{"id":3098,"date":"2023-06-15T22:09:47","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T22:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/?p=3098"},"modified":"2023-06-15T22:09:49","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T22:09:49","slug":"webb-surname-in-black-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/webb-surname-in-black-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Webb As An African American Last Name"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The 2010 U.S. Census recorded 32,221 black Americans with Webb as their last name. That represented 19% of the total of 168,878 entries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This article tracks their numbers in the census since the Civil War. We also look at historic African American people named Webb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We end with a review of early records of black military service in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_65 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/webb-surname-in-black-history\/#After_The_Civil_War\" title=\"After The Civil War\">After The Civil War<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/webb-surname-in-black-history\/#Webb_In_The_1900_And_1940_Census\" title=\"Webb In The 1900 And 1940 Census\">Webb In The 1900 And 1940 Census<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/webb-surname-in-black-history\/#Historic_Black_Figures_With_The_Webb_Surname\" title=\"Historic Black Figures With The Webb Surname\">Historic Black Figures With The Webb Surname<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/webb-surname-in-black-history\/#Frank_Webb\" title=\"Frank Webb\">Frank Webb<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/webb-surname-in-black-history\/#Alfreda_Webb\" title=\"Alfreda Webb\">Alfreda Webb<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/webb-surname-in-black-history\/#Webb_In_Black_Military_Records\" title=\"Webb In Black Military Records\">Webb In Black Military Records<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/webb-surname-in-black-history\/#Buffalo_Soldiers\" title=\"Buffalo Soldiers\">Buffalo Soldiers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/webb-surname-in-black-history\/#Black_Civil_War_Sailors\" title=\"Black Civil War Sailors\">Black Civil War Sailors<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/webb-surname-in-black-history\/#Tuskegee_Airmen\" title=\"Tuskegee Airmen\">Tuskegee Airmen<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"After_The_Civil_War\"><\/span>After The Civil War<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-silhouette.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2647\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-silhouette.jpg 800w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-silhouette-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-silhouette-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The 1870 census was the first survey after the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1850 and 1860, only free African Americans were recorded in the census. The many enslaved were omitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From 1870 onward, all black Americans were included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>4,450 people named Webb were recorded in the 1870 census as black and 660 as mixed.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a total of 28,540 people with the name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Webb_In_The_1900_And_1940_Census\"><\/span>Webb In The 1900 And 1940 Census<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The mixed category was dropped from the census in 1900, so we just need to look at the black numbers this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>The 1900 census recorded 9,375 people with the last name Webb as black within a total of 51,730 that year.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the way, the mixed category returned in the 1910 and 1920 censuses. It was dropped again in 1930, but replaced with extra categories for colored and non-white in a way that seems confusing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This changed again in 1940 and we can simply focus on one black category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>The 1940 census recorded 12,753 people named Webb as black within a total of 89,167.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Historic_Black_Figures_With_The_Webb_Surname\"><\/span>Historic Black Figures With The Webb Surname<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"536\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Webb-1024x536.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3124\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Webb-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Webb-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Webb-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Webb.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some notable African Americans in history with Webb as their last name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frank_Webb\"><\/span>Frank Webb<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Born: 1828<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Died: 1894<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Frank Webb was born to free parents in Philadelphia. His maternal grandmother was a Haitian\/Indian governess to the children of Aaron Burr, the third Vice President of the United States. DNA has proven Webb\u2019s lineage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Webb\u2019s father was active in the Philadelphian black community., but died when Frank was a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frank married Mary Espartero in 1845, and his wife became a major figure in the Philadelphia arts scene. Harriet Beecher Stowe (the writer of Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin) sponsored her tour to London to deliver dramatic readings of work by Longfellow (a fan) and Shakespeare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, Frank wrote a novel in his late twenties. &#8220;<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/ebooks\/11214\">The Garies and Their Friends<\/a><\/em>&#8221; was set amongst free African American families in the North. When Harriet Beecher Stowe had it published in 1857, it was only the second published novel by a black author. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He didn\u2019t write another novel, but his poems and novellas were published in the New Era, a weekly gazette acquired and published by <a href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/douglass-surname-in-black-history\/#Frederick_Douglass\">Frederick Douglass<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other Early Novelists<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The first African American novel may still be undiscovered. However, this is what is known:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/brown-surname-in-black-history\/#William_Wells_Brown\">William Wells Brown<\/a> &#8211; published in London in 1853<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wilson-surname-in-black-history\/#Harriet_Wilson\">Harriet Wilson<\/a> &#8211; published in the U.S. in 1859<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/collins-surname-in-black-history\/#Julia_Collins\">Julia Collins<\/a> &#8211; novel serialized in a U.S. newspaper in 1865<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Alfreda_Webb\"><\/span>Alfreda Webb<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Born: 1923<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From: Mobile, Alabama<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Died: 1992<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Alfreda Johnson completed a science degree in the Tuskegee Institute in 1940. She continued at the Institute to study veterinary medicine. When she graduated from the veterinary school in 1949, she became the first African American woman licensed as a veterinarian in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Johnson went on to teach anatomy at Tuskegee. She also married her husband, Burleigh Webb, who was teaching agriculture at the Institute. Dr. Alfreda Webb joined the faculty of the North Carolina State University in 1959 where she was a professor of biology for nineteen years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Webb was a prominent member of the North Carolina Democratic Party and served on many committees. Her interests included minority affairs and sickle cell syndrome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Webb_In_Black_Military_Records\"><\/span>Webb In Black Military Records<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Buffalo-Soldiers-Illinois.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Buffalo-Soldiers-Illinois.jpg 600w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Buffalo-Soldiers-Illinois-300x250.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Military records are a rich resource of information for family history research. Here are examples of the Webb surname from different military services:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Buffalo soldiers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Black civil war sailors<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tuskegee airmen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Buffalo_Soldiers\"><\/span>Buffalo Soldiers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Five regiments for black soldiers were formed during the Civil War. They were known as the Buffalo Soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their records are part of the national archive of military monthly returns. The information includes the year and place of birth, where they enlisted, their occupation, and their height.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the earliest military entries for Webb was in January 1870. Charles Webb was a Private in the U.S. Tenth Cavalry. He was stationed in January 1870 at Camp Supply, Indian Territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the later entries was in March 1914. Moses Webb was a Private in the U.S. Ninth Cavalry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are researching military ancestors, there is a free index of these records on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ancestry.com\/search\/collections\/1934\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ancestry.com<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.familysearch.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FamilySearch.org.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You have to create an account on either website, but you do not need to pay for the Buffalo Soldiers archive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Black_Civil_War_Sailors\"><\/span>Black Civil War Sailors<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The National Parks Service has a free archive of African American sailors during the Civil War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The information includes their age, height, rank, occupation, and where and when they enlisted. It also includes every ship that they served on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can search the database on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/civilwar\/search-sailors.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Parks website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">James Webb<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the earliest entries for Webb was for James Webb from Boston, Massachusetts. He enlisted in June 15 1861 at Boston when he was aged 26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The record shows that James was assigned on April 1 1863 to the ship Kanawha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His occupation before enlisting was as a Cook\/Caulker. His naval rank was Landsman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>&#8220;Landsman&#8221; was the lowest rank at the time and was given to recruits with little sea experience.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Charles Webb<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the later entries was for a sailor who enlisted at Fort Pillow in May 10 1862. Charles was aged 22 and was from Nashville, Tennessee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was assigned to the ship Black Hawk on March 31 1864.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His occupation before enlisting was as a Fieldhand. His naval rank was 1st Class Boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>&#8220;1st Class Boy&#8221; was the rank given to young men who enlisted when they were under eighteen.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tuskegee_Airmen\"><\/span>Tuskegee Airmen<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Tuskegee-Plane.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2655\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Tuskegee-Plane.jpg 700w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Tuskegee-Plane-300x214.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Tuskegee Airmen were military personnel who served at the Tuskegee Army Airfield or related programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nearly one thousand black pilots graduated from the Tuskegee Institute. They flew single-engine fighter planes or twin-engine bombers. 352 fought in combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rhohelia Webb graduated from the Tuskegee Institute in June 1944. He qualified as a bomber pilot. Rhohelia was from Baltimore, Maryland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2010 U.S. Census recorded 32,221 black Americans with Webb as their last name. That represented 19% of the total of 168,878 entries. This article tracks their numbers in the census since the Civil War. We also look at historic African American people named Webb. We end with a review of early records of black &#8230; <a title=\"Webb As An African American Last Name\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/webb-surname-in-black-history\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Webb As An African American Last Name\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3124,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3098"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3098"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3131,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3098\/revisions\/3131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}