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Stephen Palfrey Webb

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Stephen Palfrey Webb
12th Mayor of Salem, Massachusetts
In office
1860–1862
Preceded byNathaniel Silsbee Jr.
Succeeded byStephen G. Wheatland
5th Mayor of San Francisco
In office
October 2, 1854 – June 30, 1855
Preceded byCornelius Kingsland Garrison
Succeeded byJames Van Ness
3rd Mayor of Salem, Massachusetts
In office
1842–1845
Preceded byStephen C. Phillips
Succeeded byJoseph S. Cabot
Personal details
Born(1804-03-20)March 20, 1804
Salem, Massachusetts
DiedSeptember 29, 1879(1879-09-29) (aged 75)
Salem, Massachusetts
Political partyWhig
Republican
Spouse(s)Hannah Hunt Beckford Robinson, June 9, 1805[1]
Alma materHarvard

Stephen Palfrey Webb (March 20, 1804 – September 29, 1879) was an American politician who served as the third and twelfth mayor of Salem, Massachusetts, and the 5th mayor of San Francisco, California.

Early life and education

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Stephen Palfrey Webb was born to Captain Stephen Webb and Sara Putnam Palfrey Webb in Salem, Massachusetts on March 20, 1804.[1] Webb graduated from Harvard College in 1824 and studied law with John Glen King.

Career

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Webb was admitted to the Essex County Bar in 1826 and began his practice of law in Salem.[1]

Webb served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Massachusetts Senate. He was elected mayor of Salem, Massachusetts in 1842, 1843, and 1844.[2][3] Webb was also Treasurer and Clerk of the Essex Railroad in 1849.[4]

Webb moved to San Francisco in approximately 1853 and was elected mayor for a single term with backing from the Know Nothing movement in 1854. He prepared a report about the vigilance committees in 1874 entitled A Sketch of the Causes, Operations and Results of the San Francisco Vigilance Committee in 1856.[5]

Webb returned to Salem and was again elected mayor in 1860, 1861, and 1862,[2][3] and served as City Clerk from 1863 to 1870. He then retired to Brookline, Massachusetts.[6]

Personal life

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On May 26, 1834, Webb married Hannah Hunt Beckford Robinson.[1] They had one daughter, Caroline B. Webb, in about 1846.[7] Webb died in Brookline, Massachusetts on September 29, 1879.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Essex Institute (1878), Essex Institute Historical Collections, Volume XV, July and October, 1878. Nos 3, 4, Salem, Ma.: The Essex Institute, p. 296
  2. ^ a b City Council of Salem, Massachusetts. "City of Salem, MA - Mayors of Salem". Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  3. ^ a b Hurd, D. Hamilton. History of Essex County, Massachusetts: with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Volume 1, Issue 1. Pg. 227. Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co., 1888.
  4. ^ Massachusetts General Court. Miscellaneous documents on the railroads of Massachusetts. Pg. 18. RareBooksClub.com, 2012
  5. ^ Webb, Stephen Palfrey. A Sketch of the Causes, Operations and Results of the San Francisco Vigilance Committee in 1856. Aeterna, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Hurd, D. Hamilton. History of Essex County, Massachusetts: with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Volume 1, Issue 1. Pg. xvi. Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co., 1888.
  7. ^ United States Federal Census, Massachusetts Vital Records
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