My Genealogy Hound

HENRY A. WEBB, the present Mayor of Greenville. The career, briefly outlined, of individuals chosen by the people to direct in government, whether of city, State or nation, may well be considered of most interesting character. Too frequently honors are heaped upon men whose fame is based upon success in sanguinary conflicts, and the pages which record their achievements seem dark and repelling from their crimsoned hue. As often, the men whose quiet lives display manly action, strict integrity and true Christian principles, are quietly ignored as though the creations of peace were not comparable to the demolition and ravages of war. It is a well-approved saying, that the best of men seldom find their way to the front. When, however, exceptions occur, the lesson is fraught with encouragement and example to posterity. Ancestry is a subject of which men have long been proud. There is pleasure in tracing a long line of honorable ancestors back toward the obscure shadow of the past. This pleasure is enjoyed by the subject of this sketch, Henry A. Webb, whose line of eight generations is on record, from Christopher Webb, of Wales, who came from that country about the year 1650, on down to the present. The following genealogy presents the chain of descent: Christopher Webb the second, the father of Benjamin Webb, the father of Timothy Webb the father of Stephen Webb, born at Windham, Conn., Oct. 4, 1742, who was the father of Nathaniel Webb, born Jan. 15, 1770, and died at Guyandotte, Va., Aug. 22, 1823; he was the father of Nathan Webb, born July 27, 1798, who married Margaret Albright, of Hanover, Penn., Oct. 31, 1819, and Nathan was the father of Henry A. Webb. The family removed to Vincennes, Ind., when Henry was an infant, from Hanover where he was born (Sept. 22, 1822), and the father dying, his widow, with a family of four children, returned to Pennsylvania. The journey is remembered as a long and tedious one, to which present travel is but as a pleasure-trip. At the age of 13, Henry was bound as an apprentice to George Young to learn the trade of tobacconist; having served six years, the desire to see other places, and to find a congenial and promising opening for exertions, induced him to travel to various places, engaging in such work as could be had. On the 15th of June, 1845, he married Elizabeth Warner at Hampton, Penn., and three years later removed to Baltimore, Md., where he continuously engaged in his business as a dealer in tobaccos until 1870, when he migrated to his present place of residence, Greenville, Ohio; here he resumed business, which has prospered and been increased, until the present stock affords an ample choice to the public of all articles kept in a variety store. From childhood, Mayor Webb has shown a fondness for painting, and studiously labored during leisure hours to master the difficulties of this ideal and realistic work; he succeeded, and many portraits extant are the work of his hand; despite the discovery and perfection, of sun pictures, his services are yet in demand, and the ancient and noble art yet exists. He was originally a Democrat, and cast his first vote for James K. Polk; upon the nomination of President Lincoln to the office of chief magistrate of the nation the second term, Mayor Webb became a Republican, and. has since continued to act with that party; in March, 1878, his name was placed upon the Republican ticket for the city of Greenville, as Mayor, and his election resulted by a majority of about one hundred over his opponent, A. P. Gorsuch, Mayor for two terms, a strong, popular man, well calculated for the position. Believing in the refining and elevating tendencies of religion, he joined the English Lutheran Church, in 1848, at Baltimore, and remained with it till the time of his removal to Greenville; there being no church of this denomination, he stood temporarily connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church four years, and acted as Superintendent of their Sabbath school; he then began to attend the Episcopal Church, which considers him practically a member, and is the Superintendent of the Sabbath school therewith connected. He joined the Washingtonians in 1840, and stands by the brief pledge of the organization—abstinence from the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage. In 1844, he became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Mechanics’ Lodge, and is also of the Encampment of Greenville. Taking little part in politics, he acts from principle; he is earnest in example and influence for Christianity, delights in painting, and is beloved by his family, and generally respected. Mayor Webb is of fine personal bearing, is well preserved, social, easy of approach, and a pleasant conversationalist. Following a quiet business and official routine, life is made useful, and the years pass swiftly and pleasantly.