{{Short description|American politician and judge (1828–1897)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = William Bell Waddell | image = William Bell Waddell (1893) (cropped).png | alt = | caption = Waddell in a 1893 publication | state_senate = Pennsylvania | district = 5th | term_start = March 15, 1872 | term_end = 1873 | predecessor = Henry S. Evans | successor = Robert L. McClellan | state_house2 = Pennsylvania | district2 = Chester County | term_start2 = 1865 | term_end2 = 1867 | alongside2 = Nathan J. Sharpless and Nathan A. Pennypacker | predecessor2 = Persifor Frazer Smith, William Windle, Robert L. McClellan | successor2 = John Hickman, James M. Phillips, Stephen M. Meredith | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1828|9|21}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1897|6|3|1828|9|21}} | death_place = West Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S. | resting_place = Oaklands Cemetery<br />West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. | party = Democratic<br />Republican | spouse = {{marriage|Mary Jane Worthington|1855}} | children = 2 | education = | alma_mater = Princeton College | occupation = {{hlist|Politician|lawyer|judge}} | signature = }}
'''William Bell Waddell''' (September 21, 1828 – June 3, 1897) was an American politician and judge from Pennsylvania. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing Chester County from 1865 to 1867. He also served in the Pennsylvania Senate from 1872 to 1873.
==Early life== William Bell Waddell was born on September 21, 1828, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Mary S. (née Bell) and Robert Waddell. At the age of 5, he moved with his parents to Trenton, New Jersey. He lived there until around 13 and then moved after his mother's death to West Chester, Pennsylvania. He attended the private school of James Crowell in West Chester. He graduated from Princeton College in 1849.<ref name="chester">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/chestercountyits00thoms/page/534/mode/2up |title=Chester County and Its People |editor-last=Thomson |editor-first=W. W. |year=1898 |publisher=The Union History Company |pages=464, 535–536 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2023-11-03}}{{Open access}}</ref><ref name="portrait">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalport00garn/page/190/mode/2up |title=Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Comprising A Historical Sketch of the County |year=1893 |last=Wiley |first=Samuel T. |editor-last=Garner |editor-first=Winfield Scott |publisher=Gresham Publishing Company |pages=191–192 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2023-11-03}}{{Open access}}</ref><ref name="obit">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-times-william-b-waddel/134358136/ |title=William B. Waddell Dead |date=1897-06-04 |newspaper=The Philadelphia Times |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-10-30}}{{Open access}}</ref> After graduating, he went to West Chester, Pennsylvania, and studied law under Joseph Hemphill, father of Joseph Hemphill. He was admitted to the bar on March 2, 1852.<ref name="chester"/><ref name="portrait"/>
==Career== After getting admitted to the bar, Waddell practiced law in West Chester.<ref name="chester"/><ref name="portrait"/> He was elected to the House of Burgess of West Chester in 1857.<ref name="house">{{Cite web |url=https://archives.house.state.pa.us/people/member-biography?ID=7684 |title=William B. Waddell |website=Pennsylvania House of Representatives Archives |access-date=2023-10-30}}</ref> He served as major of the 10th regiment of the Pennsylvania Emergency Militia in 1862.<ref name="senate">{{Cite web |url=https://www.library.pasen.gov/people/member-biography?id=2594 |title=William Bell Waddell |website=Pennsylvania Senate Library |access-date=2023-10-30}}</ref> Union Army officer Robert Cornwell read law under him in 1865–66.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Heathcote |first=Charles William |url=http://archive.org/details/historyofchester00heat |title=A History of Chester County, Pennsylvania |publisher=National Historical Association |year=1932 |location=Harrisburg, PA |pages=154 |language=en-US}}</ref>
Waddell was originally a Democrat, but changed to a Republican.<ref name="obit"/><ref name="house"/><ref name="senate"/> In 1864, Waddell was elected as a Republican to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He represented Chester County in that body from 1865 to 1867.<ref name="chester"/><ref name="house"/> He served as chairman of the judiciary committee in his second session and as chairman of the ways and means committee in his third session.<ref name="portrait"/> In 1871, he was elected as a Republican to the Pennsylvania Senate, representing the 5th district, succeeding Henry S. Evans. He served in that role from March 15, 1872, to 1873.<ref name="chester"/><ref name="obit"/><ref name="senate"/> He then returned to the practicing law in West Chester.<ref name="chester"/> He was elected delegate to the 1884 Republican National Convention.<ref name="senate"/> He ran for U.S. Congress unsuccessfully two times. He first lost to James Bowen Everhart and second to Smedley Darlington.<ref name="obit"/><ref name="senate"/>
In 1887, Waddell was appointed as "additional law judge" of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. He was elected to the role in the fall of 1887 to a ten-year term concluding in 1898. After the death of J. Smith Futhey, he was appointed president judge of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. He served in that role from December 4, 1888, to his death.<ref name="chester"/><ref name="obit"/><ref name="senate"/>
==Personal life== Waddell married Mary Jane Worthington, daughter of Carver Worthington, on December 27, 1855. They had two children, Robert S. and Ruth R. His son Robert was also a lawyer.<ref name="portrait"/><ref name="senate"/> He was a member of the Presbyterian Church.<ref name="portrait"/>
Waddell died of a heart attack on June 3, 1897, at his home in West Chester.<ref name="chester"/><ref name="obit"/> He was buried at Oaklands Cemetery in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania.<ref name="senate"/><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-journal-funeral-of-judge-wad/134358620/ |title=Funeral of Judge Waddell |date=1897-06-08 |newspaper=Evening Journal |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-10-30}}{{Open access}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Waddell, William Bell}} Category:1828 births Category:1897 deaths Category:Politicians from Philadelphia Category:People from Trenton, New Jersey Category:People from West Chester, Pennsylvania Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Category:Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators Category:Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas Category:19th-century Pennsylvania state court judges Category:Burials at Oaklands Cemetery Category:19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly