Pike Township Family Stories
ROBERT AND MELISSA BLACK
Nichols, Iowa Centennial Book 1884-1984, page 200
Written by Frances Elder, submitted by Betty BieriRobert Connely Black was born in Boone county, Kentucky, 20 April 1841, a son of Benjamin Black and Frances Moore Black.
He lived in Kentucky until he was eleven years old, and his education was continued in the schools of Muscatine county after he made the trip with his family from Kentucky in a covered wagon. When he became of age, he started to work as a laborer in Wisconsin, floating logs down the river to a saw mill in Muscatine. He returned to Muscatine county and began farming on rented land, saving his money until he was able to purchase land in Pike township.
On 25 January 1873 Robert Black and Mary Melissa Johns were married. She was born 8 September 1849 in the old log cabin of Samuel Nichols. She was the only child of Hosea Johns and Elizabeth Nichols Johns.
She moved with her parents in a covered wagon to make their home in Austin, Texas. Hosea Johns was a sign painter. Her mother died in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1855, and Mary Melissa returned to Iowa where she made her home with her grandparents, Samuel and Nancy Nichols. She attended the old Grandview Academy at Grandview, Iowa and St. Agatha’s School in Iowa City.
After their marriage, Robert C. Black and Mary Melissa Black lived west of the Nichols cemetery in the large brick home. Later they moved north of Nichols, and still later they built a large home on the farm two miles north of town. Their children attended Shiloh school. In their later years they moved to a new house in town.
Robert C. Black died 30 May 1927, and Mary Melissa Black made her home with her granddaughter, Frances Kirchner Elder, until her death 30 January 1941.
Robert and Mary Melissa were parents of three children: Benjamin H. Black, Nannie Black and Clara Bell Black.
Benjamin Hozea Black was born 23 July 1874 and died 16 December 1937 in Des Moines, Iowa. He was married 16 December 1896 to Mame Welch. This marriage ended in divorce. His second wife was Lucy Mapes Kirchner. They were married in 1920. Lucy and Benjamin had one son, Robert, who was born in 1921 and died in 1930. Benjamin’s step-children were Bill Kirchner, James Kirchner, Charlotte Kirchner and Genevieve Kirchner.
Ben Black lived in the Nichols community his entire life until 1931, when he moved to Des Moines to accept a position at the state house. He had been elected to the state legislature for two terms, representing Muscatine county. He was a member of the Methodist church.
Clara Bell Black was born 13 May 1883 and died 28 August 1900. Clara fell in the barn on the farm and became an invalid.
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