Representative Taylor Webster

Taylor Webster (October 1, 1800 – April 27, 1876) was an American newspaperman and Democratic politician who served three terms as a United States Representative from Ohio’s 2nd congressional district from 1833 to 1839. His congressional service took place during a significant period in American history marked by the Jacksonian era, during which he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Ohio constituents in the national legislature.

Webster was born in Pennsylvania on October 1, 1800. In 1806 he moved with his parents to Ohio, which was then a young and rapidly developing state on the western frontier. He received a limited formal education in Ohio but pursued learning through his later professional and political activities. He briefly attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, an institution that was emerging as an important center of higher education in the region, although he did not complete a degree there.

Webster entered public life through journalism and printing, professions that were closely tied to politics in the early nineteenth century. Settling in Hamilton, the seat of Butler County, Ohio, he became editor and publisher of The Western Telegraph, a local newspaper, serving in that capacity from 1828 to 1836. Through this work he helped shape public opinion in southwestern Ohio and gained prominence in Democratic and Jacksonian political circles. His role as a newspaperman provided him with a platform to engage in political debate and to build connections that would support his subsequent electoral career.

In addition to his journalistic endeavors, Webster quickly became active in state government. He served as clerk of the Ohio House of Representatives in 1829, a position that gave him direct experience with legislative procedure and the workings of state politics. Building on this experience, he was elected as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, serving from 1831 to 1832. During this period he was associated with the Jacksonian movement, which advocated for expanded democratic participation and opposed concentrated financial power, themes that were central to Ohio and national politics at the time.

Webster advanced to national office when he was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses and as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth Congress, representing Ohio’s 2nd congressional district. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1833, to March 3, 1839. As a member of the Democratic Party representing Ohio, he contributed to the legislative process during his three terms in office, participating in debates and votes on issues arising during the administrations of Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. His tenure coincided with major national controversies, including debates over the national bank, federal internal improvements, and the evolving party system, and he was part of the broader Jacksonian Democratic coalition that shaped federal policy in this era.

After leaving Congress in 1839, Webster returned to Ohio and continued his public service at the local level. From 1842 to 1846 he served as clerk of court of Butler County, Ohio, a position that involved the administration of the county’s judicial records and proceedings. Following his term as clerk of court, he resumed his business pursuits, likely drawing on his earlier experience in publishing and local affairs, and remained a figure of some standing in his community.

In 1863, during the Civil War, Webster relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he took up work in a clerical position. His move to New Orleans placed him in a major Southern city undergoing profound political and social change under Union occupation and Reconstruction. He lived there for the remainder of his life. Taylor Webster died in New Orleans on April 27, 1876. He was interred at Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans, closing a career that had spanned journalism, state politics, national legislative service, and local public office in Ohio before his later years in Louisiana.