This research guide for John Ferdinand Webber and Silvia Hector Webber shows a biracial family who endured the trials of a changing nation during the American Civil War Era. The purpose of this guide is to provide primary and secondary sources pertaining to the presence of biracial farming and ranching families and how their social and economic status contributed to the narrative of race relations in Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. The guide contains images of original census documents, digitized collections from university archives, and it may be used for genealogical research, farming and ranching research, and race relation research. See also the Biddy Family research guide.
John Ferdinand (Juan Fernando) Webber and Silvia (Aunt Puss) Hector were a biracial ranching and farming family who migrated throughout Texas during the Civil War era. They helped establish two Texas townships, Webberville (1839) in Travis County, and Donna (1851) in Hidalgo County, and they traded on the banks of the Colorado and Rio Grande Rivers. As a racially mixed family, they encountered many challenges to their livelihood and found acceptance and sanctuary within the Rio Grande Valley where they integrated within prolific Mexican American families.
Silvia Hector Webber was a former slave, born ca. 1807 in Spanish West Florida where her heritage and early childhood are obscured. In 1819, a bill of sale indicates that she was transferred to the Cryer family of Clark Co., Arkansas. It is believed that Silvia came to Texas as an enslaved person in the 1820s during which time she met John F. Webber, who was a business associate of John Cryer (or Crier). In 1834, John and Silvia purchase her and their three children's emancipation papers.
John Ferdinand Webber was born ca. 1795 in Danville, Vermont to John Webber and Hannah Morrill. He served in the War of 1812 as a private & medic in the 31st US Infantry under Capt. Silas Dickinson. In the 1850s, racial tensions over the interracial family in Webberville forces them to relocate to the Rio Grande Valley.
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The Webber Family: John Ferdinand Webber, father. (1795 – 1882) Silvia Hector Webber, wife. (1807 – 1892, more information below) Elise (or Elsie) Webber Jackson, daughter. (1829 – 1900) Henry Webber, son. (1832 – Unknown) John Webber, son. (1834 – Unknown) Leonard Webber, son. (1836 – Unknown) Sarah Jane Webber Biddy, daughter. (1838 – Unknown) James Morrill Webber, son. (1839 – 1922) Santiago James Webber (c. 1840 - 1920) Nelson/Wilson Webber, son. (1842 – Unknown) Sabrina Webber, daughter. (1848 – Unknown) Andrew Webber, son. (1846 – Unknown) Rachel Amanda Webber, daughter. (1851 – 1913) Jeremiah Marcelino Webber, son. (1853 – 1903) The following are also listed among the surviving relatives of Rachel Webber in a Hidalgo Co. Deed 1915-500517:
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 Photo from slide 82-773 MA-7, Archives Alert, Hidalgo County Historical Collection. |
Line 6 - Webber, James M.
Line 11 - Webber, Rachel A.
Line 12 - Webber, Sabrina
Line 15 - Webber, Micaela Aguilerade
Line 16 - Webber, Marcelino
Line 26 - Webber, James M.
Line 27 - Webber, Augustina
Line 35 - Webber, Juana N.
Topographical Map of the Rio Grande From Roma To The Gulf Of Mexico Sheet No. 15 [San Juan Hacienda, Texas]
Members of the Webber family are accounted for as still living near Webberville, Travis Co., Texas in 1850. Silvia's race is marked "B" for black, while her children are marked "M" indicating "mulatto", an antiquated term for someone of mixed black and white race.
The collection consists of applications for historical markers and historical cemeteries, research, notes, correspondence, organizational files, and maps. Historical marker applications were submitted by the Hidalgo County Historical Commission to the Texas Historical Commission Research Department. Marker applications typically include research describing the importance of the location. Files may also include photographs and dedication pamphlets. Collection also contains organizational files from the Hidalgo County Historical Society, which was later re-named to the Hidalgo County Historical Commission.
Series IV, Historical Research, 1969-2013, consists of research for historical marker applications.
John F. Webber, 1988-2012, Container: 79, Box: 11, Folder: 17. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Special Collections and Archives, Edinburg Campus.
Series V, General, 1929-2015, consists of organizational files, newsletters, notes, and publications.
Cemetery census, 1974-1980, Container: 79, Box: 14, Folder: 1. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Special Collections and Archives, Edinburg Campus.
Search the name index to the first three surviving Hidalgo County, Texas marks and brands books. Information contained in the first two volumes is also found in the third volume. It is probable that the first brand book for Hidalgo County does not exist because there is a gap from the founding of Hidalgo County in 1852 until 1866. Also, no retrospective registrations appear to be included prior to 1866.
There are multiple entries for the surname "Webber" (see image gallery above)
Stephanie V. Montalvo is a former student assistant, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (2019). Ms. Montalvo has volunteered at The International Museum of Art and Science where she assisted in cataloguing pre-Columbian artifacts and digitizing images for the 50 Years: History of IMAS exhibit. As a student intern at The Museum of South Texas History, she created Master Lists of Donors and Trustees for Development Officer, Lynne Beeching. Ms. Montalvo contributed towards the publication of the Fike Family Farm: A Porcion of Edinburg through the Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS) department at UTRGV.
The research guides compiled by UTRGV staff and students are intended to assist patrons who are embarking upon new research endeavors. Our goal is to expand their knowledge of the types of resources available on a given topic, including books, archival materials, and websites. In so doing, our compilers have taken care to include collections, digital items, and resources that may be accessed not only through UTRGV but also via other institutions, repositories, and websites.
We wholeheartedly respect the research interests of others. Therefore, please contact us if you wish to submit a resource for consideration, or if you have a question about or an issue with a specific cited resource.
Blue and Gray on the Border
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Runner-up, 2019 Texas Old Missions and Forts Restoration Book Award, sponsored by the Texas Old Missions and Forts Restoration Association (TOMFRA) Most general histories of the Civil War pay scant attention to the many important military events that took place in the Lower Rio Grande Valley along the Texas-Mexico border. It was here, for example, that many of the South's cotton exports, all-important to its funding for the war effort, were shuttled across the Rio Grande into Mexico for shipment to markets across the Atlantic. It was here that the Union blockade was felt perhaps most keenly. And it was here where longstanding cross-border rivalries and shifting political fortunes on both sides of the river made for a constant undercurrent of intrigue. And yet, most accounts of this long and bloody conflict give short shrift to the complexities of the ethnic tensions, political maneuvering, and international diplomacy that vividly colored the Civil War in this region. Now, Christopher L. Miller, Russell K. Skowronek, and Roseann Bacha-Garza have woven together the history and archaeology of the Lower Rio Grande Valley into a densely illustrated travel guide featuring important historical and military sites of the Civil War period. Blue and Gray on the Border integrates the sites, colorful personalities, cross-border conflicts, and intriguing historical vignettes that outline the story of the Civil War along the Texas-Mexico border. This resource-packed book will aid heritage travelers, students, and history buffs in their discovery of the rich history of the Civil War in the Rio Grande Valley.
The Civil War on the Rio Grande, 1846-1876
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2020, Texas Historical Commission's Governor's Award for Historic Preservation was awarded to the Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS) at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. This book grew out of the CHAPS program. Runner-up, 2019 Texas Old Missions and Forts Restoration Book Award, sponsored by the Texas Old Missions and Forts Restoration Association (TOMFRA) Long known as a place of cross-border intrigue, the Rio Grande's unique role in the history of the American Civil War has been largely forgotten or overlooked. Few know of the dramatic events that took place here or the complex history of ethnic tensions and international intrigue and the clash of colorful characters that marked the unfolding and aftermath of the Civil War in the Lone Star State. To understand the American Civil War in Texas also requires an understanding of the history of Mexico. The Civil War on the Rio Grande focuses on the region's forced annexation from Mexico in 1848 through the Civil War and Reconstruction. In a very real sense, the Lower Rio Grande Valley was a microcosm not only of the United States but also of increasing globalization as revealed by the intersections of races, cultures, economic forces, historical dynamics, and individual destinies. As a companion to Blue and Gray on the Border: The Rio Grande Valley Civil War Trail, this volume provides the scholarly backbone to a larger public history project exploring three decades of ethnic conflict, shifting international alliances, and competing economic proxies at the border. The Civil War on the Rio Grande, 1846-1876 makes a groundbreaking contribution not only to the history of a Texas region in transition but also to the larger history of a nation at war with itself.
The Evolution of a State or Recollections of Old Texas Days
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Hidalgo County Ranch Histories
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The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas
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The New Handbook of Texas
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For more than forty years the Handbook of Texas was the most comprehensive and authoritative source on Texas history. Now, the New Handbook of Texas -- a stunning six-volume encyclopedia and biographical dictionary covering every aspect of Texas history -- continues that proud tradition. Thirteen years in preparation, the new edition presents the efforts of more than 3,000 authors, editors, and reviewers. You'll find 23,500 articles covering the history of Texas from A to Z. There are detailed histories of all 254 counties and of major cities. Thousands of other entries highlight communities, key events, geographical features, historical sites, institutions, and organizations. The New Handbook tells the story of the people who made Texas history -- the men and women who shaped the Lone Star State. More than 7,000 biographical entries provide authoritative information about the famous and the infamous, the legendary and the overlooked. Other essays describe the many groups of people who have lived in Texas, from prehistoric cultures to twentieth-century immigrants. Particular attention has been given to the rich historical traditions of the African American and Mexican American communities in Texas and to the vital historical contributions made by individual women and women's organizations throughout the state. The Handbook of Texas Online is a joint venture sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and the General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with the TSHA. It offers fully searchable electronic access to the text of the New Handbook as well as approximately 400 articles not included in the print edition due to space limitations.
South to Freedom
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A brilliant and surprising account of the coming of the American Civil War, showing the crucial role of slaves who escaped to Mexico. The Underground Railroad to the North promised salvation to many American slaves before the Civil War. But thousands of people in the south-central United States escaped slavery not by heading north but by crossing the southern border into Mexico, where slavery was abolished in 1837. In South to Freedom, historianAlice L. Baumgartner tells the story of why Mexico abolished slavery and how its increasingly radical antislavery policies fueled the sectional crisis in the United States. Southerners hoped that annexing Texas and invading Mexico in the 1840s would stop runaways and secure slavery's future. Instead, the seizure of Alta California and Nuevo México upset the delicate political balance between free and slave states. This is a revelatory and essential new perspective on antebellum America and the causes of the Civil War.
Tales from the Manchaca Hills: The Unvarnished Memoirs of a Texas Gentlewoman
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