The Webber Family owned and operated a ferry on the Rio Grande River and were known "Union sympathizers" who aided those fighting for freedom on their way into Mexico where slavery had been abolished and the Mexican Government offered citizenship and protection from slave hunters who would cross the river to recapture and bring them back into Texas. This was a dangerous endeavor for those who were fighting for freedom and those aided them. Texas law stipulated those harboring fugitive slaves would be subject to prison, fines, and as time progressed and the laws became harsher, death.

The stories of those who made it to freedom are few and seldom recorded, but those that have been found show a journey fraught with danger in the form of the elements, slave catchers, hunger, and indigenous tribes. The danger didn't end once they crossed into Mexico, the relentless pursuit of slave catchers paid by enslavers in Texas and emboldened by the Texas government that at any time they could be abducted and brought back to Texas and back into enslavement. 

During the Civil War the Webber Family experienced the danger first hand as John and three of their sons were arrested by John Salmon "Rip" Ford. One son managed to escape and warn the Union forces of the confederate army's arrival in the Rio Grande Valley.