A Brief History of the Black Family

	The Robert Black family of Indiana Township, Alleghany County, Pennsylvania originated in the Parish of Ahoghil (pronounced a-hawk-l), County Antrim, Ireland.  The most distant known ancestors are John Black, born about 1740, and his wife Margaret McKibben.  They had two sons who imigrated to America in the late 18th century -- Rev. John Black and our ancestor, Robert Black.  A daughter of Rev. John Black left memiors that mention things she remembered being told about John and Margaret McKibben Black.  According to her, they were Presbyterian Covenanters who were educated, and taught their children at home.  Robert was the elder brother, born in 1765.  Rev. John Black was born Oct 2, 1768.
	Robert left Ireland first, about 1790.  His wife was Sarah Aikens, and they appear to have been married before they left Ireland..  They settled in York County, South Carolina.  18th century Scots-Irish people tended to immigrate and live near either family, or members of their former home church congregation.  There are many instances of entire parishes leaving Ireland together, and there was a large settlement from Ahoghil in South Carolina at that time, and another in Western Pennsyvania that formed a little later.  All of Robert and Sarah’s older children were born in York County, SC.  Sometime between 1801 and 1805, they moved to Indiana Township, Alleghany County, Pennsylvania and bought a large tract of land on which the town of Indianola now stands.  It is likely that they moved North to live near Robert’s brother Rev. John Black, who left Ireland in 1798 and was living in Pittsburgh.  Robert Black’s original deed from 1805 is in the possession of Virginia Black (who is descended from Robert Black via his son Robert).  It is written on deer hide!  The Alleghany County courthouse has no record of Robert until 1812, when he bought some property boardering his, which only goes to prove that the farther back you go, the more inaccurate the land records get.  It’s no wonder the banks require title insurance.
	From all accounts, Robert Black was a successful and prosperous farmer.  That may not sound as impressive as we would like, but it was by his sweat and others like him that civilization was brought to Western Pennsylvania.  They were self sufficient, unlike us, and fulfilled their dreams of owning their own land.  And for people coming from Northern Ireland, where land was limited and generally owned by a few weathly land barons, this meant a great deal.  On their farm, Robert and Sarah raised a large family:

John Black		b. May 01, 1794	in York Co, SC	m. Margaret?	d. August 23, 1874
James Black		b. 1795		in York Co, SC	m. Jane Beatty	d. December 05, 1888
Catherine Black		b. 1800		in York Co, SC	m. N/A		d. October 17, 1832
Robert Black		b. 1801		in York Co, SC	m. Agnes ?	d. August 17, 1862
Sarah Black		b. 1801		in York Co, SC	m. Francis Beatty     d. June 08, 1852
Mary Ann Black		b. Aug 08, 1805	in Indina T, PA	m. Wm Hutchenson d. Dec 29, 1887
Elizabeth Black		b. Apr 22, 1809	in Indiana T, PA	m. N/A		d. May 18, 1883
Margaret Black		?				m. Josephy Brown Cunningham	?
Martha Black		?				m. ? McCorkle	d. ?

	Rev. John Black, Robert’s brother, was educated at the University of Glasgow and graduated with the highest honors. He left for the USA following the 1798 Wolftone Rebellion because of his involvement in "the movement of that year for the liberation of his native land from English Rule."  The 1798 Rebellion was an attempt of the United Irishmen (of which John was undoubtedly a member) to band the Anglican, Presbyterian, and Catholic Irish people together and make Ireland an independent country.  The rebellion failed, however, causing it’s instigators to either be arrested by the English government (as Wolftone was), or flee the country.  John was lucky, and escaped.
	Upon arriving in American, John was first employed in Philedelphia, teaching classics.  In 1800 he was ordained the first pastor of the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh.  It was shortly after this that his brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Sarah Black, moved their family from South Carolina to join him.  In 1820 John became Professor of Languages at the University of Western PA (now the University of Pittsburgh), a position he held for 12 years.  The University currently owns a painting of him, done some time in the early 1820’s.  On Sept 22, 1801 John married Elizabeth Watson, daughter of Margaret and Andrew Watson of Pittsburgh.  Together they had 10 children, 8 of whom survived to adulthood.  Rev. John Black died Oct 25, 1849, while his wife died young on June 22, 1822 (perhaps in childbirth).  Here is a listing of their children:

John Black		(became a Presbyterian minister)
Andrew Watson Black	(became a Presbyterian minister)
Robert John Black	(became a Presbyterian minister)
	Samuel W. Black		(became an attorney, killed at the Battle of Gaines Mill, Civil War)
Dr. Alexander Black 	(became a physician)
	Mary Ann Black		(married General F J Rodman of Chicago)
Margaret Black		(married a Wylie from Washington DC)
Elizabeth Black		(married James H. McClelland)

	It doesn’t seem fair that not nearly as much is known about Robert Black as his brother, but it is unfortunately true that much more of John’s personal history is recorded.  So poor Robert will forever doomed to bask in John’s reflected glory.  The source for Rev. John Black’s information is History of Allegheny County by Dr. Tho Cushing.  Robert Black’s information I found out by looking in the Alleghany Township Deed Books and US Census Records.
The Robert Black family was made up of expert tax evasionists.  For over 100 years, from 1805 until 1918, they didn’t pay one cent in inheritance taxes.  And here is how they did it: they never reported any deaths to the Alleghany County Orphans Court (which handles wills and estate taxes).  Instead, they recorded their wills in the Alleghany County deed books.  This was a common practice at the time; all sorts of other legal contracts were recorded in deed books.  And it was technically legal.  So that is where I found Robert Black’s will, recorded and witnessed by his brother Rev. John Black.  It is not very long, so I have included it in its entirety:

Agreement among the Heirs of Robert Black.  Memorandum of what Robert Black deceased, told Dr. Black [Rev. John Black] he intended to do in settling his worldly affairs.  First – that he would give his son James one hundred acres of the plantation on which he lives, second, that he would give fifty acres of the same plantation to James’ son Francis [Francis Beatty Black], the remainder of the plantation to be equally divided between Robert’s two daughters, Mary Ann and Betsey.  The division of the whole to be according to quality each to have a proportional share of good and bad as equally as may be.  Third – that he would give to the aboved named Francis the young horse, also that there were fifty dollars of rent in hand belonging to the said Francis.  Fourth – that the money coming from his sons John and Robert, be equally divided between his daughters Mary Ann and Betsey, and that each of them should have one bed and one horse.  Fifth – that his wife Sarah should occupy the place reserved for himself on which he lives, during her natural life, and to have all the movable property not otherwise disposed of to be entirely under her own control and disposal.  Know all men by these present, that we, Sarah Black (widow) of Robert Black late of Indiana Township, Allegheny County and state of Pennsylvania, deceased, John Black, James Black, Sarah Beatty, otherwise Sarah Black, Robert Black, Margaret Cunningham, otherwise Margaret Black, Mary Ann Black, Elizabeth Black [aka “Betsey”], Martha McCorkle, otherwise Martha Black, do severally agree that the above mentioned memorandum of a will written by and told to Dr. Black, shall be good and valid in law, and desire the register of Alleghany County to register it as such.  In testimony whereof, we the above named widow and heirs of said deceased, do set our hands and seals, the thenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty eight.

	The Robert Black family has a family plot in Deer Creek Cemetery, Alleghany County, PA.  The area where their plot is located was the churchyard of an old Covenater church that stood there until about 1930, when it was torn down, and the graveyard and surrounding property became a public cemetery.  All death and birth dates are taken from the headstones.  Many are no longer legible, but there is a DAR listing of the cemetery from the 1960’s when the inscriptions could still be made out at the Carnegie Library.  Many of the illegible stones have been plaqued with the name and death dates.  Because the family used the same names in each generation, there are about five Robert Black’s in the plot.  The correct one, for the immigrant Robert Black, is located right in front of Francis Beatty’s flat stone.  Robert Black died May 04, 1848.  Sarah Aikens Black (1772-January 27, 1852) is next to him.
	Our next direct ancestor in this line is Robert’s son James Black (1795- December 05, 1888).  He married Jane Beatty (1794-January 05, 1829), daughter of Francis and Jane Hall Beatty around 1820.  They lived on part of Robert Black’s farm (which they inherited) and had three known children:  Francis Beatty Black (November 30, 1825-1917), Sarah Black Robinson (married Gawn Robinson), and Robert Black (January 05, 1829-September 28, 1840).  Francis Beatty Black is said to have claimed a brother who died in Andersonville Prision during the Civil War, but I have found no trace of another sibling yet.  Jane died in childbirth with their son Robert.  Following the death of his wife, James remarried a women named Parthenia around 1840 and had a large second family.  James and Jane are burried together, in the same row as his father Robert, at the very end next to the woods that separates the cemetery’s land from Route 28.  I have not yet found where Parthenia is buried.
	On the 1850 census, our next direct ancestor, Francis Beatty Black (November 30, 1825-1917), is shown living with his grandmother Sarah Black (wife of Robert Black).  Francis told Uncle Ralph that he attended school as an adult, and got “rodded” on day for being late.  And, the 1850 census does show him as having attended school within the past year.  About 1855, Francis married a widow with three children, Mary Martin McMurdy (April 10, 1825-1818) daughter of John and Barbara Forrester Martin.  When Mary and Francis were married, she had three children:  John, Andrew, and Jane.  They lived on part of Robert Black’s farm, which Francis inherited.  Together they had the following children:

James Black		b. 1856		m. N/A			d. 1879
Francis Black		b. 1859		m. ? Sinclare		d. 1940
Agnes Black		b. 1860		m. ? Wilson		d. 1950
Jeanette Black		b. 1862		m. John Strohm		d. abt 1950
Susan Grant Black 	b. Sept 30, 1864	m. John Anderson	d. June 01, 1935
Elizabeth Black		b. 1867		m. Wm Connors		d. 1935
Robert Black		b. 1867		m. ?			d. abt 1950

	Francis was a successful farmer and well known person in the community.  He has a biography in Memiors of Alleghany County by ?, which gives information about him in varying degrees of accuracy (they have his mother all wrong).  He was active in the Republican Party, and appears on lists such as the petition to have Harmer Township formed from Alleghany in 1873.  Francis and Mary Black departed from the traditional Presbyterian demonination, and were members of Walters Chapel Methodist Church which was built in 1860.  There is a plaque bearing his name in the church.  They are buried in Henderson Cemetery, Alleghany County, which is very near Deer Creek Cemetery.  Their son James died young and is in the group of six plots.  The other three do not have headstones.
	While he was growing up and during much of his adult life, Francis Beatty Black’s best friend was his cousin William T. Black.  William is a veteran of the Civil War, and is buried in Deer Creek Cemetery.  William’s father was James Black’s brother Robert Black.  Virginia Black, the owner of the 1805 deed, is descended from William T. Black.
	There was at least one other Black family living in the area at the same time as our Robert Black (early 1800’s).  In neighboring Deer Township, there is a farm owned jointly by an Alexander and Robert Black (this Robert appears to be Alexander’s son).  I know a lady who has traced this line, and while they may be related to ours, we have no proof of that yet.  This Alexander Black is kind of a character – he came to the US when he was about 60 years old, and married a woman in her 20’s (Margaret Matthews).  They soon had children running all over the county, and old Alexander Black lived to be 106.  He is buried in Deek Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Culmerville, PA.  There was also a David Black living in the area, who is suspected to be a brother of Robert and Rev. John Black.  He appears to have had a family who all died (according to census records).