- William Benning Webb
William Benning Webb (??, 1825 - March 15, 1896) was an attorney, Police Superintendent of
Washington, D.C. , and president of the board of commissioners for the District of Columbia, USA, from 1886 to 1889.Webb was born in 1825, in Washington. He was only 19 years old when he graduated from Columbia College (now
George Washington University , and was admitted to the District of Columbia bar Three years later. Upon admission he entered practice, in which he remained until 1861. [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9802E7D91039E533A25753C2A9619C94649FD7CF&oref=slogin] That year, the capital'sMetropolitan Police Department was organized, and Webb was appointed its first superintendent by MayorRichard Wallach . It was under Webb's administration that the police force conducted the investigation into the assassination ofAbraham Lincoln in 1865. That same year, Webb resigned from the Police Department and returned to his Washington law practice, where he commanded an extremely high reputation among his colleagues. The "Washington Post " said of Webb that "his digest of municipal laws, as affecting the national capital, is regarded as the standard authority." [http://www.webbdeiss.org/webb/webb_boys_w.html]In 1885, upon the vacancy of
Joseph Rodman West from his seat on the D.C. Board of Commissioners, PresidentGorver Cleveland surprised the city establishment by offering the appointment to the popular and respected Webb, who accepted and joined the commission for its sixth session in July, 1885. When board presidentJames Barker Edmond declined reappointment onApril 1 ,1886 , Cleveland raised Webb to the position.Edmonds died at his home in Washington on
March 15 ,1896 , at the age of 71.
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