James D. Black

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James Dixon Black (September 24, 1849 – August 4, 1938) was governor of Kentucky in 1919.

1 Personal life
2 Family
3 Political Career
4 See also

[edit] Personal life

James Dixon Black was born on Richland Creek in Knox County, Kentucky, and lived in Barbourville for the majority of his life. He was one of 12 sons of John C. Black and Clarissa Black nee Jones.

Clarissa was born March 11, 1807 in Clay County, Kentucky, and was a daughter of Samuel Jones, a Frenchman newly settled in South Carolina. Jones came to the United States with General Lafayette to serve in the Revolutionary War.

Alexander Black, James' paternal grandfather, was a native of Ireland and immigrated to South Carolina from Erin in 1800. In 1815 he moved his family to Tennessee and became a farmer. John located to Barbourville and became a successful merchant.

James Dixon Black wed Nettie Pitzer on December 02, 1875 in Barbourville, Kentucky. Nettie was the daughter of Thomas J. and Mary E. Glass, both natives of Virginia. The couple had three children: Pitzer Dixon, Gertrude Dawn, and Georgia Clarice.

[edit] Family

Pitzer, Gertrude, and Georgia all attended Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, founded in 1819. Pitzer graduated in the class of 1898, and Gertrude and Georgia were among the first women to attend the newly co-educational school when it merged with the Kentucky College for Women in 1926.

Georgia, the only one of the three children to ever marry, wed Hiram Hercules Owens on October 26, 1910. Owens attended Harvard law school and was in the same graduating class as Franklin D. Roosevelt, who went on to become President of the United States. Hiram was said to use his special skill and knowledge of the sciences in the practice of law, often referring to anatomy, physics, medicine, psychology, chemisrty, and mechanics. He practiced law in Barbourville for over 50 years, initially joining as an associate to his father and brother-in-law at Black, Golden and Black. He later became a partner of Black, Black, and Owens. Additionally, he was the first attorney from Kentucky to argue in the United States Supreme Court.

[edit] Political Career

James D. Black was an attorney when he was not engaged in politics, and had both a Bachelor of Arts degree and a law degree from Tusculum College in Tennessee.

Black was a Democrat, and served in a number of political and elected public offices:

Founder of Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky in 1874
Representative for Knox and Whitley Countys in 1875
Member of Kentucky State House of Representatives (1876-1877)
Commissioner of Schools in Knox County, Kentucky
First Assistant Attorney General of Kentucky
One Commissioner of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893
President Union College in Barbourville (1910-1912)
Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Kentucky (1916)
Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky (1915-1919)
Governor of Kentucky (1919)
President of the Union National Bank of Barbourville
Senior partner of law in Black, Black and Owens of Barbourville, Kentucky

In addition to his involvement with Union College for over 50 years, Black was an active participant in the Methodist church and the Kentucky Freemasonry. He was inducted in August 1873 as a Freemason, and throughout the course of his life he served in various positions within. His daughters Georgia and Gertrude donated a number of Black's belongings to the college upon his death, including a Grand Mason pendant awarded for years of dedication, and a crystal paperweight he used while he served as governor. In 2003, these items were returned by Union College to one of his great-great granddaughters.

Black became governor when his predecessor, Augustus O. Stanley, resigned. He was governor from May 19, 1919 until December 9, 1919. Clarissa Black is attributed to having planted the trees lining the walkway of the entrance to the capitol. Black was the first governor to reside in the new Kentucky State Capitol building, which was commissioned by the state for $1 million dollars, due to the assassination of William Goebel at the old capitol residence. During his term in office, Governor Black pardoned Henry Youtsey, the last person still jailed for the assassination of Governor William Goebel. He ran for governor unsuccessfully in 1919.

After the governorship, Black served as a prohibition inspector, President of Union College, and president of the Barbourville National Bank. He also managed the campaign of Senator Alben Barkley, who would go on to become Vice President of the United States.

Black died of pneumonia at 89 years old in Barbourville, Kentucky on August 4, 1938, and is entombed in a mausoleum at Barbourville Cemetery. The Union National Bank now stands on the original site of the Black home, but the Owens home next door, which is built from the same limestone as was the governor's family masoleum, has recently been purchased by the city as a historical landmark.

[edit] See also

History of Kentucky
History of Kentucky and Kentuckians Johnson, E. Polk, 1911

Preceded by Edward J. McDermott	Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky 1915-1919	Succeeded by S. Thruston Ballard
Preceded by Augustus O. Stanley	Governor of Kentucky 1919	Succeeded by Edwin P. Morrow