HON. A. G. WEBB. The activity of A. G. Webb extends into various fields of business, for he is now a stockholder and director in the Home National Bank of Baird, is conducting a general abstract, loan and real estate business and is also the owner of a good ranch in Callahan county, devoted to the raising of horses, mules and cattle. To every work he undertakes he brings strong purpose, unfaltering diligence and unabating energy and these have served as the strong and safe foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of his success.
His father, B. R. Webb, was a native of North Carolina, and in early life removed to Alabama, whence he afterward went to Pontotoc county, Mississippi, in 1846. There he was married to Miss Martha Givens, and entered upon the teacher’s profession, which he successfully followed. He was an earnest Christian gentleman and an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. He held fraternal relations with the Masons and was a member of the grand lodge, exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit and brotherly helpfulness which form the basic features of the craft. Equally prominent in political circles, his ability for leadership and his devotion to the public welfare were well recognized in his election to both branches of the Mississippi state legislature and further honors were accorded him in his election to the office of secretary of state, in which position he was serving at the time of his death in January, 1860. His life was one of intense and well directed activity and public service was an honor to the state which honored him. The surviving family numbered his widow and three sons and also two daughters by a former marriage. One of the daughters, Mrs. W. Y. Webb, is now living at Gloster, Mississippi. The other daughter became the wife of Dr. S. C. Webb, of Liberty, Mississippi, and died several years ago, leaving several children, one of whom is Professor Charles F. Webb, a resident of Fort Worth, Texas, where he is engaged in teaching in the high school of that city. Of the three sons, S. E., B. R. and A. G. Webb, all are still living, the eldest being a resident of Baird, where he is engaged in the live stock and real estate business in connection with his brother, A. G. Webb. The second son, B. R. Webb, Jr., is an attorney at Fort Worth, Texas, and for ten years has been a reporter in the state courts of civil appeals. The mother, Mrs. Martha Webb, now nearly eighty years of age, resides with her youngest son in Baird, Texas.
A. G. Webb, well known in Baird and Callahan county, was born August 9, 1855, near New Albany, Mississippi, and in 1869 he accompanied his mother and elder brother, S. E. Webb, on their removal to Gibson county, Tennessee, where he spent several years in school and in farming. In 1878 he came to Texas, settling first in Anderson county, where he spent two years engaged in general farming and also in teaching in the country schools. In December, 1879, he returned to Tennessee and for a year lived with his mother and brother on a farm there but once more came to Texas in December, 1880. During the year 1881 he traveled over the greater part of Texas as a salesman for the Gilbert Book Company, publishers of law books at St. Louis, but his health failed early in 1882 and he gave up that work, settling in Baird, which was then a new town. Here he entered into partnership with his brother, B. R. Webb, in the live stock and real estate business, his brother having located at Baird a few months earlier in the practice of law. In the mean time his mother and eldest brother, S. E. Webb, had sold the farm in Tennessee and the mother and three brothers became residents of Baird. Among the early enterprises which they undertook in this locality was the conduct of a horse ranch, in which the brothers combined their forces. This proved to be a very wise course, especially during the great droughts and low prices of 1886 and 7, when the accounts were heaviest on the wrong side of the ledger and it became necessary to draw on the other resources and lines of business to tide them over this period of depression which extended throughout Texas.
In the meantime A. G. Webb was married on the 30th of October, 1883, to Miss Mary Julia Wright of Trenton, Tennessee. Three children were born unto them, of whom two died in infancy, while the third and youngest, Preston Wright Webb, died May 10, 1904, at the age of seventeen years. He was a student in Carlyle’s Military School at Arlington, Texas, when taken sick.
As the years have advanced Mr. Webb has overcome the difficulties and obstacles that barred his path to success and has prospered in his undertakings. He is now operating in real estate in Baird and Callahan county and is also conducting a general abstract and loan business. He likewise owns a valuable ranch devoted to the raising of horses, mules and cattle and the annual sales of his stock bring him a gratifying income. He is likewise a director in the Home National Bank of Baird and in all of his dealings with his fellow men he has sustained an unimpeachable reputation and is respected for his great energy and determination, qualities that have placed him in the front rank among the successful business men of his community. Mr. Webb is widely known in connection with his work in behalf of the temperance cause. He has labored earnestly for the temperance movement and prohibition work. Through his efforts the cause has been greatly benefited and strengthened and he has at the same time convinced the general public, whether friend or foe, of his earnest and conscientious purpose in temperance work. He has made sacrifices in his financial contributions in order to rid his home town and county of what he considers the worst and most degrading as well as damaging evil that rests on the American people to-day—the saloon evil with all of its attendant vices and influences. He has the encouragement and support of many of the better class of citizens of this community. His influence and aid are always given in public measures relating to the general progress and improvement of the county veracity and honorable purpose. He became a charter member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, upon its organization in Baird in 1882 and has since been one of its official member.
Source: B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), Vol. II, pp. 442-444.