Black, William M.

Born: 1821-09-17 Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Died: 1888-01-11 Saint Louis, Missouri

Flourished: Saint Louis, Missouri

William M. Black was a merchant and landowner. In April 1846, Black married Elizabeth Dale of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Black moved to Vandalia, Illinois, where he opened a mercantile establishment. While living in Vandalia, Black became an acquaintance of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, and other prominent Illinois politicians. He was a member and trustee of the First Presbyterian Church of Vandalia. In 1850, he was living in Vandalia with his wife and two children and owned real property valued at $800. In 1851, Black and his family moved to Saint Louis, Missouri. In 1853 and 1854, he acquired 1,165 acres of public land in Bond, Madison, and Montgomery counties. In 1860, Black was living in Saint Louis' Fifth Ward with his wife and four children and owned real property valued at $10,000 and a personal estate of $8,000.

History of Fayette County, Illinois (Philadelphia: Brink, McDonough, 1878), 39; American Ancestry: Giving the Name and Descent, in the Male Line, of Americans Whose Ancestors Settled in the United States Previous to the Declaration of Independence, A.D. 1776 (Albany, NY: Joel Munsell's Sons, 1899), 12:131-32; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Fayette County, IL, 386; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Bond County, 351:138, 139, 140, 146, 212; Madison County, 340:119, 351:141, 149, 214; Montgomery County, 340:123, 126, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 5, St. Louis, MO, 229; Gravestone, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL.