Blair County PA Archives Biographies.....Black, Ross Wesley November 16, 1882 - ????
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Alice Gless agless@earthlink.net December 9, 2024, 6:14 am

Source: History of Henry County Illinois, Volume II, Chicago: The Pioneer Publishing Company, 1910
Author: Henry L. Kiner

Ross Wesley Black, the mail carrier on Route No. 2, of
Atkinson, Illinois, who is distinguished by a gentlemanly
bearing, kindness and a genial disposition is his relations
with his patrons, was born in Atkinson, November 16, 1882,
and is the eldest son of Robert W. and Julia Curtain (Foy)
Black. The father, who was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania,
April 17, 1856, was the fourth in a family of thirteen
children, only six of whom are now living. They were Henry,
who died in childhood; Elizabeth, the wife of David Sisler,
who lives in Pennsylvania; George E., a resident of Altoona;
Robert W., the father of our subject; Ruth, who died at the
age of nineteen years; Henrietta, the wife of Charles
Daugherty, of Altoona, Pennsylvania; Minnie, the wife of
William Bowser of Pennsylvania; Susan, the wife of Edward
Smeigh, also of Pennsylvania; and five others who died
young.

In his youth Robert W. Black learned the trade of a painter
and decorator and followed it for five years in the
Pennsylvania car shops and in the car shops at Altoona for
two or three years, when he lost his health. He then
engaged in farming for two years, after which he returned to
his trade. In 1876 he came to Atkinson, Illinois, and has
since made this town his home. His wife, Mrs. Julia C.
Black, was born September 16, 1860, and was a daughter of
Gideon and Mary Ann (Bryan) Foy. Both parents were natives
of Pennsylvania and are buried side by side in Adams County,
Iowa, their deaths having occurred in that state, the
motherÅ¡s in Prescott in 1895, the fatherÅ¡s five years later.
The later was a farmer all his life and was the father of
ten children, six boys and four girls, all but the youngest
born in Pennsylvania. They were John W., of Galesburg,
Illinois, a member of the legislature of this state in 1877,
when he espoused the cause of the Greenback Party; Stephen,
of Prescott, Iowa; Sarah, the wife of G. A. Aboners of
Creston, Iowa; James W., of Prescott, Iowa; Tonar, who died
in January, 1894, in Prescott, Iowa, though a resident of
Atkinson, Illinois; Samuel A., of Prescott, Iowa; Mary
Elizabeth, who was the wife of Robert Parker, of Atkinson,
and died in November, 1877, being buried in Fair View
Cemetery; Julia Curtain, the wife of Robert Black of this
review; Laura M., the wife of James Campbell, of Prescott,
Iowa; and Warren B., born in Illinois, living now in Kansas.
In her girlhood Mrs. Black attended the school in which her
two sons and her daughter-in-law at one time taught, for she
was reared in this locality. By her marriage to Mr. Black
she became the mother of six children: Ross W.; George
Edward, who was born in Atkinson in 1887 and is in business
with his father; Ruth Anna, a graduate of the Atkinson High
School and now a teacher in the country schools of the
township; Robert Julian, also a graduate of the high school
and like his sister a teacher in the country schools; Susan
May, now a pupil in the high school; and Julia Foy,
attending school. The parents live in what is known as the
Riley Addition to Atkinson, where in 1898 Mr. Black erected
a very pretty home. He is a man who was compelled to rely
upon himself for his success in the world and by his own
efforts has acquired a comfortable living. His educational
advantages having been somewhat limited he has spared no
pains to give his children the best schooling within his
power. Politically he is in sympathy with the Prohibitionist
Party and is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the
Woodmen. Mrs. Black is a Royal Neighbor, and both husband
and wife belong to the congregational Church.

Ross W. Black received his education in the schools of
Atkinson and was graduated from the high school with the
class of 1899. Immediately upon the expiration of his own
school days he engaged in teaching and during the two years
he was connected with the schools of Henry County achieved
success as a popular and progressive instructor, who
possessed the faculty of endearing himself to his pupils.
Subsequent to his experience as a teacher he took a course
of one year at BrownÅ¡s Business College at Davenport, Iowa,
and then in 1905 began carrying the mail from Atkinson to
the residents on Route 2. Here again the amiable qualities
of his personality came to the front and he has made a large
number of friends, who are attracted by the heartiness of
his greeting and courtesy of his bearing.

On the 30th of May, 1908, Mr. Black married Miss Emma Louisa
Wahlert. She was born in Cornwall, Atkinson Township, in
1880, and is a daughter of William and Johanna (Lehse)
Wahlert. The parents were born in Schleswig-Holstein,
Germany, between 1840 and 1850 and came to America in 1874,
being three weeks in crossing the ocean. They settled first
in Cornwall Township, where the father engaged in farming,
and then came to Atkinson, where he worked as a laborer and
where he died about twenty-five years ago. The mother is
still living in Atkinson at the age of sixty years. Of the
children that were born to Mr. And Mrs. Wahlert, six are now
living: Ernest, a mechanical engineer of Britt, Iowa; Lena,
the wife of Robert Graham, of Atkinson, Illinois; Amelia,
the widow of Machen Winters, who lives in Iowa with her four
sons; William Claus, also mechanical engineer of Britt; Emma
Louisa, now Mrs. Ross W. Black; and James, who is a soldier
in the Philippines. Mrs. Black attended the graded schools
of Atkinson until she was twelve and then continued her
education in the high school of Geneseo, from which she
graduated in 1899. She also engaged in teaching in the
country schools of Henry County for three years and then
took a two yearsÅ¡ course in the Baptist Hospital and
Training School, from which in 1904 she received her diploma
as a trained nurse. For almost five years she practiced her
profession in Annawan, Atkinson and Geneseo, and by her
physicians was considered a very capable woman and one of
the best nurses in this locality. A son, Henry Thomas, was
born to Mr. and Mrs. Black, September 14, 1909.

Mr. and Mrs. Black are members of the Congregational Church
and the Royal Neighbors. They both possess to an unusual
degree the capacity for making strong friendships and hold
an enviable place in the hearts of the people of Atkinson.
Politically Mr. Black is connected with the Prohibition
Party.

Additional Comments:
Originally submitted 1997

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