Webberville
Travis County, Texas
30 13.534' N 97 30.844' W

Text: This church traces it origin to the plight of Anglo American John F. Webber, who along with his African American wife and children, settled in this sparsely populated area of Texas in 1839 to escape the racism they had experienced in towns and cities. A community known as Webber Prairie consisting of a plantation owners and their slaves developed here. Racial prejudice caused Webber to sell his land to Colonel John Banks in 1851 and move his family to Mexico. In 1868 Matthew Duty donated one acre of land here for the purpose of building a church for the area's recently emancipated African Americans. That year the Webberville Ebenezer Baptist church was organized as a Mission of the St. John Regular Missionary Baptist Association. Charter member included Thomas Reads, Sun Jonhnson, Lowens Berry, amd Mary Green. The Rev. Wesley Barrow served as Ebenezer's First Pastor. In 1956 several members of the congregation left Ebenezer Baptist to form a church in Austin, which became known as the New Light Ebenezer Baptist Church. Ebenezer Baptist remains active despite the relocation of many of the Webberville's familes to nearby urban centers. Former members continue to gather here on school occasions and holidays.