William Seward Webb (January 31, 1851 – October 29, 1926) was a businessman, and inspector general of the

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

with the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. He was a founder and former president of the

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American Congressional charter, congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky. A non-prof ...

Early life

Webb was born on January 31, 1851, to

James Watson Webb General James Watson Webb (February 8, 1802 – June 7, 1884) was a United States diplomat, newspaper publisher and a New York politician in the Whig and Republican parties. Early life Webb was born in Claverack, New York to Catherine Louisa ...

and Laura Virginia (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Cram) Webb (1826–1890). Among his many siblings was Alexander Stewart Webb, who was a noted Civil War general who married Anna Elizabeth Remsen;

Henry Walter Webb Henry Walter Webb, Sr. (May 6, 1852 – June 18, 1900) was an American railway executive with the New York Central Railroad under Cornelius Vanderbilt and Chauncey Depew. He was also Vice President of the Wagner Palace Car Co. Early life Webb was ...

, also a railway executive who married Amelia Howard Griswold; and George Creighton Webb, a

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

graduate and attorney in New York with Saunders, Webb & Worcester who did not marry. He studied

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Returning to America, he entered the

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...

and graduated from there in 1875. In 1881, he married Eliza Osgood Vanderbilt, the daughter of

William Henry Vanderbilt William Henry Vanderbilt (May 8, 1821 – December 8, 1885) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the eldest son of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, an heir to his fortune and a prominent member of the Vanderbilt family. Vanderbi ...

. For several years Webb practiced medicine; then forsook the profession for

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

at the behest of his wife's family, establishing the

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

firm of W. S. Webb & Co.

Career

In 1883, Webster Wagner, the president of the Wagner Palace Car Company, was crushed between two of his own railroad cars. William Vanderbilt owned a controlling interest in the company, and asked his new son-in-law to take over the firm. William Seward invited his brother H. Walter Webb to join him, which started them both on careers in the railroad business. The Wagner Palace Car Company was subsequently merged with the

Pullman Company The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...

. Webb later became president of the Fulton Chain Railway Company, the Fulton Navigation Company and the Raquette Lake Transportation Company. He was the builder and President of the

Mohawk and Malone Railway The Mohawk and Malone Railway was a railroad that ran from the New York Central Railroad's main line at Herkimer north to Malone, crossing the northern Adirondacks at Tupper Lake Junction, just north of Tupper Lake. The road's founder, Dr. Willi ...

. His railroads were instrumental in opening the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...

to the tourism rush of the mid-to-late 19th century and beyond.

Public service

Webb served as inspector general of rifle practice for the

with the rank of

. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he won election to the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...

in 1896 and 1898. In 1902, he intended to campaign for the Republican nomination for

Governor of Vermont The governor of Vermont is the head of government of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of 2 years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every ...

, but left the race in favor of Percival Clement. Clement lost the nomination to

John G. McCullough John Griffith McCullough (September 16, 1835 – May 29, 1915) was an American state legislator, businessperson and attorney. He served as Attorney General of California during the Civil War, and the 49th governor of Vermont from 1902 to 190 ...

, who went on to win the general election.

Personal life

In 1883, he married Eliza Osgood Vanderbilt, daughter of railroad magnate

William H. Vanderbilt William Henry Vanderbilt (May 8, 1821 – December 8, 1885) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the eldest son of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, an heir to his fortune and a prominent member of the Vanderbilt family. Vanderbi ...

. They were the parents of: * Frederica Webb, who married

Ralph Pulitzer Ralph Pulitzer (June 11, 1879 – June 14, 1939) was an American heir, newspaper publisher and author. He served as the president of the Press Publishing Co., which published the ''New York World'' and the ''Evening World''. Early life Ralph Puli ...

. * J. Watson Webb II, who married

Electra Havemeyer Webb Electra Havemeyer Webb (August 16, 1888 – November 19, 1960) was a collector of American antiques and founder of the Shelburne Museum. Early life Electra Havemeyer was born on August 16, 1888. She was the youngest child of Henry Osborne Ha ...

. * William Seward Webb, who married Gertrude Emily Gaynor, daughter of

William Jay Gaynor William Jay Gaynor (February 2, 1849 – September 10, 1913) was an American politician from New York City, associated with the Tammany Hall political machine. He served as the 94th mayor of the City of New York from 1910 to 1913, and previously ...

; had issue. * Vanderbilt Webb, who married Aileen Osborn.Joyce Lovelace
Who Was Aileen Osborn Webb?
July 25, 2011, American Craft Council He died on October 29, 1926, and was survived by his wife, three sons, and one daughter.

Legacy

The Webbs lived for thirty years at 680 Fifth Avenue, New York. This house, a wedding gift from

to his daughter, was sold in 1913 to

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

. The Webb property at

Shelburne, Vermont Shelburne is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Located along the shores of Lake Champlain, Shelburne's town center lies approximately south of the city center of Burlington, the largest city in the state of Vermont. As of the ...

, was created from more than thirty separate farms on the shores of

Lake Champlain , native_name_lang = , image = Champlainmap.svg , caption = Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = New York/Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada , coords = , type = , ...

and is known today as

Shelburne Farms Shelburne Farms is a nonprofit education center for sustainability, working farm, and National Historic Landmark on the shores of Lake Champlain in Shelburne, Vermont. The property is nationally significant as a well-preserved example of a Gilde ...

. The property is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

, and one of the main concert sites of the

Vermont Mozart Festival The Vermont Mozart Festival is a series of indoor and outdoor concerts presented annually at sites throughout the state of Vermont. First held in 1974, the festival primarily focuses on the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 2010 the original Ve ...

. The former Webb estate has stunning views and some of the grandest barns of any

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...

property. A great horseman, Dr. Webb had a large collection of carriages, many of which are on display today at the

Shelburne Museum Shelburne Museum is a museum of art, design, and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the museum grounds. It is located ...

. The Vanderbilt Webb's other country estate was an Adirondack

Great Camp __NOTOC__ The Great Camps of the Adirondack Mountains refers to the grandiose family compounds of cabins that were built in the latter half of the nineteenth century on lakes in the Adirondacks such as Spitfire Lake and Rainbow Lake. The ca ...

named NeHaSane, a game preserve of some 200,000 acres (800 km²), most of which was later donated to the State of New York to become part of the

Adirondack Park The Adirondack Park is a part of Forest Preserve (New York), New York's Forest Preserve in northeastern New York (state), New York, United States. The park was established in 1892 for “the free use of all the people for their health and pleasur ...

. The town of

Webb, New York Webb is the northernmost town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,807. It is named after William Seward Webb, president of the Raquette Lake Transportation Company, the Fulton Chain Railway ...

in the park is named after him.

Published works

California and Alaska and over the Canadian Pacific Railway
(1890)
Historical notes of the organization of societies of sons of the American Revolution, with a list of national and state officers, and illustrated with designs showing the insignia of the order, form of application for membership, certificates, etc.
(1890)
Shelburne Farms Stud: of English Hackneys, harness and saddle horses, ponies and trotters
(1893)

References

External links

* *

a
Rootsweb.com History of Shelburne Farms

Shelburne Museum website

Reynolds, Cuyler, ed., ''Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York,'' New York:Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1914, v. 3
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, William Seward 19th-century American railroad executives Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni People from Shelburne, Vermont Sons of the American Revolution Republican Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives Vanderbilt family 1926 deaths 1851 births General Society of Colonial Wars People included in New York Society's Four Hundred Vermont National Guard personnel