published many short stories in “Scribner's Monthly,” “The Atlantic Monthly,” and “Appletons' Journal,” in which appeared his “Boarding-House Sketches.” He also published a series of articles exposing abuses in the administration of criminal law and in the management of prisons. He was consumptive, went to California by way of the isthmus, and died on his way from San Francisco to Honolulu, and was buried in the Pacific. At the time of his death Mr. Webster was engaged to be married to Una, eldest daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne. He left an unfinished novel. His most notable stories are “Our Friend Sullivan,” “My Daughter's Watch,” “The Clytemnestra,” and “An Operation in Money.”
WEBSTER, Ebenezer, patriot, b. in Kingston,
N. H., in 1739; d. in Salisbury (now Franklin),
N. H., in 1806. He served in the old French war
under Sir Jeffrey Amherst, and in 1761 was one of
the first settlers in what is now Franklin, N. H.,
then the most northern of the New England
settlements. There he became a farmer and also
kept a tavern. At the opening of the Revolution
he led the Salisbury militia to Cambridge, and
subsequently saw much service till the close of the
war, when he had attained the rank of colonel of
militia. He was a member of the lower branch of
the legislature for several years, served also in the
state senate, and from 1791 till his death was judge
of the court of common pleas of Hillsborough
county, N. H. — His son, Ezekiel, lawyer, b. in
Salisbury, N. H., 11 March, 1780; d. in Concord,
N. H., 10 April, 1829, was graduated at Dartmouth
in 1804, studied law, and rose to eminence at the
bar. He was also a member for several years of
the New Hampshire legislature. His death
resulted suddenly from disease of the heart while he
was trying a case. — Another son, Daniel, statesman,
b. in Salisbury (now Franklin), N. H., 18 Jan.,
1782; d. in Marshfield, Mass., 24 Oct., 1852, was
the second son of Ebenezer Webster by his second
wife, Abigail Eastman. He seemed so puny and
sickly as an infant that it was thought he would
not live to grow up. He was considered too delicate
for hard work on the farm, and was allowed a
great deal of time for play. Much of this leisure
he spent in fishing and hunting, or in roaming about
the woods, the rest in reading. In later life he could
not remember when he learned to read. As a child
his thirst for knowledge was insatiable; he read
every book that came within reach, and conned his
favorite authors until their sentences were in great
part stored in his memory. In May, 1796, he was
sent to Exeter academy, where he made rapid
progress with his studies, but was so overcome by
shyness that he found it impossible to stand up
and “speak pieces” before his school-mates. In
spite of this timidity, some of his natural gifts as
an orator had already begun to show themselves.
His great, lustrous eyes and rich voice, with its
musical intonations, had already exerted a
fascination upon those who came within their range;
passing teamsters would stop, and farmers pause,
sickle in hand, to hear him recite verses of poetry
or passages from the Bible. In February, 1797, his
father sent him to Boscawen, where he continued
his studies under the tuition of the Rev. Samuel
Wood. Although Ebenezer Webster found it difficult,
by unremitting labor and strictest economy,
to support his numerous family, he still saw such
signs of promise in Daniel as to convince him that
it was worth while, at whatever sacrifice, to send
him to college. In view of this decision, he took
him from school, to hasten his preparation under
a private tutor, and on the journey to Boscawen he
informed Daniel of his plans. The warm-hearted
boy, who had hardly dared hope for such good
fortune, and keenly felt the sacrifice it involved,
laid his head upon his father's shoulder and burst
into tears. After six months with his tutor he
had learned enough to fulfil the slender requirements
of those days for admission to Dartmouth,
where he was duly graduated in 1801. At college,
although industrious and punctual in attendance
and soon found to be very quick at learning, he
was not regarded as a thorough scholar. He had
not, indeed, the scholarly temperament — that rare
combination of profound insight, sustained attention,
microscopic accuracy, iron tenacity, and
disinterested pursuit of truth — which characterizes
the great scientific discoverer or the great
historian. But, while he had not these qualities in
perfect combination — and no one knew this better
than Mr. Webster himself — there was much about
him that made him more interesting and remarkable,
even at that early age, than if he had been
consummate in scholarship. He was capable of
great industry, he seized an idea with astonishing
quickness, his memory was prodigious, and for
power of lucid and convincing statement he was
unrivalled. With these rare gifts he possessed that
supreme poetic quality that defies analysis, but is at
once recognized as genius. He was naturally, therefore,
considered by tutors and fellow-students the
most remarkable man in the college, and the
position of superiority thus early gained was easily
maintained by him through life and wherever he
was placed. While at college he conquered or outgrew
his boyish shyness, so as to take pleasure in
public speaking, and his eloquence soon attracted
so much notice that in 1800 the townspeople of
Hanover selected this undergraduate to deliver the
Fourth-of-July oration. It has been well pointed
out by Henry Cabot Lodge that “the enduring
work which Mr. Webster did in the world, and his
meaning and influence in American history, are all
summed up in the principles enunciated in that
boyish speech at Hanover,” which “preached love
of country, the grandeur of American nationality,
fidelity to the constitution as the bulwark of
nationality, and the necessity and the nobility of the
union of the states.” After leaving college, Mr.
Webster began studying law in the office of Thomas
W. Thompson, of Salisbury, who was afterward U. S.
senator. Some time before this he had made up
his mind to help his elder brother, Ezekiel, to go
through college, and for this purpose he soon
found it necessary to earn money by teaching
school. After some months of teaching at Fryeburg,
Me., he returned to Mr. Thompson's office.
In July, 1804, he went to Boston in search of
employment in some office where he might complete
his studies. He there found favor with Christopher
Gore, who took him into his office as student
and clerk. In March, 1805, Mr. Webster was
admitted to the bar, and presently he began
practising his profession at Boscawen. In 1807, having
acquired a fairly good business, he turned it over
to his brother, Ezekiel, and removed to Portsmouth,
where his reputation grew rapidly, so that
he was soon considered a worthy antagonist to
Jeremiah Mason, one of the ablest lawyers this
country has ever produced. In June, 1808, he
married Miss Grace Fletcher, of Hopkinton, N. H.
His first important political pamphlet, published that year, was a criticism on the embargo. In 1812, in a speech before the Washington benevolent society at Portsmouth, he summarized the objections of the New England people to the war just declared against Great Britain. He was immediately
