Born around 1786 in Danville, Vermont, John

Ferdinand Webber was the son of John Webber

and Hannah Morrill, descendants of early

English settlers. Raised in a young

republic, his early life in the snowy hills

of Vermont laid the foundation for a

journey that would take him far beyond

the borders of New England.

As a young man, Webber enlisted in the War

of 1812, serving as a private in Captain S.

Dickinson’s Company of the 31st U.S.

Infantry.He fought in the Battle of Shadage

Woods, earning a U.S. military pension for

his service. But it would be his acts after

the battlefield that would shape his

enduring legacy.

By the 1820s, Webber had migrated south

to Mexican Texas, where he settled in

Austin’s Colony. In 1832, he received a

land grant near the Colorado River and

founded what became known as Webber’s

Prairie. It was during this time that he

met Silvia Hector, an enslaved woman

whose life would forever intertwine with

his.

At Webber’s Prairie, the Webbers farmed,

ferried travelers, and contributed to a

growing settlement.But as pro-slavery

settlers from the Deep South arrived, their

interracial family became a target. Their

peaceful life turned precarious, even as

the town that would later bear their

name—Webberville—began to take shape.

On June 11, 1834, Silvia Hector and her

three children were formally emancipated by

John Cryer. Silvia and John, who had

already established a deep bond, were wed—

defying social norms, legal codes, and

racial boundaries. Together, they raised a

biracial family of at least eleven

children, blending their lives in the face

of rising hostility.

Fleeing rising racial tensions, the Webbers

moved south to the Rio Grande Valley in 1853,

purchasing land near Hidalgo, Texas. There,

they blended into a culturally diverse region

and, according to oral history, assisted

freedom seekers crossing into Mexico as part

of the southern Underground Railroad. Silvia,

once enslaved, became a force for liberation.

During the Civil War, the Webbers remained

staunch Unionists. As Confederate forces

advanced into the valley, they fled to

Mexico. They lived in exile until the war

ended. In May 1865, they returned to

Texas—impoverished, but resolute. John received

his pension in 1872, while Silvia remained

the matriarch of a family that bridged

two worlds.

.

John Ferdinand Webber died on July 19, 1882,

at their home near Donna, Texas, and was

buried along the levee road, not far from

the Rio Grande he had crossed so many

times. Silvia, died around 1892.

Their children went on to become farmers,

ranchers, and teachers. Some passed as white

to survive. Others held onto their Black

identity. All carried forward the intertwined

legacies of love and resistance