Member Biography

William Bell Waddell 

Member

Photo: Bench and Bar, Chester County

Sessions Office Position District Party
1872       5 Republican
1873       5 Republican

COUNTIES: Chester, Delaware  


Biography

09/21/1828 - 06/03/1897


Major William Bell Waddell (R5) Chester and Delaware Counties 1872-1873

Early Life: 

Major William Bell Waddell, born, September 21, 1828, city of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania;  Princeton College (now Princeton University), 1849; read law under Joseph Hemphill; major, 10th Regiment, Pennsylvania Emergency Militia, Civil War, 1862; attorney, 1852-1887; married, Mary Jane Worthington, 1855, two children; burgess, West Chester 1857; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, March 15, 1872-1873; elected, delegate, Republican National Convention, 1884; appointed, judge, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Chester County, 1887; elected, judge, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, 1888-1897; served as, president judge, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, 1888-1897; died, heart attack, June 3, 1897, West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania; interment, Oakland Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Major, 10th Regiment, Pennsylvania Emergency Militia, Civil War, 1862; attorney, 1852-1887.

Pennsylvania Politics:  

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1864-1866; not a candidate for reelection, 1867.  

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 5th district, Chester and Delaware Counties, March 15, 1872-1873; committee assignments, Compare Bills, Federal Rations, Judiciary General, Judiciary Special and Retrenchment and Reform.

Names of any service after Senate –year(s):

Unsuccessful candidacy, United States Congress, twice.  

Elected, delegate, Republican National Convention, 1884.

Appointed, judge, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Chester County, 1887.

Elected, judge, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, 1888-1897, served as, president judge, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, 1888-1897.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=7684&body=H

Cited:

Smull, J.A., (1873) Smull’s Legislative Hand Book, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 517 and 522-524.

The Lancaster Examiner (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) Saturday, June 5, 1897, Page 2

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/126181357/william-bell-waddell