I know this is a long shot but has anyone come across reliable information on James Webb (1792-1856)? Not the guy the big telescope is named after, the guy from the Texas Republic.

He served as Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Minister to Mexico, and Attorney General under Lamar, then was a Senator for a while. After Texas became a state he was a Court Reporter, Secretary of State again, and then a circuit court Judge.

Webb County is named after him, but I can only find one picture and one independently published biography about him.

Anything people have come across beyond Wikipedia and the Handbook of Texas would be appreciated.

Well, I should, but I don't. I'm building up a spreadsheet with the names of everybody who was anybody in Colonial and Republic of Texas, and he's not on it. I'm still way behind in the latter half of the alphabet.

The Handbook of Texas is generally a good source, and the article on him appears to be fairly good, if way outdated. I'd look to online genealogical sources. The article on HoT is from 1952, so there's quite possibly some good stuff there.

Oh wait. Here's his Find A Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13369393/james-webb

It includes a photo. Now, a caveat. Seriously, be skeptical of genealogical sites. People make mistakes. My one concern is that this guy died in 1856. This looks like a regular photo, not a daguerrotype, which is possible, but they were not common or cheap in Texas at the time. So I would reference it as a "presumptive" photo of him until you can prove it.

OK, big find, maybe. Yes, he's a friend and ally of Mirabeau Lamar, but why, you may ask. Turns out, he's married to a Rachel Elizabeth Lamar. Ancestry.com confirms that she is the daughter of Thomas Randolph Lamar, who turns out to be Mirabeau Lamar's brother. So James Webb is the husband of the president's neice.

aalan94 said:

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Well, I should, but I don't. I'm building up a spreadsheet with the names of everybody who was anybody in Colonial and Republic of Texas, and he's not on it. I'm still way behind in the latter half of the alphabet.

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Thanks for your input! Having done some more searching since my original posting, I think that I've seriously exhausted all available resources on Webb. Aside from the two amateur historians who self-published the only biography I've found on Webb, I may be the leading expert on his life.

aalan94 said:

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It includes a photo. Now, a caveat. Seriously, be skeptical of genealogical sites. People make mistakes. My one concern is that this guy died in 1856. This looks like a regular photo, not a daguerrotype, which is possible, but they were not common or cheap in Texas at the time. So I would reference it as a "presumptive" photo of him until you can prove it.

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I personally visited his grave when I was driving through the area once; I do not trust genealogy sites. That is the photo that the Grand Lodge of Texas and Webb County Historical Society have been using for decades, so I'm going to run with it.