Henry G. Webb

Henry Greenleaf Webb (January 24, 1826 – August 28, 1910) was an American lawyer, politician, and pioneer of Wisconsin and Kansas. He was a member of the Wisconsin Senate, Wisconsin State Assembly, and Kansas House of Representatives. He also served as a Kansas district court judge. For most of his career he was affiliated with the Republican Party, but at various times ran as a Democrat or Populist. In historical documents his name was often abbreviated as .

His brothers, James H. Webb, William C. Webb, and Charles M. Webb, were also prominent lawyers and politicians. Their father, John Leland Webb, was a politician in Pennsylvania.

Early life Henry G. Webb was born January 24, 1826, in Ridgebury Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania. He had limited formal education because of the lack of schools established in his native county. As a young man he went to study law under judge John C. Knox and was admitted to the bar at Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, in September 1848.

Webb first ran for state office in 1855, running for Wisconsin State Assembly in the Marquette County district. At this time, Webb was affiliated with the Democratic Party and ran on the Democratic ticket. He lost the general election to Republican William F. Chipman. The following year, Webb was selected for the Democratic Party slate of presidential electors for the 1856 United States presidential election. His candidate, James Buchanan, won the presidency, but the Republican electoral slate was chosen in Wisconsin. During the election, it also became known that Webb had been active with the anti-immigrant Know Nothings.

Shortly after the election, Webb moved to Wautoma, Wisconsin, where his brother William had settled, and began affiliating with the Republican Party. In the 1860 election, Webb was the Republican nominee for Wisconsin State Assembly in the Waushara County district. He defeated the independent Republican candidate Alvah Nash and went on to serve in the 1861 legislative session.

After the outbreak of the American Civil War during the 1861 session, Webb began working to raise a company of volunteers for the Union Army. His company was known as the "Tredway Pumas"; they were enrolled as Company H in the 16th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment and Webb was commissioned captain. Webb participated in the organization of the regiment, but ultimately resigned before the regiment left the state.

Webb remained active in Wisconsin with Union organizing, and in 1864, he ran for Wisconsin Senate on the National Union ticket. He was elected to represent the 9th Senate district, which then comprised Adams, Juneau, and Waushara counties. During the 1866 legislative session, redistricting occurred and Webb ran for re-election that year in the new 29th Senate district, which then comprised Green Lake, Marquette, and Waushara counties. He prevailed again in the 1866 general election and went on to serve two more years in the Senate.

Kansas career Webb initially settled in Mound City, Kansas, but relocated to Oswego, Kansas, in the spring of 1870. That fall, he was elected a Kansas district court judge in the newly established 11th district.

He largely focused on his legal career for the rest of his life. He relocated to Cherokee County, Kansas, in the 1880s, but returned to Labette County in 1889, settling at Parsons, where he served several years as city attorney. The Webb family descended from the colonist Richard Webb, who came to Connecticut Colony from England in 1626.

Henry's eldest brother, James H. Webb was a successful politician in Pennsylvania and served as the 50th speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. His next eldest brother William C. Webb and their younger brother Charles M. Webb were also trained as lawyers and rose to prominence in Wisconsin. William Webb later moved to Kansas where he was also prominent in state politics. William was the first Kansas Insurance Commissioner, served as Henry Webb's predecessor by appointment as a Kansas district court judge, and served in the Kansas and Wisconsin legislatures. Charles Webb served as a Wisconsin state senator, Wisconsin circuit court judge, and United States attorney.

Henry G. Webb married twice. He married Susan J. Abbott of Lorain County, Ohio, on May 20, 1849. They had two daughters together, though one died in childhood. Susan died on September 3, 1864. In April 1866, Webb remarried with Amanda Jean Gower of Pennsylvania, but there were no known children of the second marriage.

Webb was active for most of his life in Freemasonry in lodges in Wisconsin and Kansas. He was also a member of the Knights Templar and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.