GOV. SAMUEL W. BLACK. The following biography of ex-governor Samuel W. Black was written and furnished the Nebraska State Historical Society by his daughter: SAMUEL W. BLACK, Colonel of the Sixty-second regiment, was born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1818. He was the son of Rev. John Black, D.D., one of the earliest and most distinguished of the Covenanter clergymen of the state. He received a liberal education, and chose the law as his profession, in which he soon rose to a lucrative practice, and withal became prominent in political life, being especially effective upon the stump. He married, when very young, the daughter of Judge Irvin, of Pittsburgh, by whom he had four children. In the Mexican War he served as Lieutenant Colonel of the Second Pennsylvania regiment, and acquitted himself with great distinction. He was appointed United States Judge for Nebraska territory by President Buchanan, in 1859. In the spring of 1861 he recruited the Sixty-second regiment, of which he was commissioned Col. and was assigned to duty in Monell's brigade of Porter's division. He was engaged at Hanover Court House, where the enemy was put to flight and his camp and garrison equipage and many prisoners were taken. The enemy soon began to make himself felt on the left bank of the Chickahominy, and on the 26th of June, 1862, fought a stubborn battle at Beaver Dam creek. The Pennsylvania Reserves were upon the front, but the brigade to which Col. Black belonged was soon ordered to their support. Col. Black led his men forward with that fervor and enthusiasm which always characterized him, anticipating severe fighting, but the Reserves were able to hold their position, and Col. Black, though under fire, was not engaged. In the night the Union forces retired to Gaines' Mill, where, on the following day, the battle was renewed with great fury. At the very outset of the battle the Sixty-second Pennsylvania and the Ninth Massachusetts were ordered to advance under a terrific infantry fire. They charged across a ravine in their front, and gained the woods on the opposite side, handsomely driving the enemy. But while making the charge, and before the woods were reached, Col. Black, while the heroic effort which he inspired was in full tide, was killed. Few Pennsylvania soldiers, at the time of his death, had made a brighter record, and none could look forward with better hope of advancement. He died deeply lamented by the whole state and mourned by a wide circle of personal friends. Of his personal traits the following obituary from the pen of John W. Forney, conveys a vivid idea: "Twenty-two years ago, more or less, a young man electrified the cities and towns of Western Pennsylvania by his peculiar and irresistible eloquence. He was more boy than man. His fine face and laughing eye, his well-knit and handsome figure, his winning voice, and his mother-wit made "Sam. Black" the wonder of more than one exciting campaign. The son of a Presbyterian clergyman who was an object of veneration and love in thousands of hearts, and whose life had been one prayer and sacrifice and thanksgiving to God, Sam. inherited a fervent religious sentiment, and frequently punctuated his political appeals and legal arguments with Bible points and periods, and how he loved that old gray-haired father! In his most impulsive moments, however surrounded or flattered or aroused, whether fired with indignation or reveling with merriment created by his exuberant humor, a mere allusion to his father called tears to his eyes and gratitude to his lips. To fall in the battle-field, and for his country, was to die as Samuel W. Black preferred to die. If there was one trait conspicuous in him it was courage, and courage of the purest chivalry. It called him to the fields of Mexico, where he plucked laurels almost from the cannon's mouth. It always made him the champion of the weak or the wronged. It made him irresistible at the bar, and in the exciting passages of public life it demanded the obedience of the bully and commanded the highest respect of the true gentleman." His first great effort as a lawyer was in the celebrated trial of the notorious mail robber, Braddee, of Uniontown, in 1841. Upon that occasion he gave evidence of great genius and commanding eloquence. From that period until 1846 his rise in the profession was almost unprecedentedly rapid, when he abandoned the profession of the law for that of the soldier. As Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteers in Mexico he distinguished himself at Cerro Gordo and Pueblo. His career in Mexico was so brilliant as to induce the Democracy to nominate him for Congress, while he was still in the field. In the Democratic State Gubernatorial Convention, in 1857, he was a prominent candidate for nomination, receiving upon several ballots forty-seven votes. Shortly afterwards he went to Nebraska. MRS. MARY T. MASON, WIFE OF JUDGE O. P. MASON. She was born in New Hampshire, in 1836. Her maiden name was Mary I. Turner. She and Mr. Mason were married in Madison county, New York, 1854. They came to Nebraska in February, 1856, locating at Nebraska City, Otoe county. She died at same place, May 15th, 1874, aged 38 years, leaving four children, aged at that time, Jessie, 14; Grace, 10; Alice, 5; Bessie, 3. June, 1882, Jessie Mason and F. L. Harris were married, and located at Ord, Valley county, Nebraska. Mrs. Mason was a devoted, working member of the Episcopal church. Her strength of character and nobility of life find expression in her life work, and the children she left. In early life her education had been conducted by her mother, who saw in her child the germ of the great mental powers that so enriched her maturer years. Finally her school career was finished, and her brilliant intellect coupled with kindly impulses of the heart won for her the love and respect of all her acquaintances, retaining them in after life as admiring friends. Loved, because lovable, of a disposition whose sweetness drew around her many warm and devoted friends. Her place may be filled at the social board she brightened and illuminated by her presence, but nothing can fill the aching void left in the hearts that cherished her, by her sudden recall to the angelic regions. A newspaper, speaking of her death at that time, said: It is a sorrowful task to speak to a bereaved household of the high order of mind that rendered their loved one a congenial companion to many gifted spirits; to remind them of her strong practical sense, that created the unostentatious comfort of her own home. It is hard to tell them this now, in their hour of bitter longing "for the touch of a vanished hand," for the "sound of a voice that is still." And yet we can speak comfort to all who loved her; for with the hope of a Christian faith we feel those traits are not lost in death. Stillness and dust may be our portion here, but from the outer gates of the invisible realm comes the blessed revelation that there is life for us somewhere. The fond husband seemed To have loved with a wild idolatry, A being formed of mortal dust,— One early doomed to die. Yea, devoted husband, she whom you so fondly cherished, whom you cared for with more than woman's tenderness, and upon whom the winds of heaven were not allowed to blow roughly, is sleeping in the icy arms of death. Loving relatives and friends, who so agonizingly prayed for the precious boon of her dear life, she is Sleeping, sweetly sleeping, With clasped hands of silent trust, O'er her treasured heart of dust. She was a member of the Otoe county Old Settlers' Association, and at the annual meeting preceding her death, read the following poem, prefacing with this language: 66 Gentlemen, Ladies, and Little Ones; Fathers and Mothers, Sons and Daughters; what I have written is from the heart. Should it speak to the heart, my desire will have been granted." Oft the sun has risen in glory, Run his course and sank to rest; Buds have opened-blossoms faded; Oft has Spring smiled on dark Winter, Kissed away his icy breath; Summer brought its warmth and shimmer; Shifting scenes, like fleeting shadows, Time and distance seem to narrow, The present vanishes from sight, A pilgrim band o'erlooks the scene, Wall by wall a city rises Goodly sight and fair to see, Wagons yield their place to railroads, Who can tell all the new modes, Pioneering has its hardships Witness those who're gathered here, Out of perils, out of sorrows, His right hand has lead us onward, Through the paths we could not know; His great love has brought us forwardIn his strength still may we go. Pioneering has its hardships-- Joy and mirth made gladsome music |