Carroll County IAGenWeb

HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY IOWA

A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement

VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912

Transcribed by Sharon Elijah July 15, 2020

Jacob Black, who is now living retired in a pleasant home at Glidden, having arrived at the age of seventy-four years, has long been recognized as one of the substantial men of Carroll county and is one of its best and most favorably known citizens. He is a native of Prussia, Germany, born March 10, 1837, a son of Peter and Elizabeth (Frummel) Black, in whose family were nine children, six sons and three daughters, namely: John and Peter, who are deceased; Catharine, who married Benjamin Foagland and is also deceased; Jacob, of this review; Ann, who became the wife of William Roth and is deceased; Elizabeth, who married William Dusen, of Buffalo, New York; Nicholas, who lives in Chautauqua county, New York; Francis, of North Evans, New York; and Frank, of Hamburg, New York.

Peter Black, the father of our subject, came to America with his family in 1840 and settled on Eighteen Mile creek in Erie county, New York, eighteen miles from Buffalo, where he engaged in farming. He died at the age of sixty-seven, his wife being called away at the age of eighty-four years. They were both consistent members of the Catholic church. In his early manhood Mr. Black served as a soldier in the regular army in Germany. The paternal grandfather of our subject was John Black. He was married in the old country and, his wife having died, he came to America and made his home with his son Peter in Erie county, New York, living to the age of more than seventy years.

In his early childhood Jacob Black, whose name stands at the head of this sketch, was brought by his parents to the new world and has since made his home under the friendly protection of the American flag. He was reared on his father’s farm and attended the old-fashioned subscription schools when the teacher boarded round. In 1858, having arrived at his majority, he started out to seek his fortune and first made his home near Brooklyn, in Poweshiek county, Iowa, where he broke the prairie with ox teams. Subsequently he moved to Boone county and was appointed city marshal of Boone and also deputy sheriff, serving in those capacities with general acceptance to the people for ten years. In 1876 he rented a farm in Greene county, which he cultivated for four years, at the end of which time he purchased four hundred and fifty acres of good land in that county. This land he afterward divided and sold to his sons. In 1901 he removed to Glidden, which has since been his home. He owns an interest in three farms, one in Carroll county and two in Greene county and has met with more than the usual measure of success in his business.

On the 25th of December, 1857, Mr. Black was married to Miss Sarah R. Putnam, a native of Chautauqua county, New York, and a daughter of Major Harvey and Rebecca (Stewart) Putnam. The parents were natives of Vermont and moved to Chautauqua county, New York, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Three sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Black: Frank H., Edwin Jacob and William Harvey. Frank H. married Minnie Oppenheimer and they are now living upon a ranch in Sheridan county, Nebraska. They have two sons, Paul and William. Edwin Jacob Black is a farmer of Green county, Iowa. He married Annie Gable and has seven children, Roy, Ralph, Raymond, John, Teddy, Merle and Marie. William Harvey Black married Belle Barnett and had three sons, Glenn, Hugh and Howard. The father of these children died in November, 1910. Mrs. Sarah R. Black departed this life in 1864 and on the 25th of December, 1865, Mr. Black was married to Miss Sarah R. Miller, a daughter of Morris S. and Arvilla D. (Putnam) Miller. To this union eleven children have been born. Fred, who is a farmer of Greene county, married MInta Bordus and has six children, Clarence, Oscar, Elvin, Paul, Arvilla and Imogene. Hattie died at the age of one year. Charles, who is also engaged in farming in Greene county, married Stella McClurg and they became the parents of five children, Orville, Glee, Wayne, Ethel and Sadie. Emma, who married Edward Blackley and is the mother of five children, Edith, Naomi, Eva, Howard and Mary, now resides in Ralston, Iowa. Laura became the wife of William Gonse and they now live in Boone. Isabel, who married Asbury McClurg, became the mother of two children, Florence and Delma, and now makes her home at Olathe, Colorado. Albert, who is engaged in agriculture in Carroll county, married Edith Browers and has one son, Floyd. Clara is a teacher in the schools of Olathe, Colorado. Walter, who married Myrtle Jones and has a son, Rodney, is identified with agricultural pursuits in Carroll county. Katie is employed by the Glidden Telephone Exchange and Harry died at the age of five years.

Mrs. Black was born at Arkwright, Chautauqua county, New York, February 5, 1845. Her father was born near Utica, New York, and her mother in Vermont. They removed to Wisconsin in 1847 and arrived in Poweshiek county, Iowa, in 1855. The father died at Glidden in1902, having then arrived at the age of eighty-four years. His wife still survives, being now ninety-one years old. In their family were seven children, Ellen, Sarah R., Hattie, Flora, Della, Marcus and one died in infancy. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Black was John Miller and his wife was Louisa Post. They died in Wisconsin and had a family of nine children. The grandfather on the maternal side was Harvey Putnam, a native of Vermont, a direct descendant of General Putnam of Revolutionary fame, who was a carpenter and farmer. He married Rebecca Stewart and they both died in the east, each having lived to the advanced age of ninety-four years. Their bodies repose in the old burying ground at Cherry Creek, Chautauqua county, New York. Mrs. Black’s father was a sailor before his marriage and at the time of the Civil war served most creditably for three years in Company H, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry.

Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Black are identified with the Friends church, of which they are earnest supporters. Notwithstanding his religious views, Mr. Black recognized at the outbreak of the great rebellion the supreme importance of the preservation of the Union and of the abolishment of slavery and enlisted in Company H, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was rejected, however, on account of soreness of his eyes. In politics he is in hearty accord with the principles of the republican party. A man of unquestioned honor and of great industry and perseverance, he gained a leading position in this section of the state, which he has held for many years. He has drawn about him a goodly number of friends, who have unlimited confidence in his judgment and personal integrity. His success was gained through persistent application and honest effort and it would be difficult, indeed, to find in Carroll county a more worthy representative of American citizenship than Jacob Black.

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