Résumé

His New York Times obituary summarized the career of Edwin Webster: "The next year, he and the late Charles A. Stone organized their firm. At the outset the concern confined itself to the electrical engineering field. especially as related to public utilities. Later, the partnership became the present corporation and extended its activities to general design, engineering and construction, and furnishing supervisory services to public utilities and industrial companies. An investment banking business was also established. Construction and engineering work alone has aggregated more than $2,000,000,000 since the company's formation. Among the larger war projects of the company was the electromagnetic plant for the production of atomic bomb materials at Oak Ridge, Tenn." (See "Edwin S. Webster Is Dead," New York Times, 05/11/1950, p. 29.)

Early in the company's history, Stone and Webster foresaw the huge potential for hydroelectric energy production in the Pacific Northwest. The firm first started buying electric streetcar companies, accumulating eight in the Seattle area, and gradually acquired others in Everett, WA, and Tacoma, WA. Then, during the 1900s, it started buying electric utilities throughout the state. By 1922, Stone and Webster owned the Everett Railway, Light and Water Company, Pacific Coast Power Company, Pacific Northwest Traction Company, Puget Sound Electric Railway, Puget Sound International Railway and Power Company, Puget Sound Power and Light Company, Puget Sound Power Company, Seattle Electric Company, and Tacoma Railway and Power Company. It also has extensive holdings in New England, the Southeast, Florida and Texas. (See Stone & Webster Incorporated, [Boston: Stone and Webster, 1922], pp. 4-5.)

Partner, Massachusetts Electrical Engineering Company, Boston, MA, 1890-1893.

Partner, Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation, Boston, MA, 1893-1950. In 1922, the Stone and Webster Building was located at 147 Milk Street in Boston, MA. The firm also had branch offices in New York, NY (120 Broadway) and Chicago, IL, (1st National Bank Building). The firm would later relocate its office to Stoughton, MA.

Vice-chairman, Stone and Webster, Incorporated, Boston, MA, 1930-1941.

Chairman, Stone and Webster, Incorporated, Boston, MA, 1941-1946. Webster retired from management in 1946, but remained on Stone and Webster's Board of Directors until his death. (See "Edwin S. Webster Is Dead," New York Times, 05/11/1950, p. 29.)

Professional Activities

Member, Boston Society of Civil Engineers, c. 1903. (See Association of Engineering Societies Proceedings, vol. XXXI, no. 6, 12/1903, p. 24.)

Director, United Fruit Company.

Director, Pacific Mills.

Director, Chicago, Wilmington and Franklin Coal Company.

Director, Tampa Electric Company, Tampa, FL.

Director, Ames Shovel and Tool Company.

Director, Consolidated Investment Trust. (See "Edwin S. Webster Is Dead," New York Times, 05/11/1950, p. 29.)

College

B.S., Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, 1888.

Relocation

Webster died at his residence in the Boston neighborhood of Chestnut Hill at 307 Hammond Street. (See "Edwin S. Webster Is Dead," New York Times, 05/11/1950, p. 29.)

Parents

His parents were Mary Messinger and Frank G. Webster.

Spouse

He wed Jane de Peyster Hovey.

Children

He and Jane had three children:

Biographical Notes

Member, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (MIT) Society of Arts, Cambridge, MA, 1903. (See "List of Members," Technology Quarterly, vol. XVI, 1903, p. xxi.)

Life Member, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Corporation, Cambridge, MA. (See "Edwin S. Webster Is Dead," New York Times, 05/11/1950, p. 29.)

• Roxbury, Boston, MA (Architect's Birth)
  Roxbury, Boston, MA

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• Chestnut Hill, Boston, MA (Architect's Death)
  Chestnut Hill, Boston, MA 02201

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