Webb
Old English webba · "The weaver" · Occupational · Pre-Norman Conquest · Among oldest occupational surnames in English
WebbWebWebbs
📍 Colonial Virginia (Northampton Co.) · New Hanover Co., NC · Bertie Co., NC 📜 Documented FREE BLACK family in colonial NC from 1706 onward

Webb — Origin & The Remarkable Free Black History

The Webb surname is of Old English origin, an occupational name for a weaver, from Old English webba. Among the oldest occupational surnames in English, it predates the Norman Conquest. Among its most remarkable histories in America is the Webb family's role as an early free Black family in colonial Virginia and North Carolina. [Research: Paul Heinegg, Free African Americans of North Carolina and Virginia]

The Colonial Free Black Webb Family — Documented Pre-1865

A Jane Webb of Northampton County, Virginia sold her service for seven years in 1706 in exchange for her husband's manumission. Their son Daniel Webb became a documented free Black landowner in New Hanover County, North Carolina as early as 1765, and left a will in 1769. Daniel Webb's sisters — Ann, Elizabeth, and Dinah — created their own family lines in Northampton County, Virginia and Bertie County, North Carolina.

The Webb family of this lineage is documented as intermarrying with the Moses, Weeks, and Manly families — all free Black families of colonial Virginia and North Carolina. This pre-emancipation free Black Webb lineage is directly relevant to the maternal DNA results, which show Williamsburg to Northeast North Carolina African Americans as a maternal-side journey — the very geographic corridor where the free Black Webb family was established in the 1700s. [6]

"If the maternal Webb line traces to this free Black Daniel Webb family, it would be an extraordinary find: documented ancestors from the colonial era, predating emancipation by over a century — with a will, land records, and named family members surviving in the public record." — Faulkner lineage research documentation, April 2026

Two Possible Origins — Which Webb Line?

There are two plausible origins for the Webb surname on the maternal side:

  1. A free Black family descending from the colonial-era Webb family of Virginia/North Carolina, documented at FreeAfricanAmericans.com
  2. A formerly enslaved family who took the Webb name from a white slaveholder in Mississippi, Tennessee, or the Carolinas

The key test: if a Webb ancestor appears in the 1870 census in a Southern state without a prior free Black household in the 1850 or 1860 population schedules, they were almost certainly formerly enslaved. If a Webb ancestor can be found in free population schedules prior to 1865, they may be part of the documented free Black Webb lineage.

Webb Research Resources

  • Paul Heinegg, Free African Americans of North Carolina and Virginia — Available free at freeafricanamericans.com — detailed documentation of the Webb family; this should be the first reference consulted for any Webb ancestor in the Virginia-North Carolina corridor
  • 1850/1860 free population schedules — Search for Webb households in NC and VA before 1865; presence in free schedules may indicate free Black heritage
  • Bertie County, NC records — NC State Archives; Daniel Webb's sisters documented here; Bertie County deed books
  • New Hanover County, NC records — Daniel Webb's will (1769) and land records; NC State Archives
  • Alabama Department of Archives and History (archives.alabama.gov) — Webb family of Sumter County, AL particularly documented in estate records with named enslaved individuals
👥

Join the Legacy Keeprs Community

This research belongs to all of us. If you're tracing these surnames — or any African American family history — join our Facebook group to share findings, ask questions, and connect with other researchers who may share your ancestry.

👥 Join Our Facebook Group ✉ Email Michele