WEBB, Frank - b. February 24, 1856 - d. July 28, 1936

[ddurbin]

                                               FRANK WEBB SUCCUMBS
                                       Elk County's Wealthiest Citizen; Largest Land
                                          Owner in this Territory; Most Extensive-
                                               Stock Feeder and Grain Dealer.
                                            DEATH TUESDAY IN WICHITA HOSPITAL   
                                       In Failing Health for Several Month;  Had Been in Wesley
                                               Hospital Last Eight Weeks and Undergone
                                                  Second Major Operation

Another of Moline's most prominent citizens has been taken by death this week.  Frank Webb, admired by men and women in all walks of life, living far and near, passed quietly away Tuesday forenoon at the Wesley Hospital in Wichita where he had been a patient the last eight week  in the hope of regaining his health that he might be of further service to his chosen community, Moline, and to his host of friends and business associates.

Frank Webb, whose name has left a lasting impression on everyone who knew him, has for more than sixty years been a resident of this community, and though his business activities have been many and extensive, leading into farming, stock raising and feeding, land holdings, oil interests, banking, milling and grain dealing, these things to many of his closest associates and employees, were no greater than this true manhood, his friendship, his honesty.

This sturdy pioneer--he who started from the bottom, in his boyhood, and who grew to be the wealthiest citizen of this section of the state--was also one of the quietest of men.  He was not one caring for pomp and fame.  He, who never wished praise or notoriety, was a quiet benefactor to scores of needy individuals and families through his many years, indirectly sending many a donation to deserving persons needing assistance, without even announcing the identity of the giver.  Many of these noble deeds have come to light only since his death, as his requests of those who carried his gifts to others, kept also, their silence of the source, as long as he lived.

Truly a noble man has passed from us, and we cannot refrain from expressing our admiration of him and voicing his honor, even though it differs from his manner of quietude during his living.  His utmost fairness and honor can be realized even by a stranger in learning that of the great numbers of men whom he had employed in his various business and stock feeding operations, many of them continued in his employ for many, many years, even to one of whom there is knowledge of a continuous thirty-five years.

Funeral services were held this (Thursday) afternoon at two o'clock at the M. E. Church of Molin, Kansas of which he has been a member for many years, conducted by the pastor, Rev. R. L. Kuhns.  All stores and places of business were closed during the hour of funeral today.  Interment was in the Moline Cemetery.

                                                           OBITUARY

Frank Webb was born in Wilmington, Will County, Illinois, Feb. 24th, 1856, and passed away in Wesley Hospital, Wichita, Kansas, July 28th, 1936 at the age of 80.

At the age of sixteen, he came to Kansas with his parents to a prairie claim four miles south of where Moline now stands.  The home place was a part of the town site of the little town of Old Boston. After the railroad was built and Moline started, the family moved to Moline where he has been engaged in the milling and stock raising business ever since.

He leaves to mourn his going his wife, Mrs. Clara Webb; four sisters, Mrs. Anna Baker of Independence, Kansas, Mrs. Maud Prier and Mrs. Metta Durbin of Moline, Kansas, and Mrs. Florence Wammacks of Buffalo, Oklahoma.  His parents and one brother, J. J. Webb of Howard, and two sisters preceded him in death.A number of nieces and nephews and other relatives survive.

 He united with the First Methodist Episcopal early in life and has been a faithful member ever since. He had a wide circle of friends by whom he will be greatly missed.

Relatives from a distance who were here for funeral of Mr. Webb, included his sister and husband, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Baker of Independence, Kansas; his nephew, Ted Hibbard of Sonora, California who will spend some time with his mother, Mrs. Prier, a niece, Miss ____Prier of Wichita who was his nurse at the hospital, and Mr. and Mrs. Walter Karstens and daughter Elinor of Kansas City, Missouri.

(published in the Moline Advance 7/30/1936)