Webb on horseback. Photo by Wayne Hill.
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MARCH 4, 2022 | What a tremendous life Jones Webb of Lawrenceville lived! He was a community builder, led numerous civic organizations, was an accomplished attorney, had been a veteran of three services (the Army, the Marines and the Navy) and he thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the great outdoors.
He came to Georgia after graduating from the University of Tennessee, attended the University of Georgia law school, and shortly afterwards married the Lawrenceville newspaper editor, Marion Allison.
What a handsome and involved couple they were! Her father, Marvin Allison, was the publisher of the newspaper. Jones joined the firm of Allison and Pittard in 1953.
After Mr. Allison’s death in 1959, Jones and his childhood friend, Howard Fowler, formed Webb and Fowler. Later Bill Tanner would become a partner in the firm, which was a prestigious one.
Jones Webb gave time to so many organizations, among them, heading the Gwinnett Chamber in 1972; was a director of Jackson EMC and the Lake Lanier Regional Library; and first chairman of the Gwinnett Airport Authority. He was a Salvation Army board member and co-chaired raising $4.3 million for the Army’s Gwinnett division headquarters on Sugarloaf Parkway. The Salvation Army honored him with its prestigious William Booth Award. He had numerous other memberships, including the Gwinnett Rotary Club and the Experimental Aircraft Association.
From their early years with the Webb firm, many young attorneys later formed their own successful partnerships in Gwinnett. Webb, Fowler and Tanner was something like a post graduate fellowship for these new lawyers.
Mike Tennant, now of Duluth, was the first young attorney to join the firm in 1973. Larry Edmondson came in 1974. Ronald Reagan put him on the 11th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1986 when he was practicing as Tennant, Andersen, Davidson and Edmondson. Among those at Webb Fowler and Tanner included Tom Andersen, Mike McGarrity, Billy Rowe, Tony Powell, Jack Wilson and others.
Webb
Tennant says: “As my best mentor, Jones taught me how to practice law and enjoy it while balancing a young family. He loved practicing law more than anyone I ever knew-no matter what the type of case…nasty divorce, child custody, eminent domain, contract dispute or defending a pro bono criminal defendant.”
Gwinnett Superior Court Judge Tracey Mason was a young intern at the firm. She says: “Jones Webb had come out of the hills of Tennessee to marry Marion Allison Webb and made Gwinnett his home—riding horses, flying planes, lawyering from under those bushy brows for generations of folks around here, all grateful to have his wise, strong counsel. For this wide-eyed Snellville girl, he inspired a dream and lit a pathway to the bench. Thank you, ‘good and faithful servant,’ for allowing Gwinnett to benefit from all you were, for choosing to spend most of your 94 years here among us. Gwinnett is better for it.”
Gerald Davidson of Peachtree Corners remembers: “I started looking up to and admiring Mr. Webb when I was a baby lawyer 46 years ago. When he and Ms. Marion lived on Hurricane Shoals Road with plenty of fenced in pasture and horses, on many a Saturday in the 80s I would go over and trail ride with Mr. Webb. We would head out through the pasture/woods behind their house and travel across land that is now Georgia Highway 316 and Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road and up to what is now Jackson Elementary School, mostly dirt roads. Being with Mr. Webb, especially in a setting like that, was a delight. A great fellow!”
Jones Webb: 1928-2022: may you rest in peace.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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