Archives West Finding Aid

The collection contains political and professional correspondence, financial papers, photographs, and other papers of Judge John S. Webster. Included in the papers are correspondence, financial material, newspaper clippings, certificates and letters of appointment, biographical and obituary material, a single speech, and photographs. The material dates from 1901 through 1963, but the bulk of the papers come from the period of the early 1920s through the mid-1930s.

The collection reflects Webster's judicial career, specifically his tenure on the bench of the U. S. District Court for Eastern Washington, from 1923 through the later 1930s. The papers deal only in a passing fashion with his career as a Superior Court judge for Spokane County or as an Associate Justice of the Washington Supreme Court. There is virtually no material from Webster's service as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives for the 5th Congressional District of Washington.

The correspondence, which comprises the vast majority of the papers, has been divided into four groups: General, 1909-1940, Endorsements, 1931-1932; Personal, 1923-1934, and 1962; and Dog Breeding and Showing, 1926-1937. Principal correspondents include Senator W. L. Jones, Representative J. W. Summers, Yakima publisher W. W. Robertson, and Washington State Supreme Court Justices Kenneth Mackintosh and W. J. Millard.

The General Correspondence begins with Webster's appointment to the bench as U. S. District Court Judge for Eastern Washington. It includes both in-coming and out-going letters to lawyers, judges, and other individuals involved with legal questions. Separate files have been established for individuals with whom Webster frequently corresponded. This material covers the period from 1909 through 1940 with the bulk of the material from the period 1923-1934.

The Endorsements Correspondence consists primarily of letters of recommendation written by Webster for individuals seeking positions of employment or political office. The endorsements cover the period 1931-1932 and include both in-coming and out-going correspondence.

The Personal Correspondence file consists of letters from Webster's professional friends generally regarding topics of personal interest to Webster and are mostly from 1923 through 1934.

Webster owned, bred, and showed English Bulldogs and there is a correspondence group which deals exclusively with this activity and dates from 1926 through 1937.

The second largest group of material in the Webster papers consists of financial documents, such as insurance receipts, cancelled checks and bank statements, receipts, and invoices. This material covers the periods from 1901-1906 and 1923-1939.

Also included are course notes from Webster's law school days at the University of Michigan, newspaper clippings from his early Superior Court judicial career, undated photographs of Webster and unidentified persons, an undated speech that Webster delivered concerning the relationship between government and business, certificates and documents of appointment to various offices, and obituary material.