As a county commissioner, he played a role in the development of North Carolina Highway 135, which was posthumously named after him, and worked on the gubernatorial campaign of W. Kerr Scott.

The family relocated to Rockingham County, North Carolina, where his father was possibly employed in the construction of the Avalon Mill.

On December 24, 1923, he married Nannie Hurt Strong in Martinsville, Virginia, and had five children with her: James Jefferson II, Nancy, Anne Margaret, Robert Penn, and John Ray.

Webster used his position as the store's owner to assist struggling families in the area;[3] he allowed farmers to purchase goods on credit and would wait to call their tab after their tobacco had been sold.

Doyle, at the execution of Jake Johnston, a black man who was charged with attacking an elderly white schoolteacher in Rockingham County in 1935.

[3] On July 7, 1995, at the recommendation of Douglas Galyon, the North Carolina Board of Transportation passed a resolution renaming the highway.