One of the more colorful and combative editors of the antebellum New York press. James Watson Webb made the Morning Courier and New York Enquirer the leader of the commercial press, becoming one of the most influential editors in the age of personal journalism, although his political position shifted from Jacksonian to Whig to Republican. A leader in the race to be first with the news, he also led the "moral war" against the penny papers and fought numerous duels arising from his editorial activities. He became minister to Brazil following his retirement from publishing.

The eighth of nine children of Gen. Samuel Blachley Webb and Catharine Hogeboom Webb. Webb was born at Claverack, New York. His father, an aide to General Washington and commander of the Third Connecticut Regiment, was a thricewounded war hero and a successful speculator in land and securities. He attained national prominence as...