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Samuel Webber
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<h2 id="biography">Biography</h2> <p>Webber was born in <a href="/facts/Byfield%2c_Massachusetts/9A8tdR1o">Byfield, Massachusetts</a>, in 1759.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> He was educated at Dummer Academy (now known as <a href="/facts/The_Governor%2527s_Academy/Km6gRysN">The Governor's Academy</a>) and <a href="/facts/Harvard_College/XU29Atef">Harvard College</a> (<a href="/facts/Bachelor_of_Arts/2pa1nwfR">B.A.</a>, 1784; <a href="/facts/Master%2527s_degree/lQ5hT1cH">M.A.</a>, 1787) where he distinguished himself in <a href="/facts/Mathematics/pxTouaz4">mathematics</a>. He was a member of the <a href="/facts/Hasty_Pudding_Theatricals/5GFlHcFx">Hasty Pudding</a>. Webber was ordained as <a href="/facts/Congregational_church/bSVbGWM1">Congregational</a> minister in 1787 and two years later became <a href="/facts/Hollis_Chair_of_Mathematics_and_Natural_Philosophy/1kCRHX7j">Hollis Professor of Mathematick and Natural Philosophy</a> at Harvard.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> He served in the commission that drew the boundaries, later recognized by the <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Paris_(1783)/PRu5PJj4">Treaty of Paris</a>, between the new <a href="/facts/United_States_of_America/P0sCdLe5">United States of America</a> and the surrounding <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">British</a> provinces. He was elected a Fellow of the <a href="/facts/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences/KptWYgz4">American Academy of Arts and Sciences</a> in 1789<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> and also served as vice-president of the Academy. He authored <i>System of Mathematics</i>, which for many years served as the only textbook on the subject in <a href="/facts/New_England/ufw2BmSl">New England</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p><p>Webber was appointed <a href="/facts/President_of_Harvard_University/opSveLGB">president</a> of Harvard in 1806. That same year he received an honorary <a href="/facts/Doctor_of_Divinity/l4VwNwoD">Doctor of Divinity</a> degree from that institution. He led Harvard until his death in Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 17, 1810.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="family">Family</h2> <p>Webber's son, Samuel Jr., married Anna Winslow Green, a granddaughter of <a href="/facts/David_Mathews/jE0a5AkX">David Mathews</a>, <a href="/facts/Loyalist/eQDaj7yn">Loyalist</a> <a href="/facts/Mayor_of_New_York_City/fa8jCVfM">Mayor of New York City</a> under the <a href="/facts/Great_Britain/TNgGQRPj">British</a> during the <a href="/facts/American_Revolution/zy1F0LxK">American Revolution</a>. Webber's son, also named Samuel (September 15, 1797 <a href="/facts/Cambridge%2c_Massachusetts/k9UMIJ7U">Cambridge, Massachusetts</a> – December 5, 1880 <a href="/facts/Charlestown%2c_New_Hampshire/mzDgJNbq">Charlestown, New Hampshire</a>), was a distinguished <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a>, <a href="/facts/Chemist/N09K7Bdm">chemist</a> and author.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="works">Works</h2> <ul><li>“Introduction” to <a href="/facts/Jedidiah_Morse/7gmDRX6H">Jedidiah Morse</a>, <i>American Universal Geography</i>, 1796 (revision)</li> <li><i>System of Mathematics</i>, (2 vols.), 1801</li> <li><i>Eulogy on President Willard</i>, 1804</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. VI. James T. White & Company. 1896. p. 417. Retrieved November 30, 2020 – via Google Books. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=z9kbAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA417" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=z9kbAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA417</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Quinquennial catalogue of the officers and graduates of Harvard university, 1636–1915. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1915. p. 21. Retrieved May 24, 2015. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=JiNOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA21" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=JiNOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA21</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter W" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved August 7, 2014. <a href="http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterW.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterW.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1889). "Webber, Samuel" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton. <a href="/wiki/James_Grant_Wilson" target="_blank">/wiki/James_Grant_Wilson</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. VI. James T. White & Company. 1896. p. 417. Retrieved November 30, 2020 – via Google Books. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=z9kbAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA417" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=z9kbAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA417</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1889). "Webber, Samuel" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton. <a href="/wiki/James_Grant_Wilson" target="_blank">/wiki/James_Grant_Wilson</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>