User:DLaub/scratch

Dr. W. Seward Webb (1851-1926) studied medicine in Vienna, Paris and Berlin. Returning to America, he entered the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and graduated from there in 1875. For several years he practiced medicine, and then forsook the profession permanently for finance. He established the Wall Street firm of W. S. Webb & Co., and in 1883 he became President of the Wagner Palace Car Company, which subsequently merged with the Pullman Company. Dr. Webb was President of the Fulton Chain Railway Company,Fulton Navigation Company, Raquette Lake Transportation Company. He was the builder and President of the Mohawk and Malone Railway.

The Webb property at Shelburne, Vermont on Lake Champlain comprises one of the finest country estates in America. This model agricultural estate is now known as Shelburne Farms, a National Historic Landmark.

Dr. Webb served as Inspector General of the Vermont militia with the rank of Colonel. He served a term in the Vermont Legislature in the 1890's. He was a founder and former President of the Sons of the American Revolution.

In 1883, he married Eliza Osgood Vanderbilt, daughter of William H. Vanderbilt, and for thirty years they lived at 680 Fifth Avenue, New York. This house, a wedding gift from M. Vanderbilt to his daughter, was sold in 1913 to John D. Rockefeller and the Webbs were one of the first owners of an old Fifth Avenue mansion to move into a Park Avenue apartment. Dr. Webb is survived by his wife, three sons - J. Watson, Seward, and Vanderbilt - and one daughter, Mrs. C. H. Jones.

Online Biography