James H. Webb

James Hammond Webb (December 4, 1820 – February 21, 1896) was an American farmer and Republican politician from Bradford County, Pennsylvania. He represented Bradford County for six terms in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and served as the 50th speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

His father, John Leland Webb, was also a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. His younger brothers, William C. Webb, Henry G. Webb, and Charles M. Webb, all became prominent politicians in their own adopted states.

Biography 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. 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. But within a year he had switched his affiliation to the newly established Republican Party. He was re-elected in 1857, running on the Republican Party ticket. 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. He did not run again in 1871, but returned and won a final term in the House in the 1873 election.

Personal life and family James H. Webb was the eldest of seven children born to John Leland Webb and his wife Annis ( 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. The Webb family descended from the colonist Richard Webb, who came to Connecticut Colony from England in 1626.

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.

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.