Microfilm of the autobiography of Joseph Smith Black, along with biographies of his parents, a continued biography of Joseph Black by his son Peter Thompson Black, and assorted letters and notes. The volume opens with a genealogy of the Black family a biographical sketch of Joseph Black's father William Black (1784-1873), who served in the 72nd Regiment of the British Army, joined the Mormon Church in Ireland in 1839, immigrated to the United States in 1842, and helped colonize southern Utah and a biography of Joseph's mother Jane Johnston Black (b.1801). Joseph Black's autobiography recounts his childhood in Ireland and England, his travels to the United States and later Utah, his baptism into the Mormon Church, his colonizing and homesteading efforts in southern Utah, his mission to Arizona and Mexico in 1886, a detailed account of his mission to Missouri in 1888, and a chronicle of his time spent in the Utah Penitentiary, along with the results of a phrenology exam he was given before his release. Black's account ends in about 1889, and his son Peter Thomas Black extended it in 1947, writing of Black's work in building water reservoirs in Nevada (1893), his contract to deliver lime rock to Leamington, Utah (1895), and his work clearing farm land (1906). Following the autobiography is a typescript entitled "Visit to Millard County Recalls Fate of Capt. Gunnison and Party," which recounts Black's 1888 expedition to locate the site of the Gunnison Massacre, as well as later efforts by the Andrew Jensen party in about 1922 copies of letters from Black's children and friends letters sent to Black by fellow prisoners while he was at the Utah Penitentiary, as well as copies of some letters sent by Black and a newspaper obituary for Black (1910). All inquiries about this item should be directed to the H. Russell Smith Foundation Curator of Western Historical Manuscripts at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Microfilm. San Marino, Calif. : Huntington Library Photographic Dept., 1947. 1 microfilm reel : negative 35 mm. Forms part of the Manuscripts Department's Mormon file, c.1805-1995. Joseph Smith Black (1836-1910) was born in Antrim County, Ireland, and immigrated to the United States in 1840. He was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1844. After being expelled from Nauvoo, the Blacks moved to Utah. Joseph lived in Ephraim in 1857 and in Spring City from 1859. He was elected a selectman of Sanpete County in 1859 and vice-president of the Kanosh Ward in 1874. Along with Gilbert Webb he helped colonize Deseret from 1875 and served on missions to Arizona and Mexico in 1886 and to Missouri in 1888. Black had been a successful land owner and mill operator, but had lost most of his holdings by 1889. That same year he was imprisoned in the Utah Penitentiary for polygamy. He was released in December 1889 and died in 1910.
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