Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/332

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BLACK, Jeremiah Sullivan, statesman, was Wrn in the tJ lades. Somerset county, Pa., Jan. 10. IMIO; sou of Henry and Mary (Sullivan) Black. His fatlier was a representative in the 27th U. S. t"on>;res.s and died in 1^41. His imternal grand- parents were James and Jane (McDonouph) Black. His early edu- cation was ilerived from that admirable academic system then existing in Scotch- Irish communities. H e studied classics and mathematics at Brownsville in Faj'- ette county, and was a student at law un- der Chauncey For- ward, a representa- tive in Congress. He was admitted to the bar in 1881, and in 1842 was made presi- dent-judge of the Franklin, Bedford and Somer- set district. Nine years later he became one of the judges of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and then chief justice of the state to succeed John Bannister Gibson, who died May 3, 1853. His decisions were held by members of his pro- fe.ssion to be ornaments to the rejwrts and were dLstinguislieil by virility of style. It was during these years that he delivered his masterly eulogy on Andrew Jackson, and his eloquent forensic address in honor of the memory of Judge Gibson, in which the following sentence blends modest allusion to himself and high praise of his pre- decessor. " When,'' said Judge Black, " he was superseded by another as the head of the court, his great learning, venerable character and oversliatlowing reputation, still made him the only chief whom the hearts of the people would know." President Buchanan selected him as his attorney -general March o, 1857. He rendered con- spicuous service wliile in tliis office, in protect- ing settlers under the government patents in Cali- fornia against fraudulent land grants, purporting to l>e of Me.xican origin. When General Cass re- signed liis jKjrtfolio of secretary of state in Decem- ber, IHfiO. President Baclianan ajjiwinted Judge Black to that i)f)sition. He oi)posed the secession movement, favored tJie reinforcement of Fort Sumter, declared the union of the states inde- structible and indissoluble, and .so in.structed the representatives of the republic abroad, and vigor- ously defended the just powers of the general government, the lil)erties of the people and the life of the nation. His term of service expired ■with the administration of Mr. Buchanan, and he returned to the practice of law. He re-

mained a stanch Democrat, but was held in resi:)ect as a statesman and patriot by every Re- publican. He was frequently called into impor- tant cases as counsel, notably for Andrew Johnson in impeachment trial, Samuel J. Tilden, the Vanderbilt will case, the Milliken case and the McCiarrahan claims. He was a man of devout faith and joined the "Disciples of Christ" or " Campbellites," about the time he married Mary F., daughter of Chauncey Forward, in 1838. He occasionally presided at the political rallies of his townsmen. On one such occasion, as he took the chair he said: " I hardly intended to be here to-night, but I saw in a little newspajjer, that Judge Black would now have to show his hand in this campaign. There they are — my hands — there is no stain on them. They never held a bribe." He published, in 1882, " Christian Religion," a reply to certain arguments of Robert G. Ingersoll; and in 1885 a volume entitled " Essays and Sjieeches of J. S. Black " was issued. He died in York, Pa., Aug. 19, 1883.

BLACK, John Charles, statesman, was born at Lexington, Miss., Jan. 27, 1839. At the break- ing out of the civil war he was a student in Wabash college, Ind., and volunteered in the Union army. His conspicuous bravery won for him early promotion. He was commissioned li e u t e n ant-colonel, June 9, 1862; colonel, Feb. 1,1863, and brev- et brigadier general, March 13, 186 5. Throughout tlie war he displayed qualities that commanded the admiration and com- mendation, not only of his i m m e d i ci t e command, but of his superior officers. He w^as prominent with his regiment in thir- teen battles and skir- mishes and in two great sieges. He was wounded at Pea Ridge Ark., and again at Prairie Grove, Ark. These wounds being in his arms, he was incapacitated for field .service and entered the invalid corps. At the close of the war he resigned his commis- sion and returned to his home in Danville, 111. It was his purix)se to return to Crawfordville and complete his collegiate course, but he concluded to immediately take up the study of law at Chi- cago, and in 1867 he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Illinois, and to that of the supreme court of the United States in 1869. His remarkal)le oratorical gifts won him immediate recognition. Important and conijjlicated cases