Our 23rd Prosecutor was born in Marion, Ohio, the son of a Methodist Episcopal minister. He was
educated in the Ohio public schools. He was an 1898 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, in
Delaware, Ohio, where he studied law prior to reading the law in preparation for being admitted to
the Ohio bar in 1898. Immediately thereafter, he moved to Toledo, where he remained throughout his
life.
In 1904, Webster received an appointment as "Second Assistant Lucas County Prosecutor", a position
he held until being elected Lucas County Prosecutor in 1909, by a margin of 3600 votes. It has been
said that "Lucas County never had a more painstaking official than he who know fills the position of
her legal representative." (Scribner, Vol. 2. p. 67).
Unfortunately, five years after the expiration of his term, Webster died in 1917 at the very young
age of 41. A Memorial Service was held in his honor and was eulogized as follows:
"He was an able and fearless prosecuting attorney of our county and for
many years, both as an assistant and as chief, he conducted the duties
of the office with such consummate energy, ability, fidelity, and zeal
that he not only commanded the confidence and esteem of all good
people, but the fear and hatred of thieves. He had an old man's head
upon a young man's shoulders...He was a lawyer who sometimes struck
hard blows to opposing counsel, but they were always fair ones, coming
straight from the shoulder and always landing above the belt." [Memorial
Address, 3/13/17].