I. FOUNDATIONS: SEPARATION, SERVICE & EMPIRE (1786–1821)

1786*

● Possible birth year for John Ferdinand Webber in Danville, Vermont (records list parents as John Webber & Hannah Morrill).

Alternate records suggest 1794.

1794

● Competing birth year for John; used as anchor date in this project.

c. 1807

● Silvia Hector born enslaved in Spanish West Florida (later Louisiana region).

1810

◐ Mexican War of Independence begins; ideological seeds of Mexico’s later antislavery stance.

1812–1815

✚ John serves in the War of 1812, 31st U.S. Infantry (northern theater).

His service later underpins his federal pension and veteran status.

July 9, 1816

● Probate inventory of Dr. Samuel Flowers (East Baton Rouge Parish, LA) lists:

• “Sarah (~26)”

• “Sylvia (~9)”

Recorded separately — documentary evidence of mother–child separation.

March 10, 1819

● Silvia (“Silva”) sold by Silas McDaniel to Morgan Cryer Sr. for $550 in Missouri Territory (possibly Arkansas, pending transcription confirmation).

1819

◐ Adams–Onís Treaty fixes U.S.–Spanish Texas border; slavery remains legal in both jurisdictions.

1815–1820 (inferred)

▲ John migrates southwest through frontier regions (Ohio, Kentucky, Louisiana) toward Texas.

Exact route undocumented; inferred from later settlement records.

1820s (context)

◐ Mexico gradually advances antislavery measures; enslaved people begin viewing Mexico as a potential refuge.

1821

◐ Mexico gains independence; Texas becomes part of the Mexican nation.

◐ Stephen F. Austin inherits and begins implementing his father’s colonization plan.

⸻

II. MEXICAN TEXAS: SANCTUARY & CONTRADICTION (1822–1832)

1822

◐ Jared Groce brings approximately 90 enslaved people into Austin’s Colony, linking slavery directly to cotton expansion.

1823

◐ Mexico’s Imperial Colonization Law permits “indenture,” often used to mask slavery.

◐ Austin settles the Old Three Hundred (predominantly slaveholding families).

1824

◐ Federal Constitution of 1824 adopted; slavery left to state regulation.

◐ Coahuila y Tejas allows slavery informally.

◐ Austin publicly defends slavery as essential to cotton production.

1825

◐ First census of Austin’s Colony records 443 enslaved people.

1826

▲ John F. Webber appears in Austin’s Colony records near the Colorado River.

▲ Silvia is brought into Mexican Texas by John Cryer.

c. 1826–1827

● John and Silvia in geographic proximity; early family formation possible.

1827

◐ Coahuila y Tejas bans new slave importation; children of enslaved mothers to be freed at adulthood.

◐ Anglo settlers rely increasingly on indenture contracts to preserve slavery in practice.

1828

◐ Indentured servitude becomes primary legal workaround sustaining slavery.

1829

◐ President Vicente Guerrero issues national abolition decree (unevenly enforced across Mexico); Texas temporarily exempted.

● Around this time Silvia gives birth to Elcy/Alcy (Elsie) Webber, still treated as enslaved under Texas practice.

⸻

II. MEXICAN TEXAS: SANCTUARY & CONTRADICTION (1822–1832)

1822

◐ Jared Groce brings approximately 90 enslaved people into Austin’s Colony, linking slavery directly to cotton expansion.

1823

◐ Mexico’s Imperial Colonization Law permits “indenture,” often used to mask slavery.

◐ Austin settles the Old Three Hundred (predominantly slaveholding families).

1824

◐ Federal Constitution of 1824 adopted; slavery left to state regulation.

◐ Coahuila y Tejas allows slavery informally.

◐ Austin publicly defends slavery as essential to cotton production.

1825

◐ First census of Austin’s Colony records 443 enslaved people.

1826

▲ John F. Webber appears in Austin’s Colony records near the Colorado River.

▲ Silvia is brought into Mexican Texas by John Cryer.

c. 1826–1827

● John and Silvia in geographic proximity; early family formation possible.

1827

◐ Coahuila y Tejas bans new slave importation; children of enslaved mothers to be freed at adulthood.

◐ Anglo settlers rely increasingly on indenture contracts to preserve slavery in practice.

1828

◐ Indentured servitude becomes primary legal workaround sustaining slavery.

1829

◐ President Vicente Guerrero issues national abolition decree (unevenly enforced across Mexico); Texas temporarily exempted.

● Around this time Silvia gives birth to Elcy/Alcy (Elsie) Webber, still treated as enslaved under Texas practice.

⸻

III. FAMILY FORMATION & STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM (1830–1837)

1830

◐ Law of April 6 restricts U.S. immigration and attempts to curb slavery’s expansion.

◐ Anglo settlers resist and frame slaveholding as a protected right.

c. 1830–1833

● Silvia gives birth to Henry and John Jr., inheriting enslaved status.

1832

◐ Armed skirmishes erupt between settlers and Mexican authorities; settlers demand restoration of 1824 Constitution.

▲ John receives Colorado River land grant forming Webber’s Prairie.

c. 1833–1834

● John and Silvia marry under Mexican law, likely officiated by Father Michael Muldoon.

June 11, 1834

● John purchases Silvia and their three children from John Cryer.

◐ Emancipation bond filed at San Felipe before Alcalde R.M. Williamson; four witnesses sign.

→ Under Mexican law, Silvia and the children are formally emancipated and the marriage legally recognized.

1834 (context)

◐ Santa Anna centralizes power, dismantling federalist protections.

Summer 1835

◐ Santa Anna sends troops to enforce centralist rule.

October 1835

◐ Battle of Gonzales (“Come and Take It”) marks beginning of Texas Revolution.

1835–1836

◐ Slaveholding settlers pursue separation from Mexico; preservation of slavery is a major motive.

1836

◐ Texas declares independence.

◐ Republic of Texas Constitution:

• Explicitly protects slavery

• Bans free Black immigration

• Outlaws interracial marriage

• Restricts manumission

→ The Webbers’ Mexican-recognized marriage and free status lose legal standing in the Republic.

1837

◐ Mexico reaffirms its abolitionist stance, continuing to treat all arrivals on its soil as free.

⸻

IV. HOSTILITY, FLIGHT & BORDERLAND SANCTUARY (1839–1860)

1839

▲ Settlement formally recognized as Webber’s Prairie (later Webberville).

● Community includes free Black and mixed-race families.

◐ Racial hostility intensifies.

1840s–1850s (context)

✧ Enslaved people increasingly flee Texas into Mexico.

◐ Mexico refuses extradition demands.

1845

◐ Texas annexed to United States as slave state.

1846–1848

✚ U.S.–Mexico War; Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo fixes border at Rio Grande.

1850

◐ Texas enslaved population: 58,161 (27.4%).

◐ Fugitive Slave Act heightens risk of re-enslavement.

● Travis County census lists Webber household at Webber’s Prairie.

1850–1853

◐ U.S. and Texas repeatedly demand return of fugitives; Mexico refuses.

1852

✧ Seminole maroons and formerly enslaved people receive land grants in Mexico.

June 8, 1853

▲ John acquires land in Hidalgo County (El Agostadero de la Gata grant) from María Benita Flores (widow of Juan Seguín), Rafael Treviño, Refugia Treviño, and Pascual Domínguez.

June 13, 1853

▲ Deed recorded with Hidalgo County clerk.

1853–1855

▲ Webbers relocate to Rio Grande Valley; operate ferry and informal refuge corridor into Mexico.

1850s (context)

✧ Escapes across Rio Grande increase; some fugitives hidden in cotton bales.

1860

◐ Texas enslaved population: 182,566 (30.2%).

✧ Rio Grande widely understood as potential path to freedom.

⸻

V. CIVIL WAR & JUNETEENTH: THE RANCH AS REFUGE (1861–1865)

1861

✚ Civil War begins; Texas joins Confederacy.

1861–1865

✧ Webber Ranch becomes sanctuary for Unionists and freedom seekers.

● Silvia remembered feeding and sheltering those crossing into Mexico.

▲ Under pressure, the Webbers flee into Mexico.

1863

✚ Emancipation Proclamation (not yet enforced in Texas).

✧ Reports of cotton-bale escapes across Rio Grande.

1863–1865

● Some Webber children born in Mexico (later confirmed by 1880 census).

April 9, 1865

✚ Confederate surrender at Appomattox.

May 1865

▲ Webbers return to Texas.

June 19, 1865 (Juneteenth)

◐ General Gordon Granger issues General Order No. 3 in Galveston: “All slaves are free.”

September 1865

◐ Freedmen’s Bureau begins operations in Texas.

⸻

VI. RECONSTRUCTION, RETRENCHMENT & REMEMBRANCE (1866–1892)

1866

◐ Texas enacts Black Codes; racial violence escalates.

● Reconstruction instability reaches Hidalgo County.

March 1867

◐ Reconstruction Acts place Texas in Fifth Military District.

● John listed as registered voter and Unionist.

1868

◐ Klan violence recorded; nine Black delegates serve in Texas Constitutional Convention.

1870

◐ Texas readmitted to Union.

◐ George T. Ruby serves in Texas Senate (c. 1869–1873).

● 1870 census shows Webber household in Hidalgo County.

1871

◐ Matthew Gaines serves in Texas Senate advocating education and civil rights.

1872

◐ John’s War of 1812 pension processed.

1873–1874

◐ “Redemption”: white Democrats retake control; Black legislators removed.

1877

◐ Compromise of 1877 ends Reconstruction; Jim Crow structures rise.

1880 — Hidalgo County Census

● Silvia listed as “Wife” in federal census for first time.

● J. Morrill Webber listed as born in Mexico, confirming wartime exile.

July 19, 1882

● John Ferdinand Webber dies near present-day Donna, Texas, along the Rio Grande.

◐ His pension continues for Silvia.

c. 1892

● Silvia Hector Webber dies in Hidalgo County.

✧ Remembered as a free woman, matriarch, and part of the borderland network that helped others read the Rio Grande not as a barrier—but as a road to freedom.

Primary Source Documents

This archive draws upon documented nineteenth-century records including:

• Emancipation bonds and legal instruments, including the 1834 emancipation documentation

• Mexican land grant petitions and confirmations

• Federal and state census schedules (1850–1880)

• Hidalgo County property and probate records

• Military service and pension records (War of 1812)

• Civil court proceedings in Republic and State of Texas jurisdictions

Whenever possible, archival citations include repository location and collection reference

Archival Repositories Consulted

Research includes materials from:

• The Briscoe Center for American History (University of Texas at Austin)

• Hidalgo County Historical Records

• UTRGV Special Collections

• Texas General Land Office Archives

• National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

• Mexican regional archives in Tamaulipas, where applicable

Citation Practices

This archive follows standard historical citation methodology:

• Primary sources cited with collection name and repository

• Secondary scholarship cited with author, title, publication year, and page number

• Interpretive commentary clearly distinguished from documentary evidence

The objective is transparency between record and narrative interpretation.

Land Records & Legal Documentation

Land and legal records are central to understanding migration, emancipation, and sanctuary:

• Mexican empresario land systems

• Republic of Texas property law

• County deed books and ferry operation documentation

• Reconstruction-era civic records

Legal shifts are identified when sovereignty changed (Spanish, Mexican, Republic, Confederate, United States).

Methodological Approach

This project combines:

• Archival document analysis

• Legal-historical contextualization

• Chronological reconstruction

• Descendant-led interpretive narrative

Where documentation is incomplete, gaps are explicitly identified.