Webbville became the county's first incorporated town on November 19, 1828, but it was a hollow victory. The reality was that by effectively moving the county seat to Marianna, ended the rise of Webbville. The buildings were soon scavenged to erect buildings in Marianna and elsewhere. Before the outbreak of the American Civil War, Webbville had become a ghost town. Powerless to alter the events dismantling the town named for him, Jim Webb continued to work and live in Key West. They welcomed a fourth child, Charles John Webb. Webb's term of office would expire in 1838. He then resigned his post and moved to Houston, already a booming port in the Republic of Texas. The President of the Republic of Texas, Mirabeau B. Lamar was related to Webb's wife through the Lamar family. Apparently he had heard through the family grapevine that a very talented relative was coming to Texas and would be available for work. Lamar sent word requesting Webb to come quickly to Austin, the capital of the new republic. Lamar need a new Secretary of State. Webb agreed to take the position, effective November 18, 1839. He remained there for nearly two years before President Lamar asked him to serve as full-time Minister to Mexico, beginning March 20, 1841. Mexico had no desire to negotiate anything and refused to accept Webb. Unable to accomplish anything, Webb returned to Austin, where he became a member of the Texas Senate, representing the Travis-Bastrop-Fayette-Gonzales district from 1841-1844, and serving as chairman of the Judiciary Committee and as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. President Lamar's term ended in 1841, so Webb opened a private law practice in Texas. Williamson S. Oldham, a former speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives and onetime Associate Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court, joined Webb's office as partner. Oldham was a member of the Convention of 1845 that cleared the way for Texas to become part of the United States, so he was already well known across the state. After Texas became a state in 1845, Webb became a reporter for the state supreme court. He and Thomas H. Duval collaborated to produce the first three volumes of "Texas Reports". In 1849, Webb was appointed Secretary of the State by the newly elected third governor of the state, Peter Hansborough Bell. He served until he resigned in 1851 and moved his residence to Corpus Christi, Texas. In 1854, Webb was appointed judge of the Texas Fourteenth Judicial Circuit Court.