WNC History Timeline

Please send corrections, notes, and photographs.

www.childers-shepherd.org, 23 Jan 2012
Patrick Black    +    Emily Bridges              Thomas Osborne Roberts + Ann Edmonds
              |                                                                        |
Montreville "Mont" William Black     +      Susanna Edmonds
1836   -  1918                                1854         1828   -  aft 26 Jul 1870                            
TN      Bunc Co NC                                                       Bunc Co NC     Bunc Co NC
                             |
          
Mary "Molly" Black, 1856 - 1918
          Marshal George Black (Josephine Sophronia Gentry), 1857 - 1912
          Joseph Woodfin Black (Lucinda Irene Buckner), 1858 - 1886
          
Cornelius Pitzer Black (Mary Elizabeth Garrison), 1860 - 1936
          Laura Black, 1861 - after 1869
          Wiley P. Black (Martha Sophronia Elkins), 1864 - 1943
          


         |                                                                         |
Montreville "Mont"  William Black     +      Mary Jane "Pollie" Edmonds
1836   -  1918                                    1874              1832   -  1916                             
TN   Bunc Co NC                                                   Bunc Co NC   Bunc Co NC
                                                   |
                                   
Lucius L. Black (Sarah Lucinda "Lou" Elkins) 1868 - 1946
                                   Tomasina Cynthia Black (John Galloway), 1876 - 1939

Notes: According to the Buncombe County census of 1850, Ann Edmonds' household included Susanna
Edmonds, age 22, and Mary J. Edmonds, age 18, along with Fields Edmonds, 20; and Welsey Edmonds, 11.
The death certificate for  "Pollie" Black, 1832-1916, lists her parents as "Thommie Roberts" and "Annie Edmons".
The informant for the certificate was L. L. Black (presumably, her son Lucius).
Sources: US Census, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880,1910, Bunc Co NC;
      US Census, 1880, 1900, Cowley County, Kansas;
      NC Death Certificate, Pollie Black, 1916;
      NC Death Certificate, Cynthia Black Galloway, 1939;
      NC Death Certificate, C. Pitt Black, 1936;
      NC Death Certificate, Lucius L. Black, 1946;
      NC Death Certificate, Marshall George Black, 1912;
      NC Death Certificate, Mary Black, 1918;
      Ancestry.com's Black family tree; Ballew/Edmonds family tree; Biffle Roseen family tree; The Story of Us family tree;
      Last Will and Testament of Thomas Osborne Roberts, via Ancestry.com;
      Janice Black, email January 2012;
      Susanna Edmonds Black's Grave, Clarks Chapel Cemetery, Janice Black's entry at FindaGrave.com;
      Marjory M. Watts, "Montreville W. Black",
HOBC Vol II, pp. 100-101.
Patrick Black    +    Emily Bridges              Thomas Osborne Roberts + Ann Edmonds
Above: Montreville Black in
military uniform, abt 1864.
From
HOBC, Vol II, p. 100.

Below: Montreville Black,
date unknown. Photo
provided by Janice Black.
In 1860 the census for Flat Creek lists the family of "Thos O. Roberts" age 45, with "Syntha Roberts", 44, and these others: Mary Roberts, 18;
William Roberts, 20, Christena Roberts, 15; James W. Roberts, 3; Joseph Davis, 17; Ephrain Frady, 8; and Riley Frady, 6. Thomas Roberts was
a farmer, with real property valued at $1700.

The 1870 census for Flat Creek, Buncombe County (26 July) lists the family of "M. Black", age 32, at
census house 39, with Susan, 40; Mary, 14;
Marshal, 13; Joseph, 12; Laura, 9; Cornelius, 10; and Wiley, 5. At
census house 40, female M. J. Edmonds, age 34, resides with male child
Lucius, age 2, followed in the same household by the family of Aaron and Sarah Wright with 7 children, and a farm laborer L. W. Netherly, 17.
While M. J. Edward is listed with no property, Aaron Wright, farmer, is listed with real property valued at $11,000. (In 1880 and 1900, this Wright
family was in Cowley County, Kansas.)

In 1880, the census for Flat Creek lists the family of "T. O. Roberts", 65, and "Cintha Roberts", 65,  including Mary Black, servant, age 24, and
Pitzer Black, laborer, age 20. These two were, apparently, grandchildren of Thomas Osborne Roberts and Ann Edmonds (children of Montreville
Black and Susanna Edmonds - see above). T. O. Roberts' Last Will and Testament left $100 to Mary Black on condition that she continue to live
with the family for the remainder of their lives.

Lucius Black's death certificate lists his parents as Mont Black and Pollie Edmonds, but Marjorie M. Watts (writing in "Montreville W. Black",
HOBC II, pp 100-101) offers an alternative interpretation: "The death certificate of Lucius gives his mother as Mary Edmonds and his father as
Montreville Black. It is believed that this child may actually have been the son of "Mont" and Susan, who, in failing health, placed the child in the
care of her sister. As he was so young, he could possibly have remembered no other mother than Mary." It is worth noting that, in those
circumstances, all the older people surrounding young Lucius would have needed to maintain silence about the facts not just during his tender
age, but throughout his long life. For what reasons would they have done so?