HERBERT D. WEBB. Among the energetic and successful citizens of Anderson, Indiana, none is better known that Herbert D. Webb, secretary and treasurer of one of the important manufacturing plants of this city, Mr. Webb has always taken an active part in any movement which had as its aim the advancement of Anderson or of this section of the state and he has played a prominent part in the commercial history of the city. Mr. Webb has been a hard worker throughout his life and his success is not the result of good fortune but of industry and a natural business ability, heightened by years of experience.
Herbert D. Webb was born in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the 4th of June, 1860, He is the son of J. Russell Webb and Harriet C. (Camp) Webb, His father was a native of New York and his mother was born in Vermont. J. Russell Webb was a well known man, having the peculiar honor of originating the “Word Method of Teaching,” He was a teacher for a number of years, as well as the author of a number of text books, which were used in the schools of the United States in the early days. He was a well known educator and his methods were very generally approved by the educators of the country, He died in September, 1888.
Herbert D. Webb received his education in the state of Michigan, attending the schools of Jackson and Benton Harbor, and being a graduate of the high school in the latter place, After leaving school he first went to work on a farm, this place being not far from Benton Harbor, Michigan, After spending some time in this occupation he next came to Anderson, Indiana, where he found employment in some of the factories, working in various ones at different times, This was in 1889, and he worked his way steadily upward, gaining knowledge and experience. In 1900 he went into the plumbing and heating business in Anderson and continued in this business until 1908, when he originated and established the present business.
He is at present secretary and treasurer of the Webb, Baxter Company, manufacturers of vacuum cleaning machinery and machine knives, The company was incorporated in 1908 and Noah Baxter was made president, The plant is forty by one hundred and forty feet in size and Joshua Etchison married Elizabeth Casteel. Illinois is thought t0 have been her birthplace, and she was a daughter of Caleb and Rebecca Casteel, The mother of Mrs. Williams was a true pioneer lady, and among her accomplishments she learned to card, spin and weave, and being left a widow with seven children, earned money with the wheel and loom to support her family. For a number of years she did all her cooking by the old-fashioned fire place. Mrs. Williams now has as a souvenir of her mother’s work a beautiful home-spun and woven bedspread, and has also a pair of half mitts, which her mother knitted. The flax from which they are made was grown, scutched and spun in the Etchison home in Madison County, The mother of Mrs. Williams died at the age of seventy-seven years, In the Williams home is another memento of times long passed, and that is a silk hat in good condition, which the father of Mr. Williams bought in 1855. Silk hats were much more commonly worn in those years before the war than at any time since.