James Black was an American lawyer and social activist. He co-founded the National Temperance Society and Publishing House.
Background
James Black was born on September 23, 1823, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, United States, the son of John and Jane (Egbert) Black. His father, an engineer and contractor, had a leading part in building the Grand Trunk Railroad, and the first Croton Dam. His grandfather, John Black, came to America in 1790 from Scotland, and settled in Union County, Pennsylvania, where the family lived for two generations. James Black moved with his parents to Lancaster in 1836.
Education
James' formal schooling ended in 1843, after he had spent three years in Lewisburg Academy. Upon leaving the academy he read law and was admitted to the Lancaster County bar in 1846.
Career
At sixteen Black became a convert to the cause of temperance. According to the story that he and other temperance writers used to tell, he was forced on one occasion, when employed as a mule-driver on the Pennsylvania and Union Canal, to join the older men in a drinking orgy. Upon recovering from the effects and realizing what had occurred, he made a vow forever after to abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors. This marked a turning-point in his life. In 1840 he was one of the first in Lancaster to join the local branch of the "Washington Association. " This association had recently been organized in Baltimore by members of a drinking club, who, after listening to a lecture on temperance, April 6, 1840, decided to reform, and changed their name to the "Washington Temperance Society. "
In 1846 Black helped to organize the Conestoga Division of the Sons of Temperance in Lancaster. In 1855, because of his leadership, the Prohibition Party in Lancaster County elected two members to the Pennsylvania state legislature. In 1857 he was instrumental in organizing the Lancaster Lodge of Good Templars, of which in 1864 he was elected Right Worthy Grand Councillor. It was at the request of the Grand Lodge that he prepared his celebrated "Cider Tract, " which resulted in barring cider drinkers from the order.
Following the Civil War, Black worked more ardently than ever for prohibition. He early sensed the need for an extensive educational campaign, and at the National Temperance Convention in Saratoga, 1865, he presented a plan and had it approved, of establishing a National Publication House. He was responsible for the first state prohibition convention in Pennsylvania, held in Harrisburg in February 1867, and served as its chairman. In 1872 the National Prohibition Party decided to nominate a national ticket. At the convention in Columbus, Ohio, February 22, six names were presented for the presidential nomination: Ben F. Butler, David Davis, Samuel P. Chase, J. D. Cox, Horace Greeley, and James Black. A majority of the committee on nominations voted for Black, and he was made the unanimous choice. In the election he polled 5, 608 votes. From this time until his death, Black had a voice in virtually every platform, resolution, and official document written by the Prohibition Party.
Achievements
Religion
Black was a member of the Lancaster Methodist Episcopal Church.
Membership
Balck was a co-founder of the Ocean Grove Association.
Interests
Black was a life-long collector of books and pamphlets on temperance, and at the time of his death (1893) had probably the most complete temperance library in existence.
Connections
In 1845 James Black married Eliza Murray, daughter of William Murray.