Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was a leading American statesman during the nation's antebellum era. After attending local schools for most of his life, Daniel Webster was subsequently enrolled at the Phillips Exeter Academy at age 14. Daniel Webster was born January 18, 1782 to Ebenezer and Abigail Webster (nйe Eastman) in Salisbury, New Hampshire. Daniel Webster's growing prominence as a constitutional lawyer led to his election as a delegate to the 1820 Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. Schlesinger remarks that the real miracle of The Devil and Daniel Webster is not a soul sold to the devil, or the jury of ghostly traitors, but Webster speaking against the sanctity of contract. That same year, Daniel Webster gave an address to the Washington Benevolent Society, an oration that proved critical to his career.