author
Stephen Palfrey Webb
1804–1879
A 19th-century lawyer and public servant, he led two very different American cities at pivotal moments in their growth. His career stretched from Massachusetts politics to the mayor’s office in Gold Rush–era San Francisco.
1 Audiobook
A Sketch of the Causes, Operations and Results of the San Francisco Vigilance Committee of 1856
by Stephen Palfrey Webb
About the author
Born in Salem, Massachusetts, on March 20, 1804, Stephen Palfrey Webb studied at Harvard, trained as a lawyer, and built his early career in his hometown. He served in the Massachusetts legislature before becoming mayor of Salem, a role he held in two separate periods.
Webb is especially notable for bridging East and West in American civic life. After moving to California, he became mayor of San Francisco in the 1850s, during a time when the city was being reshaped by rapid growth and upheaval. He later returned to Salem and again took up public office there.
He died on September 29, 1879. Though not widely remembered today, Webb’s life offers a vivid glimpse of 19th-century public service across a fast-changing United States.