did not run again in 1871, but returned and won a final term in the House in the 1873 election.

He ran for his final office in 1881, when he was elected to his third and final term as register and recorder of Bradford County.

During this final term in elected office, Webb began reading law and, in 1885, was admitted to practice law, but was only able to practice for a few years. His health began to decline and he suffered from a creeping paralysis.

He died at his home in Smithfield township on February 21, 1896.{{cite news|url =https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-canton-independent-sentinel-james-h/126148621/ |title= The Hon. James H. Webb |newspaper= The Canton Independent-Sentinel |date= February 25, 1896 |page= 3 |accessdate= June 9, 2023 |via= Newspapers.com }}

James H. Webb was the eldest of seven children born to John Leland Webb and his wife Annis ({{nee}} Hammond). John Leland Webb was a prominent business contractor and politician in Pennsylvania; he was a contractor for the construction of the North Branch Canal and later served as a sheriff and member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/historyoflabette00case/ |title= History of Labette County, Kansas, and Representative Citizens |last= Case |first= Nelson |publisher= Biographical Publishing Co. |year= 1901 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/historyoflabette00case/page/405/ 405–406] |accessdate= June 9, 2023 }}{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/admirespolitica00riddgoog |title= Admire's Political and Legislative Hand-Book for Kansas |year= 1891 |publisher= George W. Crane & Co. |page=[https://archive.org/details/admirespolitica00riddgoog/page/n480 456] |accessdate=June 6, 2015}} The Webb family descended from the colonist Richard Webb, who came to Connecticut Colony from England in 1626.{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/encyclop10unse/ |title= Encyclopedia of Connecticut Biography |year= 1923 |volume= 10 |publisher= American Historical Society |pages= [https://archive.org/details/encyclop10unse/page/n80/ 55] |accessdate= June 9, 2023 }}

James Webb's three younger brothers also went on to prominent careers:

• William Craw Webb was the first Kansas Insurance Commissioner, and also served in the Kansas House of Representatives and the Wisconsin State Assembly.
• Henry Greenleaf Webb was a member of the Wisconsin Senate, Wisconsin State Assembly, and Kansas House of Representatives, and served as a Kansas district court judge.
• Charles Morton Webb was a Wisconsin state senator, Wisconsin circuit court judge, and United States attorney.{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/historyofbenchba02berr |title= History of the bench and bar of Wisconsin |last= Berryman |first= John R. |year= 1898 |volume= 2 |publisher= H.C. Cooper, Jr., & Co. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofbenchba02berr/page/286 286]-287 |access-date= November 19, 2019}}

James H. Webb married twice. He married Sally M. Chamberlain on September 20, 1845. They had five children together, though one died young. After his first wife's death in 1879, he remarried with Mary Munson, the widow of Joseph Munson. They adopted another daughter, Margaret.

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{{s-bef|before = Lorenzo Grinnell {{nowrap|& George Wayne Kinney}} }}

{{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the}} {{nowrap|Pennsylvania House of Representatives}} {{nowrap|from the Bradford–Sullivan district}} |years= January 1, 1867{{spnd}}January 1, 1872 |alongside= {{nowrap|George Wayne Kinney (1867)}}, {{nowrap|John F. Chamberlain (1868, 1869, 1870)}}, {{nowrap|& Perley Hanford Buck (1871)}} }}

{{s-aft|after = Perley Hanford Buck {{nowrap|& Benjamin S. Dartt}} }}

{{s-bef|before = Elijah Reed Myer {{nowrap|& Benjamin S. Dartt}} }}

{{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the}} {{nowrap|Pennsylvania House of Representatives}} {{nowrap|from the Bradford County district}} |years= January 1, 1874{{spnd}}January 1, 1875 |alongside= {{nowrap|Elijah Reed Myer}} }}

{{s-aft|after = George Moscrip, {{nowrap|Uriah Terry}}, {{nowrap|& Elijah G. Tracy}} }}

{{s-bef|before = Butler B. Strang }}

{{s-ttl|title = Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives |years= January 1, 1871{{spnd}}January 1, 1872 }}

{{s-aft|after = William Elliott }}

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{{s-bef|before = H. Lawrence Scott }}

{{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Register of Wills}} and {{nowrap|Recorder of Deeds}} of Bradford County, Pennsylvania |years= December 1, 1854{{spnd}}December 1, 1860 }}

{{s-aft|after = Nathan C. Elsbree }}

{{s-bef|before = Addison C. Frisbie }}

{{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Register of Wills}} and {{nowrap|Recorder of Deeds}} of Bradford County, Pennsylvania |years= December 1, 1881{{spnd}}December 1, 1884 }}

{{s-aft|after = Adelbert D. Munn }}

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Category:1820 births

Category:1896 deaths

Category:People from Chemung County, New York

Category:People from Bradford County, Pennsylvania

Category:Pennsylvania lawyers

Category:Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Category:Speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Category:County officials in Pennsylvania

Category:19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly