Cumberland County, Maine - Frank E. Webb
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Biography
Frank E. Webb
Biographical Review
Cumberland County, Maine
Boston
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1896
Page 686-687


Frank E. Webb, of Westbrook, Me., one of the leading lumber manufacturers of
Cumberland County, was born in Westbrook, August 16, 1862, son of James M. and
Charlotte (Hodsdon) Webb. James M. Webb was a son of Christopher Webb, of St.
Albans, Me., where he grew to manhood, receiving a good common-school education.
He learned the trade of carriage-making in Fall River, Mass., and went to
Westbrook in the fifties to work for John M. Adams, carriage manufacturer, with
whom he remained till the early part of 1862. At that time he enlisted in the
Seventeenth Regiment of Maine Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Charles Roberts.
After a short stay in camp at South Portland the regiment went to Washington,
and, being immediately assigned to active duty, participated in some of the most
important battles of the Civil War, including the second battle of
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania
Court-house, and Petersburg. In the skirmish at Sailor's Creek, April 6, 1865,
the last battle in which his regiment took part, Mr. Webb received a severe
wound in the leg, which made amputation necessary. It is curious to note that,
had Lee's surrender taken place three days earlier than it did, he might have
returned home unscathed, as he had passed unhurt even through the holocaust of
Spottsylvania, where the dead and wounded lay three and four deep.

James M. Webb was a strong Republican from the time of his majority, and soon
after his return from the war was appointed Postmaster at Westbrook. About the
same time he was elected Town Clerk and Treasurer; and he efficiently performed
the duties of his offices till 1880, when he was made Treasurer of Cumberland
County. This office he held up to the time of his death in January, 1892. He was
then fifty-seven years of age. He was a member of Temple Lodge, A. F. & A. M.,
of Westbrook; and in religious belief he was a Methodist. His wife, Charlotte
Hodsdon, of Windham, Me., was the mother of three children, only one of whom the
subject of this sketch is now living. After the death of his first wife Mr.
James M. Webb married her sister, Emma Hodsdon. She also bore three children,
two of whom are living, namely: William W., who is studying law with Judge
Tolman, of Westbrook; and Isa M., who resides with her mother in that city.

Frank E. Webb received his education in the public schools of Westbrook,
including the high school. He acted as clerk in the Westbrook post-office under
his father's direction for six years, and started on an independent business
career when about twenty-two years of age. Of a restless and ambitious
temperament, he tried several kinds of business before finding the one to which
he was best adapted. In 1885 he engaged in the grocery trade in Portland, Me.,
as a member of the firm of S. M. Kelsey & Co., remaining three years. In 1890 he
went West, becoming a member of the Montana Cement Pipe and Tile Company, of
Helena and Great Falls, Mont.; but within five months he severed his connection
with this corporation, and became connected with the Boston and Montana Mining
Company, with which he remained six months. He then returned to Westbrook, and
for three years was in the employ of John Wheeler & Sons, dealers in coal, wood,
and lumber.

In 1894 he formed a copartnership with E. H. Phillips, of Fairfield, Me., son of
the senior member of the firm of G. A. & C. M. Phillips, who own extensive
timber lands and saw-mills in the north-western part of the State. Under the
style of Phillips & Webb the two young men bought the lumber business of the
Wheeler Brothers of Westbrook, which they are now managing. They own extensive
timber lands and large mills, and have an immense annual output of rough and
finished lumber. They furnished half a million feet of lumber for the Baxter
Block in Portland, and have supplied nearly all the rough lumber used in
Westbrook during the past two years, besides over one million feet of finished
lumber and from two million to three million shingles in a year.

August 20, 1883, Mr. Webb was married to Miss Isabel Kelsey, daughter of John F.
Kelsey, of Portland. He has no children. In political circles Mr. Webb is highly
esteemed as a Republican. He was elected City Clerk in 1892, and is still in
office, each succeeding election giving him an increased majority. He is a
Mason, belonging to Temple Lodge, No. 86, of Westbrook, and has been through the
Blue Lodge, Chapter, and Council; and he is a member of Ivanhoe Lodge, No. 25,
Knights of Pythias, of Portland, Me. Mr. and Mrs. Webb attend the Congregational
Church of Westbrook.