From material gathered by Snyder E. Roberts, his sister Minnie Welcker, and other family members.
JAMES WEBSTER was married to NANCY LAMBERT, 13 May 1814 in Surrey County, NC, by Samuel McGraw. They had at least one son and three daughters. The 1830 Surrey Co. Census shows two Webster families: ANDREW (relation, if any, unknown) and NANCY WEBSTER, born between 1780-90. She had one son [Rev. John] born between 1810-1815, and 3 daughters. Presumably JAMES was deceased, but we have not found a record.
In the 1840 Surrey Co. Census, JOHN is shown as head of household, b 1810-1820. There is a mixture of his own children, his wife, one sister, and his mother, NANCY.
The 1850 Surrey Co. Census shows him born 1804; the 1860 Roane Co. TN Census shows him born 1802, and the 1870 Roane Census shows him as born 1811.
The 1840 Surrey Census also shows John’s sister, ANZORA who married ADAM HENNING, and two children. In 1850 Surrey Co., Adam Henning’s family showed Martha 15, Archibald 10, Sarah 6, Naoma R.. 4, John W. 2. They appear in 1860 Anderson Co. Census, with 3 additional children.
One daughter of JAMES & NANCY, SARAH "SALLY" did not marry, and lived with her brother John. The other daughter, RUTH married WILLIAM BRUCE in Surrey Co. NC
REV. JOHN WEBSTER, son of JAMES & NANCY, married ELIZABETH G. ANDERSON, b 1815 NC. Her parents were from VA.
Rev. John and his sisters, with families, probably made the move from Surrey NC to TN at the same time in the early 1850’s. They settled in Anderson and Roane Counties. Rev. John is mentioned in the Church Minutes of First Baptist Church of Oliver Springs as having served as Moderator on 1 Jan 1858.
At first they evidently lived on the site of the old Charles G. Webster homeplace in the Dyllis community of Roane County where a small house was built . Later the small house became a room in the CHARLES G. WEBSTER home (during the Civil War the small house was used for the storage of a grain harvest.) He bought a 500-acre farm in Anderson County, TN.
Rev. John and Elizabeth had 13 children, and two of their sons were preachers. The Clinton Association Bulletin for 1882 contains a Memorial for Rev. John Webster which was prepared by Amos Gross, Chairman of the Obituary Committee. He died 15 Oct 1882. We know from a letter from Mr. Gomer Hoskins, Attorney, to Florence Johnson dated 1929 that Rev. John’s son, Rev. William R. Webster sold his father’s farm to JOHN M. COWARD on Oct 27 1885. All children except Rebecca signed their right. The widow, Elizabeth Webster, retained dower to 23 of the best acres. Hoskins then shows the chain of title as follows: JOHN M. COWARD to W. Y. KING 1885 – RUTHERFORD 1902, DOWN 1902 to CARTER 1903, WILLIAM ADAMS 1909, HOLBROOK 1914, MRS. HOLBROOK 1925.
A clue as to the family of JAMES WEBSTER’S family is a Will of John Webster dated 25 December 1773 in Hyde County, NC. Among his sons is listed a James who could be about the right age. (James could have named his son "John" after his own father. )
Descendant chart of Webster Family